Bray praises Johnstone’s brave decision
Less than a year after highlighting the need for greater acceptance in the rugby community, Lyndon Bray is full of praise for the bold and brave decision of Campbell Johnstone.
On Monday night Johnstone became the first openly gay All Black, the three-test former prop, who also played for Canterbury, going public with his sexuality in an interview with Seven Sharp.
It’s a move Bray, a former top New Zealand referee and openly gay himself, can only applaud, as he watches his sport, and society, move closer to fully embracing everyone for who they really are.
‘‘Good on him,’’ was Bray’s initial reaction to hearing the news of Johnstone, who he had crossed paths with on several occasions during the 2000s without any knowledge of his orientation.
Last year, when New Zealand Rugby partnered with Pride Pledge to help make the game one for all, Bray said there was still a long way to go. But he admits Johnstone, all of a sudden, has taken everyone a fair way down the path.
‘‘To see an All Black as openly gay is a huge step for the sport,’’ Bray said. ‘‘It’s the opportunity for that gate to be opened, and for people to feel confident to walk through. That’s why it’s so important for someone to do it.
‘‘I take Campbell’s comment, in a way it’s sad that someone has to, here we are in 2023, but the reality is, I think it is important that someone has pioneered that step.
‘‘And it’s like anything in life, once someone has done it, it makes it easier for that to be followed. And it’s almost like a stigma’s been lifted at the very top of our sport, which is brilliant.’’
Unlike Johnstone, Bray spent his rugby career as openly gay, having come out in the late 1980s just as he was beginning to officiate at rep level. He said the support he got was ‘‘incredibly strong’’, particularly from such figures as Laurie Mains, Sir Steve Hansen, Steve Tew and Keith Lawrence.
‘‘It taught me a bit of a lesson about what my perceptions may well have been beforehand,’’ he said. ‘‘I was extremely worried about what some of the reactions would be.
‘‘I’ve been involved in rugby for nigh on 40 years, of which a good 35 of those years have been as an openly gay man. I put my hand on my heart and say I’ve probably had two or three incidents, of which were pretty minor, in that entire time.
‘‘And they’re just people you have to accept have a very warped view of the world, and it’s incredibly unlikely that you’re going to change that view and you should just move on. The players have always been excellent, I found the player base incredibly supportive.’’
That said, Bray acknowledges it would be foolhardy to think it’s yet a straightforward decision for young men and young women to go public with their sexuality.
‘‘It’s easier than it used to be, but I do think it’s a real challenge, emotionally and mentally, for a young person to make that call.
‘‘The reality is, we still have significant pockets of our society who continue to have a real negativity and are challenged in their own paradigm about the openness of sexuality in today’s world.’’*