“Love’s all that matters” – Gay rugby player trolled over older fiancé
The large age gap between gay rugby player Sam Stanley and his older boyfriend has proven to be too much for online trolls to resist.
Stanley first made waves in 2015 when he became the first English professional union player to come out the closet.
Over the weekend, he announced that he’d gotten engaged to his partner Laurence Hicks. Along with a picture of the happy couple, Stanley wrote on Instagram:
“After being a part of each other’s lives for almost 7 years, @lorenzo_uk has been my pretend godfather, uncle, cousin and many others in order to make sure no one found out about us and that we were a couple.
“Funny looking back after having come so far together. The most loving man I know and I’m incredibly happy to say we’re now engaged.”
Sadly, many on social media were anything but congratulatory, choosing to troll the two men because Stanley, 25, is considerably younger than his travel agent partner.
In an interview with Attitude, the former professional rugby player defended their relationship and also revealed that the two had met on the silverdaddies.com dating site.
“For me I fell in love with Laurence very quickly. I’d never had the feelings I felt for him before. It was pretty amazing and I’m incredibly lucky to have met him and call him my fiancé,” he explained.
As for the criticism about their age gap, Stanley believes that age is simply a number. “I’m sure as everyone knows, you’re not doing anything right if you’re not getting criticised in this world,” he said.
“Laurence and I love each other and to us that’s all that matters. We’re proud to represent the many relationships like ours,” Stanley added.
Stanley also confirmed that his rugby days are over as the couple plan to move to Sicily in the coming days. “Laurence has a few travel projects he’s working on and I’m taking over a gym. As far as children go we have spoken a bit on the subject and I’d love to have kids.
“But for now I think we need to focus on our new projects and me on my Italian. All I’ve ever known is rugby so I’m looking forward to a new challenge.”
In addition to his time on the rugby field and working as a personal trainer, Stanley is also known for his singing and playing the guitar – at times in the nude!
Why would you conclude an article about how gay people shouldn’t be so obsessed about appearance (a very important message one would think) with photos objectifying the very same person the article is about?
Damn, he’s delicious, Laurence that is?