On June 22, 2018, A Wider Bridge published the story about Nir Rotenberg, Israel’s wrestling champion, who came out as gay. The story, translated (from Hebrew) and edited by me, got picked up by gay media around the world.

Outsports: “In an interview with WDG, and then translated into English by Yanir Dekel for A Wider Bridge, Rotenberg talks about being gay, in a relationship and having kids. But top of mind for the wrestling champion has been his social responsibility as a successful gay athlete.” read the full story

Gay Star News: “Professional wrestling champion Nir Rotenberg has come out in the hopes to inspire others. Also known as Rixon, the Israeli athlete lives in Tel Aviv with partner Ronen and Ronen’s two children. The two have plans to get married and have children of their own.” read the artice

Queerty: Rotenberg is the current reigning champ of the Israeli Wrestling League. He also just came out publicly to send other queer wrestlers the message that it’s ok to be who you are. And for what it’s worth, he’s also a dreamboat continue reading

Here’s the original article: Israeli wrestling champion Nir Rotenberg, AKA Rixon, is the first wrestling champion to come out of the closet. He lives in Tel Aviv with his partner Ronen and Ronen’s two children from joint parenthood, and the two already have plans to get married and have children of their own.

The moment when he was declared champion was a peak point in Nir’s professional life, but also in his personal life, after he realized how much responsibility comes with this title. His wrestling league friends already knew that Nir was gay, and so did his family and friends. Nir’s next step was to come out publicly to the entire wrestling fans in general and to his character’s fans in particular.

“I understood the extent of the responsibility and the influence that my actions have now that I am a champion, and I knew that it was time to come out of the closet in public,” he said. “If I had a gay role model as a young wrestler, the fears I’ve had in the past would have been avoided.”

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