Meet Rob and Joey, a couple you’d definitely want nearby if your car got stuck in a ditch.
Rob Kearney is a self-proclaimed “not-so-athletic kid” who is also now known as the “World’s Strongest Gay.” He’s opened up about how he got started in the straight-dominated world of professional Strongman competitions, and how he found love — for himself and his husband — along the way.
Rob says that growing up, he always knew he was different.
“It was always just pushed to the back of my mind. And I never wanted to deal with it,” he recently told Nightline.
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Rob had achieved many of his goals by 2014, including deadlifting a not-so-insignificant 971 pounds and turning pro, but realized he wouldn’t truly be fulfilled until he starting living more authentically.
“Once I realized it for myself and I could confidently look in the mirror and say ‘I’m a gay man’ and be proud of that … I realized if people didn’t like it about me, I didn’t need them to accept it,” he said.
He added: “I was finally accepting myself. And that was opening up these new doors that I never knew existed.”
That year, Rob became the first openly gay professional Strongman competitor, and soon started calling himself the “World’s Strongest Gay.”
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One of those newly-opened doors also led him to meeting his now-husband, Joey.
When the two started dating and Joey learned about Rob’s career, his immediate response was: “I want to do that.”
Now they regularly compete together, and even have a children’s book about a would-be Strongman who finds additional power by embracing his queer joy. Sound familiar?
“I think all too often, gay men are seen as weak,” Rob said.
“Gay doesn’t have to look a certain way.
“Here I am as a gay man with a mohawk and these muscles and competing at the highest level of this hyper-masculine sport of Strongman.
“It’s been a really great way to be able to show people that sexuality really has no bearing on things you can achieve.”
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bachy
I appreciate stories like these wherein queer men embrace their bodies and their masculinity– accepting, celebrating and redefining what it means to be male.
Donston
I appreciate them as well, but the whole “people don’t believe gays can be masculine or into sports” narrative is kinda dated. While some queer males’ obsession with showing just how “masculine” or “straight passing” they are can veer into toxicity and can be more driven by insecurities or internalized phobias or femme-phobia or traces of gay panic than by anything else. The “appreciation” needs to be a balanced and healthy thing.
bowlingbutch
bravo for these two men!! Love is great and I hope they don’t receive too much hate during the competitions.
linedrive
Yay! I love happy gay stories! Keep putting out those positive queer vibes.