Coming Out in Sport | Dave Oliver

Dave Oliver has always lived and breathed rugby, a game known as one of the roughest and most hyper masculine on earth. He’s also gay and from the time he was a teenager until his early thirties, he hid his sexuality from everyone - horrified that he’d be found out and ridiculed by the community that means everything to him. Dave describes the burden he carried for the best part of two decades as 'toxic shame' - a form of self loathing that drove him to abuse drugs and self destruct. Dave’s since been through rehab more than once and has done a huge amount of work on acceptance and learning to love the man he truly is. Now he’s on a mission to help change the face of sexuality in male dominated sports by sharing his story with clubs, codes and men around the country them its time to change the game. Dave describes the burden he carried for the best part of two decades as 'toxic shame' - a form of self loathing that drove him to abuse drugs and self destruct. Dave’s since been through rehab more than once and has done a huge amount of work on acceptance and learning to love the man he truly is. Now he’s on a mission to help change the face of sexuality in male dominated sports by sharing his story with clubs, codes and men around the country them its time to change the game.