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Gay news: Gareth Thomas's coming out was a factor in the team's rise to league status, which he described as 'fantastic'
Gareth Thomas, gay role model
Scottish gay rugby team to make their league debut
Scotland's first gay rugby team are to make their league debut - a remarkable development in the sport made possible in part by the coming out of former Wales star Gareth Thomas in December.
The increase in players wishing to join the Edinburgh-based Caledonian Thebans since Thomas's revelation has made it possible for the club to form a regular starting XV, allowing them to compete in the Scottish Rugby Union's East Regional League from next season.
Club spokesman and tight-head prop Steven Forrest told The Sun: "It's great. The Gareth Thomas announcement gives us a credibility that we didn't have before."
The Thebans, established in 2001, are named after the Sacred Band of Thebes, the regiment made up of male couples which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC. Plutarch records that the rationale was that lovers could fight more fiercely and cohesively than strangers with no ardent bonds.
Commenting on the news, Cardiff Blues player Thomas said: "It's fantastic. To hear more people are taking up rugby because of my story, confirms I did the right thing."
