VIDEO. “We’re not going to eat them, we’re not going to pervert them”: first openly gay pro rugby player, Jérémy Clamy-Edroux looks back on his coming out

Jérémy Clamy-Edroux dans Speech, de Konbini. Capture X @konbini

The Konbini media shared on its social networks an intervention by Jérémy Clamy-Edroux, who was the first professional rugby player to speak openly about his homosexuality.

He was one of the first to break a still too persistent omerta in the world of sport, and particularly in men's sport. The first professional rugby player to accept his homosexuality while he was a player for Rouen in Pro D2, Jérémy Clamy-Edroux looks back on his coming out in the Konbini Speech format, broadcast this Friday, May 17, at the ;#39;on the occasion of the international day against homophobia. 

He explains that questions around his sexuality started very early "already in primary school I looked at boys more than girls", he says. So he started rugby At the age of 9, from the age of 14 he started talking about it to his friends, saying that he thought he was bi. Then at 16, he revealed his homosexuality to his brothers and sisters "who took it very well".

"Oui, je suis gay et alors ? T'es jaloux? "

Le rugbyman Jérémy Clamy-Edroux raconte comment il a fait son coming-out et libère la parole sur les questions LGBTQI+, encore taboues dans le milieu du sport. pic.twitter.com/UHtMaOrzNE

— Konbini news (@konbininews) May 17, 2024

It's with his father that Jérémy Clamy-Edroux has more difficulty coming out. "I didn’not take it between four eyes, I did it in a totally indiscreet way with a documentary called Faut qu’ rsquo;we're talking on Canal +". This documentary, released in 2021, caused a stir and highlighted the taboo of homosexuality in sport.

"It’s only love"

"The love of a parent must be stronger than homophobia. My father proved it to me and it was cool, explains the rugby player, who invites all parents to do the same. "I love men, that’s how it is, you have to accept it but above all not forget that it’s only love", he said, referring to a society "which sometimes regresses" and recalling the immense role of parents in supporting their children in their sexualities.

Regarding his profession, Jérémy Clamy-Edroux believes that it was rather easy. At work "I am Jérémy Clamy-Edroux who plays rugby, I am not Jérémy Clamy-Edroux in a backroom". "What mattered was that I was good on the field and not in bed". Despite the virile image that sticks to the sport he practices and the speeches too often heard like "we're not fags", Jérémy Clamy-Edroux never asked himself the question of stopping.

"I invite all people who deprive themselves of a sport or activity because of their physique or sexuality to stop hiding. On the contrary, get out of your closet, get out of your room, wherever you are and have fun.

For him, it’s essential to open up to others. "To go out, to interact with different people, to show them that we are not animals, we are not going to eat them, we are not going to eat them pervert, we're not going to hijack them, we're just here to have fun.

Jérémy Clamy-Edroux recalls that homophobia remains very rooted in society and that in 2024, a homosexual couple holding hands or kissing in the street always risk being attacked.