Kevin Penrose is known for his travel content as well as his love for GAA.
The proud Tyrone man admitted that he struggled with his sexuality as he continued to play for his club in his late teens, before eventually leaving the club in his early 20s.
After coming out three years ago at 28, he has now become a LGBTQ+ advocate and returned to sports.
Kevin Penrose will officially launch SuperValu’s new limited edition Pride themed Bag for Life. Kevin, whose personal journey of coming out has played a significant role in promoting inclusivity within the GAA, has openly shared the challenges he faced in a traditionally conservative sporting environment and is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ+ representation in Gaelic games.
We sat down with Kevin to chat Pride Month, GAA and what’s next for his travels…
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Hi Kevin, how are you? Talk to us about getting involved with Supervalu’s Carry With Pride campaign?
It couldn’t have come at a better time, I feel. I’ve been out now three years, but this year I feel like I’m more involved with the likes of Supervalu and BelongTo and it’s for a great cause. BelongTo are a great charity and they’ve so much resources on their website. I wish that I had known about back when I was growing up and had something like this readily available. It’s so accessible and has so much information that can help. I’m sure a lot of people are going through the same thing that I went through are getting the benefits of it today. To get involved in something like this is amazing. I’m doing the GAA Social Podcast and it was coming out again in a sense, that podcast put me on the map for that real GAA diehard fans demographic. And I feel like it’s one of those conversations you need to keep talking about because the reception from that podcast will just show how common it is for people who are in my position in the GAA who have either moved away or who were still playing football who were just too scared to come out for the exact same reasons that I felt. I feel like stepping forward and speaking about my experiences is going in the right direction to give someone the encouragement to come out themselves if they feel comfortable. So, I feel like it really just amplifies the message that Supervalu and BelongTo are putting out. All the proceeds from the bags are going towards the charity as well. So it’s really good to give back that way as well and, yeah, really hope it has an impact and can’t wait to get involved.
You come from a small rural community in Tyrone, I’m sure seeing people make this small effort will be incredible for other people who are in a similar situation you were three years ago.
This is it, if you see someone walking around, even if it’s with a wristband or a tote bag, you just go okay. It just brings a bit of comfort when you’re walking down the street in your local town. It’s that reassurance that there are people in your local communities and local towns who are supporting you. It’s nice coming back to your rural towns if you’re living in Dublin and to just be yourself and feel like you don’t have to change yourself every time you come home, you know.
GAA is such a tentpole of Irish culture and it has so many positives. But there’s no denying the toxic masculinity issues as well. Do you feel like there has been a positive change in recent years?
100 per cent. I’ve been tipping in and out of the football for years, since I was 18/19 years old was when I first started feeling that I might be gay, but I didn’t know really what it was. I always associated those feelings with the GAA because that was the environment where a sort of negative spin was put on this. You have the changing room, but it’s words being thrown around like “That’s so gay”, for example, from one person to another. But then you start to take offence to that, that’s when it sort of started. Back then GAA was my identity, and to have that sort of tainted resentment towards it, I didn’t want to be there anymore. The more it went on, the more feelings and paranoia I had that I can’t act this way or talk about this and that I have to partake in this environment to fit in. I felt that people had to put on that masculine toxic machoman, and one person was trying to get ahead and be the biggest in the room. And I didn’t know if I needed to partake in that. But now I feel there’s been a total shift. There’s none of it. I can talk to the lads now, and even before I went back to football three years ago as well and they were like, “You’ll be welcomed back no problem”. That first training session back, I walked in with my head held high and it’s just normalised you know. There was a few instances where words were thrown about again. but this time I had the courage to call it out, in a way that’s not embarrassing for them. It’s just they didn’t know any other way about this, I guess. It’s new for them having the first openly gay person now in their club. It’s all about having those difficult conversations and knowing that it does have a ripple effect for the rest of the lads. Younger lads just come in and follow suit, this is the new norm.
Do you feel like a role model for other young people who are LGBTQ+ and want to play sports?
100 per cent, it wasn’t my intention to become a role model. I have the platform anyway through social media with my travels and I had the audience and just sort of decided to post about coming out, being gay online as well because I feel like back when I was at age I didn’t have that person and the public eye and who was going through the same thing I was going through. Donal Óg Cusack came out after he retired, but that was talked about for one day in a week and then it was forgotten about. Compare that to now, where social media is so accessible. Like most of your problems, you just look up on TikTok or Instagram and you’ll have an endless amount of information. It just keeps the conversation going, and people can see us. I can be the person I needed back then and just show people that it’s okay, it might just be negative now, but it does come out the other side so much more positive. I spent so long on the negative, if you’d even asked me three or four years ago if I’d be sitting talking to you now about everything, I wouldn’t believe you. It’s crazy how things work out. The amount of messages I would get to this day is still crazy. It’s eye-opening for me because I actually wasn’t the only person there who felt like this. It’s so common, especially within the rural communities during that younger age.
Let’s talk about that representation. People in rural areas might be a bit less used to having LGBTQ+ people in their area as so many move to the big cities. And there’s lots of gay Gaelic football teams in the cities. You’re a proud Tyrone man!
Yes, there are gay Gaelic football teams in Belfast, in Dublin and Cork. I remember people asking me, “Are you going to move to Dublin or Belfast now and join these football teams?” I’m still playing with my football club. I think that’s what makes people realise you can have the option to play for your club. No one’s stopping you! I grew up in a rural town in the back end of nowhere sort of thing. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with joining those teams but you should feel comfortable to stay at your local club. You don’t have to move away completely. That’s one thing I’ve noticed with gay people, or gay men who move away. They maybe move to the next city or London and they drop out from football, then they come out, and then they don’t go back to football because it’s all that fear of I guess the environment of the game that I mentioned before. Hopefully now they do feel comfortable enough to come out and still continue playing with their home club football team and they don’t have to give up their life entirely to start a new life abroad or anything. It’s sort of the trend I’ve seen being talking to people, they’ll say, “I’ve moved away from home when I was younger and fell out of love with the sport and haven’t played since”. Or else it’s “I moved to Dublin and thinking about joining the gay gaelic football team to get back into that social aspect” which is amazing for one when you’ve been out of it for so long. So it’s good to see the realisation that you can play football again, you don’t have to not play it because you’re gay.
What advice would you give to young GAA players who are questioning their sexuality who might want to step away from sports?
It’s a long, complicated journey. My club didn’t do anything wrong; they just didn’t realise that they had a player who felt that he might be gay. They just didn’t realise, so didn’t have the resources within the club for me to go to. Don’t keep everything to yourself, don’t bottle it up. I think clubs should have someone there so you can express those feelings to. Just to make you a bit more comfortable and at ease. Even if it’s your manager or someone on the panel, just to have these conversations. Because I do see the drop off rates within gay men, especially. I think just stick with it and chat to a friend if you are struggling with those sexual feelings at that age, and just don’t focus on the negative things. It may take a little time, but even if you talk to one person about it, then it is a real weight shifted off your chest and it does get better.
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Aside from GAA you are a full time content creator. Tell us how you fell in love with travel and turned it into a job!
It came off the back of a hobby. Once I wasn’t playing Gaelic football, I spent my summers in America doing summer camps. I had my little GoPro just documenting my travels just for friends and family. Then when I came home, I realised I actually haven’t seen enough of Ireland before. We have mountains and beaches and waterfalls that I didn’t know existed before. So I just started the same thing videoing and posting online just for myself more than anything. They were just memories and it’s what I did for a couple of years. It was Covid time, whenever TikTok came into play, that anything happened. I had such a bank of videos and photographs of sea swims, sunrise hikes, all these waterfalls and stuff like that. Everyone was on their phone, then a lot more and it just sort of snowballed from there. That’s how I sort of built my audience online and it was solely based on my travels and adventures around Ireland. Then whenever I did come out, I probably had an audience of around 100,000 at that stage, I just sort of thought, “Why wouldn’t I share this part of my life as well”. Now I’m sort of trying to find the balance between the travel and the personal stuff. It’s now a full time job which started as a hobby a couple of years ago to now. Like it’s crazy that you’re able to do it full time! a
You’ve spoken about retirement in GAA. That’s a while off yet, but it must be an emotional thought.
100 per cent. I’m 31 now and I keep thinking how many years will I have left? I’m so invested now and people ask me, “Would you not just join a team in Dublin now that you live there and just play out your years there?” I actually want to play for my home club for the last remaining years with the guys I grew up with, my childhood friends you know and play with my club because I think I owe it to my younger self for missing so many years and not really playing to my full potential, compared to now where it’s just straight there for the football. I think I will be sad to let it go down the line but hopefully it wont be for a long time yet.
What’s next for you, Kevin?
Just working away in Dublin and football over the weekends. That will be the bulk of it now until God knows when, maybe September, October time, depending on how we get on. Hopefully get more into the Supervalu campaign and more into that space and work with more LGBTQ+ environments. Lots more adventures and lots more travels alongside it. Just going with the flow really and enjoying it.
Pick up your #CarryWithPride bags at SuperValu stores nationwide for €3, the profits from each bag purchased will go to Belong To – LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, the national LGBTQ+ youth organisation. Belong To provides life-saving services to LGBTQ+ young people and their families such as crisis counselling, youth groups and information, as well as advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ youth to create a society where they are safe to shine and confidently shape their own futures.