When referee Marcus Griffiths shared screenshots of the extremely abusive DMs he had been sent after a match — which included a death threat — he knew there would be consequences.
Griffiths was out as gay within the rugby league community in England and had been open on his social media accounts, posting to Instagram back in 2019 about his coming out experience years before as well as celebrating the Rainbow Laces campaign.
However, the extent of the homophobia he had received online was so abhorrent that highlighting the messages would not only bring media attention but also make his visibility more public.
“When people ask “Why do we still need pride?” This is the reason!” Griffiths wrote, alongside three rainbow flag emojis.
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His courage was met with a flood of support — from governing body the Rugby Football League, journalists, pundits, players and fans. Though many will have already known that the official was gay, they all recognized the significance of his reference to Pride when calling out targeted hate.
Nearly a year later, Griffiths has been reflecting on the episode for a Super League campaign titled “Tackle the Tough Stuff”, which encourages difficult conversations relating to mental health.
In a video released this week, Griffiths and fellow referees begin by reading online comments from fans that mock those responsible for on-field decisions with amusing and cheeky banter.
Then Griffiths reads the content of the DMs that popped into his inbox in August 2023. Several words have to be bleeped out. The contrast between light humor and dark, malicious homophobia is stark.
At the time, the Widnes-born official had to weigh up whether or not to share the messages online.
He explains in the video: “My family were against it because they didn’t want me adding extra pressure onto myself, putting myself into the spotlight and being known as ‘the gay referee’ and getting things because of my sexuality rather than my ability.
“That’s difficult — that coming out will have given some people the belief that I only get certain games because of who I am, not my ability. That will always happen now until I decide to hang the whistle up.”
But Griffiths was adamant that the vile abuse needed to be brought to people’s attention, and he consulted with the RFL before deciding to post images of the DMs.
A few weeks later, the Super League season was over — but the impact of the abuse lingered.
“You don’t realize the effect it has until you actually stop and you allow it to all sink in. It was only once the season had finished, that it did hit me,” he says.
“I didn’t accept that until the season had finished. People will have forgotten about it but it had a probably three, four-month effect on me that I didn’t want to accept.”
The majority of fans are amazing, but a minority take it too far and it needs to stop! We’re human and care deeply about our performance and the sport. Criticism is fair, but there's a clear line. If you wouldn’t say it to your colleagues, why say it to mine? #TackleTheToughStuff https://t.co/BqsbpfBROJ
— Marcus Griffiths (@MarcusGriff) July 10, 2024
One reason the 29-year-old is speaking out again now is because he wants to empower anyone who might have a similarly grim experience to follow his lead.
“The obvious advice for people receiving social media abuse is to not read it, ignore it, pretend it’s not there.
“However curiosity will always pique your interest when a message pops up in your requests or you get a new tweet that gets sent your way.
“You’re always going to be curious to look. The advice that I would give would be, if it’s so over the line that it is criminal, you need to say something and you need to point it out.”
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Appalling homophobic abuse of referee gets rugby league talking
Marcus Griffiths recently received anti-gay slurs and a death threat on social media. Former ref James Child, who came out publicly in 2021, says there are issues to address.
By Jon Holmes | September 7, 2023
Griffiths has little faith in those controlling the platforms to take the necessary action against offenders, saying that social media is “a cesspit at times.”
But he does believe the authorities will have to act and make every effort to trace those responsible.
“The only way that these people will be removed from the sport and these opinions will be eradicated is by people constantly calling it out and making people realize that that behavior isn’t acceptable,” he adds.
