As Welsh international rugby player Gareth Thomas has told the world that he is gay, it's hard to know what the ramifications will be. Is sport, and particularly Rugby with the most ladsiest of cultures, ready for one of it's most prominent figures, and particularly one of it's best known hard men - absolutely no pun intended - to deal with the issue of gays in sport? The evidence doesn't look great.

Australian gay diver, Matthew Mitcham came out to rapturous applause from all quarters. At the last glance though, he was the only member of the Australian Olympic team to be without any kind of sponsorship deal. Curious.

The tragic story of Justin Fasahnu is well known, and with attitudes in "macho" sport still ambiguous towards this issue, it will be interesting to see how Mr Thomas is treated.

It's time to reveal a little "exclusive". In my previous life as a full time PE teacher and football coach - I had worked with Meadowbank Thistle and Dundee United - I was invited to become coach to the under-18's at St Mirren FC. I was attending my first game and was taken aside and told that they had found out I was gay and that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to take the team. I was sacked there and then. This was 1999. Now I would be calling lawyers immediately. Then, it was a little different. 

The strange - and aggravating thing - was the person who was charged with the task of doing the deed wasn't the full time manager, or the club secretary, or even the chairman- it was a volunteer who worked for £10 expenses a week. And this comes the question of manliness. The manager who clearly was getting the line between homosexuality and pedophilia blurred (as many do) wasn't himself "man" enough to do this. Whatever his fears, prejudices, doubts or concerns may have been, he cowered in a corner and got someone else to do the dirty work. (It's worth noting that I have since found out that almost none of the lads I was to be coaching had the least problem with this, hooray for the next generation) 

Gareth Thomas' masculinity will now come under scrutiny. What this questionable brigade will not realise, is that this man is more man than most of his doubters will ever be. He has stood up in a world that doesn't acknowledge homosexuals as potential sporting heroes and made a stand. I applaud him, and have never been more proud to be a gay man who loves sport. Thank you Gareth.