Wrestling star Anthony Bowens is a proud member of the LGBTQ community and has been very transparent about that fact since day one.
During AEW Rampage last week, a segment featuring The Acclaimed and QTV took place which included female reporter, Harley Cameron, mentioning she could tell Bowens was into her. That’s when the best moment of the show happened when Bowers made it clear he was not because he is gay.
“Very, very serious question,” Bowens responded to the Australian commentator. “Did you get kicked too many times in the head by a kangaroo when you were a kid?? Because I don’t know if you can see my gear, lady … I’m gay!!”
The whole crowd could be heard chanting, “He’s gay!!”
This week, Bowers spoke to TMZ and stated how shocked he was with the outpouring of support that he has received in the wake of that moment.
“I wish I could go back and tell 17, 18, 19-year-old Anthony Bowens that everything would be okay, because I spent a lot of time, a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety of what my career would be if I ever came out,” Bowens tells us.
“And to fast forward and to have that moment and to have that reaction I did — I’ve been getting messages every single day from people all over the world, from other athletes thanking me just for simply saying it.”
“People, a lot of times, either just insinuate it or maybe make it a joke — I was like, screw it!! You just gotta say it sometimes.”
“I think it struck a chord with a lot of people and I couldn’t be any more thrilled.”
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Bowers actually came out of the closet in 2017, but his in-ring announcement during a scripted segment that garnered such a positive reaction would have been unimaginable even a few years ago.
Adrian Adonis, a straight man, announced he was gay on WWE programming in the late 1980s, but the crowd back then booed him mercilessly while one person yelled, “AIDS is a killer!”
Bowens’ acknowledgment of his sexuality and the viral moment it created, showed how far wrestling has come.
