Former NRL player Ryan Stig could challenge Israel Folau as the most homophobic rugby league player in Australia after a social media post he made in 2013.
Stig took to Facebook and Twitter to launch a tirade against same-sex marriage and homosexuality, and has earned himself a nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off-field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern-day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes; the National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. NRL player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while AFL player Manase Fainu is the most recent recipient.
The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame honours former players and players who received media attention in previous seasons, for similarly scandalous behaviour, and its inductees include Ben Cousins and Julian O’Neill.
In the long and controversial rants, Stig compared homosexuality to alcoholism and said homosexuality was a “politically correct charade” that was tantamount to a “spiritual disease” and “demonic”.
The posts were made just one day after the ACT passed same-sex marriage laws, and include statements such as:
“Homosexuality is a fairly good example of distortion of design for fairly obvious reasons. When laws such as this … are created it makes covenant with unseen realms of the demonic which work to infiltrate and come against the thought lives of our cities states [sic] and nations”.
“Consider a man who continues in his homosexual ways which also pose the threat of aids [sic] compounding in a lot of the time lifelong sickness if not death, why in his right mind would he do this,” he wrote.
“I for one have gay people I call my friends and whilst I don’t agree with their sexuality, I don’t agree any less than I would a husband or wife cheating on their spouse,” he wrote.
“One thing we are hearing more Is [sic] that homosexuality can be genetically traced, well if that is the case there is as much proof of that for alcoholism yet their [sic] are no parades for alcoholic pride. I for one won’t succumb to the politically correct charade of it being a healthy lifestyle choice rather that this stance which stenches of deception.”
Stig received no punishment from the NRL or the Newcastle Knights, while Folau was famously kicked out of rugby union, and destroyed his chances of playing NRL or AFL again, following his homophobic posts in 2018 and 2019.
Stig’s posts have led some to believe that heterosexuality causes poor literacy.
Stig also made headlines more recently for different reasons. He suffered from a severe bout of lyme disease and upon his recovery he lobbied the Australian government to fund treatment of the disease in Australia. Many sufferers, including Stig, travel to places such as Germany to receive treatment.
One wonders when he or Folau will blame lyme disease on homosexuality.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 