Irish martial arts master Jack Woolley has spoken up about discrimination within his sport. Woolley claims that some of his opponents refused to shake his hand after he came out as bisexual.
Woolley became the first Irishman to qualify for the Olympics in Taekwondo late last year. He also came out as bisexual in a 2016 interview. He says coming out had a dramatic effect on how he was viewed within the sport.
Related: Gus Kenworthy switches from team US to Great Britain for 2022 Olympics
“It is tough, my sport,” he told Etra.ie. “I have had some opponents who wouldn’t shake my hand and I’m just thinking, ‘You need to cop on’. Some have, though. One of the top fighters in the world came up to shake my hand after I won the European silver. I appreciated that.”
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Woolley also revealed he resents coming out at all. “I just wish I never labeled it,” he confesses. “I still don’t like labeling it. People are just hell-bent on giving everyone labels nowadays. I don’t want to be that. I want to be the first Irish Olympian in my sport, the lad from Tallaght who went to the Olympics, not Jack the gay athlete.”
Still, Woolley realizes the visibility he’s created among athletes and understands that it can inspire others to live openly. “Maybe it can be good, maybe I can be an inspiration to some young people. And if someone wants to talk to me about what they are going through, they can but I’m not throwing it in your face.”
wikidBSTN
—- “I want to be the first Irish Olympian in my sport, the lad from Tallaght who went to the Olympics, not Jack the gay athlete. —-”
We all feel that way – but we are the pioneers. We “come out” so that one day, the notion of coming out will seem silly and odd and people will not be “labeled” by their sexual orientation. As great as being an Olympian is (and it is) your act of “coming out” is far more important for the betterment of a civilized world.
T7
^Very well said
Rock-N-RollHS
“Civilized world?” Optimistic, aren’t we. You read the papers much?
Dymension
Label it “nowadays”? We have always labeled things! It’s human nature! How do you think LGBTQIA came about?
Dick Gozinia
Looking at the Queerty front page this morning I was surprised that there was no mention of Gus Kenworthy. But here he is in the middle of Jack Woolley’s story: “Related: Gus Kenworthy switches from team US to Great Britain for 2022 Olympics.” I’d swear Queerty must be getting paid to mention Gus’s name. I’m sure Gus is a great guy but do we need news about him every single day?
Kieran
It would probably be a lot easier without this push to link gay and bisexual with transexuality. Why would we want to confuse people more than they already are about same sex attraction?
charlie_jackpot
Yeah, take your ‘same sex attraction’ and gay cure stuff and shove it
white-queer-african
@charlie_jackpot, well, well, well. Here we have a real charlie reading Queerty, and no doubt getting aroused? To then comment “Yeah, take your ‘same sex attraction’ and gay cure stuff and shove it”. Get out the closet boy!
rustyiam
Are we suppose to believe someone who is lying about their sexuality?
friskiedgrrl
Who is lying about their sexuality? Did you READ the article?
Jim
This is the 21st century, “coming out” is soooo archaic !
Be yourself and the rest takes care of itself.
We all run into rude people. People being rude is about them not you.