Heterosexual rugby player has stroke, wakes up gay
By EJ DicksonNovember 8th, 2011, 7:00 pmComments (22)
If you identify as having a sexual orientation, and you have no intention of changing it anytime soon, avoid trying to impress your friends with back flips. That's how formerly heterosexual Welsh rugby player Chris Birch injured his neck, suffered a stroke, and woke up to discover that he was gay. And, apparently, also a pretty mediocre hairdresser, if the photo above is any indication.
Before suffering a broken neck while training at the gym, Birch, twenty-six, worked at a bank and was engaged to his girlfriend. Upon waking up at the hospital, he discovered that he was no longer attracted to women, and promptly embraced his new lifestyle as a gay man, going to gay bars and even quitting his job to become a hairdresser. "I had never been attracted to a man before — I had never even had gay friends," Birch says. "But I didn't care who I was before, I had to be true to my feelings."
A spokesperson for the stroke association claims that a change in personality is not uncommon after suffering a stroke, and Birch, who is currently living with his boyfriend, says he's "happier than ever." Still, although the story is kind of weirdly sweet, and it's great that the accident opened up new channels of self-discovery for Birch, one shudders to think of the obnoxious, painfully unfunny sitcom that will almost certainly be made out of his story (and the pitch would almost certainly be, "it's like Queer as Folk meets Blow Out, except with permanent neurological damage").
Commentarium (22 Comments)
Oh, the anit-gay set are going to have a field day with this... "he woke up gay!" Pretty sure he was gay and fooling himself all the while until this near death experience.
Which is pretty sad when you think that someone would use trauma as an excuse for coming out.
That's definitely what it sounded like to me too.
Eh... I've known plenty of people whose feelings about their sexuality changed throughout their life. I think it's pretty narrow-minded to insist people who claim that must be lying. For some people maybe it doesn't, but for some people it does.
I hope that guy has given up rugby. Judging from the picture he doesn't have the physique for it, unless he's world-class fast and evasive. I write as one (way bigger than him) who had to give it up due to back problems and still eats Motrin sandwiches some 30 years later as a result.
He was 19 stone before the accident and lost the weight afterwards to fit in with his new life.
Stroke/brain damage/diminished mental function/gay. It's not genetic but maybe you really can be born gay.
you could be born stupid enough to suggest something like that.
the stroke I had.
I feel it’s completely possible to be born gay. In the womb every fetus starts out as a female and as it progresses, the body changes, and the mind and its functions form. Think about it, No, it’s not a mental defect, being gay, but perhaps the attraction females have for males and vise versa didn’t get a chance to form properly when the change occurred. That could be because of hormones, or anything. Who knows? My gay cousin states that he knew from a young age he was gay. And so did the people around him. There isn’t a problem with that and someone suggesting something that is possible doesn’t make them stupid. That’s like saying someone is stupid for saying an asteroid DID kill the dinosaurs, when in fact that just happens to be the most plausible reason for their extinction. The fact is we don’t know without a doubt how the mind functions and forms. So yes, in my opinion, its possible some may be born gay. As for the article, he seemed to have been very happy with his fiancé. And it’s quite possible he didn’t use It as an excuse to come out, but the brain rewired itself after the stroke. I don’t know. The only person who really knows is Chris.
the article says he went from 19 stone to 11 that translates to 154 lbs from 266
I have a friend who was in a bad motor bike accident, was in a coma for a few weeks, and he became a completely different person. You wouldn't believe the change. If this is true, (big if I know) this is a good way to try to work out what makes a person gay, I heard about the hippocampus being a possible cause of homosexuality, and it is usually bigger in gay people. Worth a look into I feel.
I don't think it's as big an if as you might think. Significant changes in personality after neurological damage are well-documented.
Oh yeah, that whole 'switch flipped to gay' thing, that happened to me too. Had a bad fall one day, sprained my ankle, next morning: woke up gay and Marathi Indian. Wasn't really helping it, before I even knew what was happening, I had come out to my parents, broke up with my wife, downloaded some Bhangra off iTunes, pounded down buckets of Pav Bhaji, got a cat, went to a couple art shows and then a leather daddy festival where I partied with some nice guys. Luckily it all turned out to be just some indigestion; and after it all passed, I become 100% straight and temporarily Filipino.
The stroke association was talking about changes in brain function as a result of an accident leading to personality changes, not a "sprained ankle." Really I think it's unfortunate people have such oppressive attitudes toward what this guy feels is his personal story.
You know, honestly I'm not even a troll: I don't even disagree that it probably happened, I just think the situation's funny cause it seems so ridiculous on the face of it. But I don't think this guy needs my support. I think he'll be okay. I don't think it's important for us to have a healthy national conversation about this one dude.
This is the dumbest thing I have read all day.
If it's true I find it fascinating and I have read many stories where peoples personality's switch after strokes. Like a different person. The chat here is very interesting as well lol
I dont believe it, I Think he needed a reason to come out of the closet, and he found one. He's trying to pull the wool over our eyes, doesnt fool me for a minute. Oh yea, I forgot to mention I was born black and tripped on an ant and woke up the next day a white women, me and the now departed michael jackson have been the best of friends and have exchanged our life changing stories with each other. Wonder when I will turn back black, Black is Beautiful u know......:)
You get a lot of respect from me for writing these hepulfl articles.
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Now you say something