Sex God/Rugby Star/Most Awesome Ally ever, Ben Cohen in Seattle for special events.

We announced this months ago, but the time has come to talk about all things Ben Cohen as the UK rugby star is about to descend upon the Emerald City for Memorial Day Weekend. The bearish icon and athlete is obviously much admired for his beefy, hirsute physique and adorably man-boyish mug by gay men and straight women but Mr. Cohen is also much beloved for less physical reasons for his very vocal support for the LGBTQ community both in the UK and around the world, raising money for queer causes and supporting gay athletes in the very close minded world of professional sports. And, in support of the LGBTQ community, Mr. Cohen has created The Ben Cohen Stand Up Foundation, “which supports organizations that advance equality and combat bullying against LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) youth,” and the married father of two is touring the United States this spring in “The Ben Cohen Acceptance Tour” to promote and raise awareness for the foundation, primarily visiting cities with gay rugby teams.

Luckily for Seattle, we are one of the few stops on his tour and Mr. Cohen will be in town from May 27 -29 and attending and participating in Seattle Quake Rugby’s Magnitude, the 15th annual national rugby tournament hosted by the Quake over Memorial Day Weekend and featuring gay rugby teams from all over North America. Mr. Cohen will be in attendance and participating in many Magnitude events, some free and open to the public, and others will be ticketed. Check out their website for information, as it becomes available.

Ben's a Mac Dude! Awesome!

Ben Cohen will also participate in a Town Hall Forum at the University of Washington on Friday, May 27 at 4:30pm entitled, “Standing Up Against Homophobia in Sports” which will include other panelists including Dave Kopay, the first NFL player to come out of the closet and a University of Washington graduate. The hour and a half long panel in Kane Hall, will be followed by a reception from 6pm to 7pm. Tickets for this event are extremely limited. Contact UW’s Student Life at dawglife@uw.edu to reserve your seat to this free event. This event WILL “sell” out so don’t dawdle.

Also, dear rabid fans of Mr. Cohen, please remember he is our ally and not actually gay…try to resist the urge to flirt with him or sneak into his hotel room…tacky.