Australia’s Ellia Green has become the first Olympian to come out as a trans man.

The gold medal-winning champion came out in a pre-recorded video at a summit organised by the LGBTQ+ rugby championship Bingham Cup on 16 August in Ottowa, Canada.

The summit is an international, biennial championship of gay and inclusive rugby, where homophobia and inequality in sport are widely discussed.

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“I promised myself that when my rugby career ended, I would continue to live the rest of my life in the identity and the body that I that I know I am meant to be in,” admitted Ellia, in the prerecorded video. 

“Being open about my gender identity is a really difficult thing to do these days. All you have to do is turn on the TV, look on social media platforms, and you can see the amount of bullying, harm and discrimination that goes on about gender identities,” he said.

“It’s extremely harmful, so for someone to be open and honest about their identity to the public eye is absolutely daunting.”

Ellia represented Australia in women’s rugby and won gold at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He also won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, before retiring from rugby in 2021.

In the video, Ellia further opened up about his struggles with mental health and coming to terms with his gender identity.

“But the only way to help heal is to talk about it,” he said. “I’d like to help someone not feel so isolated by telling my story.”

Inspired to act?

SUPPORT: Donate to help support the Bingham Cup and the work they do supporting LGBTQ+ people in sports.

GET INVOLVED: Work with Mermaid UK helping to support trans youth and their access to sports.