In 2009, former Wales and Lions stalwart Gareth Thomas became the first professional sportsperson to come out as gay.
Five years on he has released a new book called Proud which details his career and the path towards coming out and the aftermath.
Tonight, he spoke to Off The Ball about his new book and said that about 90 per cent of the responses he has received since opening up publicly about his sexuality have been positive.
"I never came out to be a trailblazer, I came out to save my life. But from that people decided to follow my story, to see where my story went," said Thomas.
But based on conversations he has had, he does not think he would have "survived" had he come out at the start of his career rather than towards its conclusion.
"Times were very different. People's vocabulary was much different and you could get away with a lot more. I can remember playing rugby as an 18-year-old for my hometown Bridegend and we had a black winger called Glen Webbe - the first black man to play for Wales and he was a great player - we stood there and for the 80 minutes of the game, he stood on the wing and had bananas thrown at him. [At the time] it was okay and you could get away with it. So for me, could I get away with it and would I want to get away with it? Would I want to come out and every week be the subject of abuse and negativity?"
Thomas also spoke the dark period when he kept his sexual orientation to himself.
Listen to the full interview via the podcast.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
