Perenara not seeking summit with Folau
TJ Perenara isn’t busting a gut to renew acquaintances with Israel Folau.
The pair have circled each other via social media in recent times. Folau, the Waratahs and Wallaby fullback, expressed some abhorrent views about homosexuality, via some biblical texts, which Perenara responded to with messages of love and inclusiveness.
Far from shamed by Perenara, Folau reiterated his position. Suffice to say that hasn’t altered the Hurricanes halfback’s view of Folau or his beliefs.
‘‘It’s not like I’m going to go out there on the field and say ‘bro, let’s go over there and have a chat’. I don’t have any strong feelings to go and sit down and talk to him,’’ Perenara said.
Rugby is Perenara’s stock and trade but, when Folau started to preach a message of hate and talked of homosexuals being destined to burn in hell, he felt compelled to speak up.
Since then he picked up a collection bucket to raise funds for two LGBT+ youth organisations, Rainbow Youth and InsideOUT, before being among four Hurricanes to wear rainbow laces in their boots against the Blues last Friday night in support of diversity in rugby.
‘‘Equality’s important to me, in all honesty. So it’s not just that issue. I think equality in general is something I’m staunch on,’’ Perenara said.
‘‘I grew up with people who now identify in the Rainbow community, and I’ve got family members who do also, so it is personal for me. But even if I didn’t, I’d still feel the same.’’
Perenara wears his heart on his sleeve as a player and has an utter conviction about his play and commitment to the Hurricanes and All Blacks. But, whether it be playing rugby or speaking out on social issues, he also has the maturity to realise his way isn’t the only one.
‘‘I’d never push my values on anyone else or force them to do anything. I think if people feel like it’s the right thing for them to do, then go out and do that,’’ he said. ‘‘But, again, I made my statement because it’s important to me and it’s something that I felt like I needed to do.’’
It was strong stuff, with Perenara tweeting that he was ‘‘100% against the comments made by Israel’’ and that there was ‘‘no justification for such harmful comments’’.
They were met with widespread support and Perenara certainly has no regrets.
‘‘I just wanted to make sure that the message was worded right, so I spent a lot of time with my sister, who helped me write the tweet itself and the statement itself. I wanted to make sure my message was portrayed in the light I wanted it to be.
‘‘I didn’t want to make it me against Izzy or anything like that. It’s something I wanted [to say] to unify the Rainbow community and give the people in that community a platform to speak on.’’