Former All Black and Super 12 player Mark Ranby has come out - not of the closet - but to support the passing of the Civil Union Bill. The Chiefs midfielder was asked to join 1000 other New Zealanders in a new poster campaign - launched nationally in the Sunday Star-Times tomorrow - by a gay friend (and the captain of his school first XV) Dean Knight. He acknowledges that he's going out on a limb as a rugby star publicly endorsing a "gay" bill. "Especially in rugby circles, you don't necessarily express that point of view," he says. "And I've always shied away from expressing a point of view that's different from the majority. But you have to voice up, or in a silent way, you're condoning it." The 27-year-old heterosexual says he has many gay friends sidelined by the current law because they cannot have their relationships recognised. He's also concerned that much of the opposition to the Bill in New Zealand has been wrapped up in religious beliefs.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 20th November 2004 - 12:00pm