In a recent conversation with Pride.com, Anthony Bowens delved into the growing inclusivity of LGBTQ+ wrestlers in the professional wrestling industry, the way fans perceive him at AEW, and more. Here are the highlights:
How he feels as an openly gay wrestler: “I feel extremely welcome. That was actually one of the drawing points of coming to All Elite Wrestling [AEW], back in 2020, when I was trying to choose between two companies. It was how welcoming the locker room was and how free the performers were, because AEW had the first ever trans woman to win a major national title named Nyla Rose, and they had Sonny Kiss, and both were just walking around being themselves and there was no issues. It was just we’re all one big family, it didn’t matter who you were. And I thought that was so impressive.”
AEW crowd embracing him and the ‘he’s gay’ chants of support: “That was an interesting day. My form of activism is not so much in your face. I like to be just out and visible and myself every single week, as successfully as possible. In sports, I was never the team leader, but I was always the guy who led by example.”
Wider acceptance in the business: “We have shows on the independent [promotions] like Effy’s Big Gay Brunch that features all LGBTQ athletes, I think he runs it multiple times a year now; it used to be every WrestleMania weekend. And then also on AEW, I think that at one point one of our shows had I think seven or eight out LGBTQ athletes on the show. That doesn’t happen anywhere else. And that certainly didn’t happen when I first started.”