Ben Cohen
Ben Cohen was born in Northampton and played for the Northampton Saints from 1996 to 2007. He then played for a French team for two years, ad for Sale Sharks from 2009 to 2011 when he retired from rugby. He played for England many times from 2000 onwards.
Ben Cohen is clinically deaf, and has been involved in making rugby more accessible to young deaf players.[1]
In 2011 he founded the Ben Cohen Standup Foundation, which supports anti-bullying efforts in the UK and USA. Its declared mission is "to raise awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying and to raise funds to support those doing real-world work to stop it.[2]
He was listed among "Non-LGBT Friends" in the Pink List 2011:
- "A former England international, Ben is one of few sportsman actively fighting homophobia in sport. He retired from professional rugby this year to focus on The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, which combats homophobia and bullying."[3]
In June 2013 he was included in the National Gay and lesbian Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago, USA.[4]
References
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/ruck-and-maul-clinically-deaf-cohen-signs-up-to-help-hard-of-hearing-1913115.html Hugh Godwin, "Clinically deaf Cohen signs up to help hard of hearing The Independent, 28 February 2010
- ↑ http://www.standupfoundation.com/about/vision/ Ben Cohen Standup Foundation, Vision and Mission
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-ios-pink-list-2011-2374595.html
- ↑ http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/06/18/national-gay-lesbian-sports-hall-fame-chicago Out magazine popnography, 18 June 2013
