Emma Watson’s touching words for gay rugby league player Keegan Hirst

The messages of support and congratulations for Keegan Hirst have been flooding in since the 27-year-old came out to the world at the weekend, in the process becoming Britain’s first out gay rugby league player.

The support has come from some well-known sources, too: British actress and Harry Potter star Emma Watson took to Twitter yesterday (August 18) to post a touching tribute to the Batley Bulldogs captain, praising him for having both physical courage on the pitch and moral courage off it.

The 25-year-old star – who is currently in London filming Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, in which she plays Belle – Tweeted: “Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.

“Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal or discouragement.

“Keegan Hirst #gotboth”.

Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.

— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) August 18, 2015

…. Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death,

— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) August 18, 2015

while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal or discouragement. @KeeganHirst #gotboth

— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) August 18, 2015

Hirst – who was cheered during his first match since coming out and spoke on television about the public reaction to his announcement earlier this week – was quick to thank Watson, who also followed him on the social media site. British actor and comedian Stephen Fry also showed his own tacit support with a follow of his own, something which Hirst described as “surreal”.

🙈😶 Massive thanks to @stephenfry and @EmWatson for the follow. Surreal or what

— Keegan Hirst (@KeeganHirst) August 18, 2015

In his original coming out announcment, Hirst expressed his hope that being open about his own sexuality might make it easier for players to accept themselves in the future.

“People keep saying I’m brave,” he said. “I don’t feel brave. I’m just talking about me. There might be other players in the same position I was.

“If there are, I’d tell them to just be honest with themselves.”

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