Simon Dunn: GoFundMe set up for rugby star and bobsledder’s funeral
The LGBTQ advocate died suddenly over the weekend.
A GoFundMe page was launched following the death of Simon Dunn, aged 35.
The Australian rugby player, former bobsledder, and LGBTQ advocate was confirmed to have died by his management over the weekend. Police said at the time his death is not being treated as suspicious.
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe, which was started on Wednesday (25 January) had achieved most of the intended target of $30,000 (AUD).
Funds raised will help cover the cost of his funeral, the page stated. Costs include accommodating people, helping stream the funeral, and the cremation.
“Simon was loved by his family and friends, adored by his fans and media, and appreciated by the many charities and the LGBTIAQ+ communities he helped promote and support,” the GoFundMe reads.
The GoFundMe also addresses inquiries about buying Simon’s 2023 calendar. Proceeds will go “back to his family and to the charities he held close to his heart.”
“The lives you’ve changed and legacy you leave behind you is endless”
The 35-year-old was the first openly gay man to join a national bobsleigh team when he joined the Australian squad in 2014. He retired two years later.
Simon later moved to London where he joined the LGBTQ rugby club King’s Cross Steelers. He later played for the Sydney Convicts, Australia’s first gay rugby club.
The athlete was shortlisted for the Australian LGBTI Awards Sports Personality of the Year for 2018 and 2019.
A passionate advocate, Dunn was an ambassador for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Australia’s oldest community-based HIV organisation. He also worked with GiveOUT, an Australian LGBTQ charity.
A friend of Attitude magazine, Dunn was crowned the hottest man in the world in Attitude’s 2017 Hot 100. This event no longer runs.
His death has resonated throughout the LGBTQ community, at home and abroad.
Australian footballer, Josh Cavallo, wrote on Twitter he’d struggled with the news of Simon’s passing.
“The lives you’ve changed and legacy you leave behind you is endless. Being Australia’s first gay rugby player there is so much pressure and expectations that you carried and shouldered day in day out,” he added.
RIP Simon x