Out Pro Wrestler Anthony Bowens Calls for Greater Gay Inclusion in the Sport

Openly gay pro wrestler Anthony Bowens called for the sport to do "better" in representing the LGBTQ+ community, Wrestling Inc. reported.

In an interview with Nerds & Beyond, the All Elite wrestler spoke about "how the landscape of professional wrestling has changed in recent years with the influx of LGBTQ+ wrestlers not just in mainstream wrestling, but the independent scene, as well."

"I think companies should be working towards better" representation, Bowen, who along with Max Caster comprises the tag-team duo The Acclaimed, told the site. "For me, I'd want to present it the right way, considering how things were presented in the past which was presented terribly.

"So I'm actively trying to figure out what would be a good story to tell," Bowen added, "what would be the right way to go. Because, again, if we are going to do it the right way, we've got to make sure that we are doing it the right way."

Nerds & Beyond noted that, in contrast to other entertainment that offers LGBTQ+-themed content during Pride but not throughout the rest of the year, when it comes to All Elite Wrestling, which is inclusive by design, "not only are LGBTQ+ wrestlers becoming champions, they're also being featured in major storylines on a weekly basis and for a lot of them, are cornerstones for the company."

"All across the wrestling sphere there's a push for better queer stories highlighted stemming from wanting to preserve the importance of the topic while rewriting the ugly underbelly of LGBTQ+ 'representation' in the sport by making wrestling more progressive and inclusive," the site added.

Bowen told Nerds & Beyond, "I take representing the company as a badge of honor in all kinds of fields. I want to represent AEW in all assets of entertainment, you know? Not just in the ring, but outside the ring as well. I want to bring more eyes to the company so they can see how diverse our roster is, how fun the shows are."

Along with that, the 32-year-old added, "I want to make sure that the whole world knows what AEW is, how inclusive they are, and how fun professional wrestling can be."

The tag-team champion acknowledged that LGBTQ+ representation and storylines would "be under a microscope because people want to see how this goes, how it plays out, how the story's written. So there's a delicacy to it too."

"It hasn't really been done correctly before," Bowens reflected. "So that's something that I would like to probably do in the future."

As for Pride, Bowens offered the insight that the global celebration "means just being authentically you and embracing it and loving yourself." The message of Pride, he added, is "accepting yourself, loving yourself, and not letting all of that negative energy" inflicted by anti-LGBTQ+ trolls "consume you."

"It's about celebrating who you are as an individual."

Bowen recently talked about how, early in his career, he feared that coming out would derail his life. During a Dec. 4 appearance on the podcast "Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend," the pro athlete recalled that "there was a time" when he "would sit in my room, in my car, and just cry thinking if I came out, you know, my career is over, fans would hate me, wrestlers would hate me, a national TV company wouldn't take a chance on me."

But, much as he does in the ring, the champion prevailed.

"After coming out as bisexual in 2017, Bowens shared a video in 2019 with his partner, stating he now solely identifies as homosexual," SE Scoops recalled. Far from seeing his career end, though, Bowens saw it go stratospheric.

Check out some of the posts from Bowens' Instagram.