England rugby legend quits sport to fight for gay rights

A burly World Cup winning rugby player with a wife and two children may not appear to be an obvious candidate to become a gay rights activist, but 6ft 3in Ben Cohen has done just that. The former England winger has announced his retirement from the sport, aged 32, to dedicate his life to tackling bullying and homophobia.

Cohen, England's second-highest ever try scorer, has been turning out for Sale Sharks this year and was recently voted their player of the season. Yet, after being released by the club, he has decided not to seek a new contract. Instead, he will put all his energies into promoting the recently created Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation. 

"To be honest, I would never have imagined my career was going to move in this direction after my professional rugby career," he said. "But here we are – it's happening. It is incredibly exciting and we have so many plans in the pipeline to be able to make a difference."

Instead of taking a break before embarking on what he calls his "new career", Cohen is immediately off to the States to conduct a fund-raising 'Ben Cohen Acceptance Tour'. Visiting gay and gay-friendly rugby clubs in Atlanta, New York, Washington DC and Seattle this May, Cohen will mix rugby training sessions at schools and colleges with a series of talks, voicing his passionate belief in equality. 

"In my view, rugby is a very inclusive sport. Everyone can get involved in one way or another, so I will be using it as a vehicle to drive my message of acceptance out to people from all walks of life, everywhere."

Cohen becomes the latest member of Clive Woodward's 2003 World Cup winning side to retire from the sport. He played a crucial role in that tournament, starting in all but one of England's matches. While he has been accused of failing to recapture the remarkable form of his early career, Cohen himself admits that he could still have played one or two more seasons. But his new venture cannot wait. 

"There is a lot of work to be done," he said. "Attitudes need to change. Young people should not be bullied into taking their own lives. That is what is happening and it needs to stop". 

Cohen has become something of a gay icon in recent years, though he shies away from the term. He has appeared on the cover of gay magazines QX and Attitude in recent years, and has been an increasingly vocal advocate of gay rights, throwing his support behind the charity-run Gay Sports Day in August 2010. 

He was clearly moved by the spate of suicides among young American homosexuals reported in the press last year. In one emotional video message, a visibly moved Cohen urged teenagers considering such action to think twice. 

"I have three-year-old twin daughters and it would break my heart the fact that if they felt lonely and isolated that they couldn't speak to me or my wife," he told the camera.

"Remember that life is worth living, remember that you have the right to be happy – everyone does – and you have the right to be loved and love others. Think twice, stop whatever you're thinking of doing and find someone to talk to and make them listen."

Cohen's surprising career move comes 18 months after another international winger, Gareth Thomas of Wales, became the first professional rugby player to announce that he was gay.

He currently plays rugby league for the Wrexham-based Crusaders side. Other sportsmen have also come out and earlier this year Surrey and England cricketer Steven Davies announced that he too was gay. ·