Sporting stars and newlyweds Israel Folau and Maria Tutaia out and about in Auckland City. 27 November 2017 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Dean Purcell.
Sporting stars and newlyweds Israel Folau and Maria Tutaia out and about in Auckland City. 27 November 2017 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Dean Purcell.
Israel Folau has been condemned for his social media comment suggesting homosexuals are heading to "HELL... Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God".
The moral outrage was understandably swift and fervent, such is contemporary society's protocol when anything is uttered – or typed – outside perceived norms.
However, little has been taken into account as to how this will affect his wife, Silver Ferns shooter Maria Folau, in her Commonwealth Games netball campaign.
Sometimes you've got to think of others, rather than charting a puritanical or dogmatic course that appears to grate with Christian tenets of forgiveness.
She will need one hell of a mental mindset to block that out when poised under the hoop.
At best, what the Wallabies fullback unleashed was an ill-advised stream of consciousness.
His wife will now be questioned on the matter if the opportunity presents at the netball, until she clarifies how her views compare or contrast to Israel's. Until then, irrespective of the rights or wrongs of the situation, she could be tethered to his perspective by association.
At the worst Folau's outburst was a selfish act which, given the Silver Ferns' reliance on his wife's accuracy, could threaten to disrupt an already delicate campaign.
New Zealand have played every final since netball's introduction to the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
Yet they enter the Games having conceded the Taini Jamison Trophy after dual losses to Jamaica. Add January's defeats to England and Australia in the Quad Series, and the prospects of making another final narrow.
Maria Folau could be asked her opinion on homophobic slurs after her husband Israel's rant. Photo: Photosport.nz
They have won three of their 11 matches since October and 17 of 32 under coach Janine Southby, including two out of 12 against Australia.
Cue Folau's polarising take on the nebulous concept of an "after life".
The situation arose when he was asked by Instagram user Mike Sephton-Poultney: "@izzyfolau what was gods [sic] plan for gay people??"
Out tumbled the sermon.
Compounding the situation is the effort made by the Commonwealth Games Federation to create an environment of inclusivity and accessibility as part of their "humanity, equality, destiny" mantra. That's their way of providing a point of difference from other multi-sport extravaganzas like the Olympics. The likes of para-swimmer Sophie Pascoe cannot carry the flag into a stadium there.
Israel Folau is not competing at the Games, but is indirectly linked via his marital connection. He has espoused views which are the antithesis of what the event is trying to achieve.
Curiously, Folau was a face of the Bingham Cup, an amateur gay rugby tournament, in 2014.
In March 2015 he came out against homophobic slurs allegedly uttered in a Super Rugby match between the Waratahs and the Brumbies. At the time he told Australia's ABC radio:
"Rugby's a game of inclusion where everyone is welcomed in.
"I don't think there's any of that [homophobia] within this club and also within the game of rugby."
