Former rugby referee Nigel Owens has said that rugby is a 'changed' game but that there is still 'a lot of work to be done'.
Nigel Owens has said he was"not surprised" to hear that homophobic language was allegedly used by a former Welsh Rugby Union employee to refer to him.
But the former rugby union referee told Sky News that he is confident the alleged incident"would have been dealt with" had theMr Owens, who came out as gay in 2007, says that rugby"has changed" its attitudes towards members of the LGBTQ+ community - but that there is still"a lot of work to be done". On the specific claims of homophobic language made about him, Mr Owens said:"There are individuals or minorities within organisations, within sport, within our families, within our society, who maybe are just not nice people, who use that language derogatory to people... they think it's funny when actually it's not."
Martyn Lewis, a referee until 2016, told BBC Wales that he recalls hearing a colleague repeatedly refer to Mr Owens as"the gay boy". The allegation came after a BBC Wales Investigates programme revealed allegations of misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia within the WRU.
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