Today In History....

September 14, 1978

The Sexist Straight Ally Athlete Ever Ben Cohen Is Born --- Happy 35th Birthday!

Benjamin Christopher "Ben" Cohen, MBE (born 14 September 1978) is an English activist and former England rugby union international player. He began his professional career with Northampton Saints in 1996; in 2007 he moved to France to represent Brive before returning to England two years later to join Sale Sharks. In May 2011, Cohen retired from professional rugby, and will focus on The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation he created to combat homophobia and bullying.

 Cohen was born in Northampton. He was educated at Kingsthorpe Upper School.(Kingsthorpe College as known today) This was not a rugby playing school and at age 12 he first started playing with Northampton Old Scouts RFC
Regarding his background, Cohen has stated, “My family’s not formally Jewish... but a couple of generations back they were. I think it was my great grandfather that married a non-Jewish girl and he broke with the tradition.”
In November 2000, Cohen's father Peter Cohen, brother of English World Cup winning football player George Cohen, was fatally injured while protecting an attack victim at the Eternity nightclub in Northampton which Peter Cohen managed. He died a month later from head injuries sustained in the assault. Three men were found guilty of violent conduct.
Cohen is married to Abbie Cohen (Blayney), with twin daughters Harriette and Isabelle (born 2008). He is clinically deaf, with about 30 to 33 percent hearing loss in each ear, and has been involved in efforts to make rugby more accessible to the hard of hearing, especially young deaf players.

 In 2011, Cohen founded The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Inc., which is, according to its website, "the world’s first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying, and funding those doing real-world work to stop it".
Following his retirement he announced plans to focus on the Foundation

 Off the field he is considered a gay icon, and often speaks favorably of his gay following.
Ben appeared on the covers of Attitude (magazine) in October 2009, the cover of Compete Magazine July 2011 issue and the cover of Out (magazine) in August 2011.
On 18 June 2013, Ben Cohen was named as one of the initial inductees to the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame newly established in Chicago, Illinois.
During March 2011 High and Mighty, the big and tall menswear specialist, appointed Cohen as the new face of the brand for 2011.
In 2010, Cohen donated a signed jockstrap to support GMFA, a British charity addressing gay men's health issues, which was sold at auction at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. He also featured on the front cover and in an interview section of GMFA's printed FS Magazine in November 2010.
Among other Ben Cohen merchandise, he has released calendars since 2009 in which he is often shirtless.
He ousted David Beckham as Gay Times' sports personality of the year in 2008, and came second as their sexiest man of the year.
Cohen founded The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat bullying, and he has specifically noted homophobia as one of the bullying problems on the StandUp agenda.
Cohen has often made appearances at the gay retail store Prowler in Soho to sign calendars and other merchandise for fans.