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# Pro Wrestler Kisses His Boyfriend In Front Of Homophobic Protestors To “Stand Up Against Hate”
December 13 2021
Written by Alex Bollinger.
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LGBTQ POLITICS - An out professional wrestler had the best response to extreme anti-LGBTQ protestors: kiss a boy in front of them.
All Elite Wrestling star Anthony Bowens, 30, posted a picture to his Instagram yesterday in front of signs held by protestors that said, “Trump, Make America Great Again: Ban Homo Marriage” and “HOMOS GO TO HELL.”
In the picture, Bowens kissed his boyfriend, Michael Pavano, in front of the protestors.
“#Standup against hate,” he wrote in the caption.
His fans were supportive, commenting “Love never needs an explanation” and “The sign people are already in hell and don’t know it.”
Bowens came out [in 2017 as bisexual](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/03/pro-wrestler-comes-bisexual-silly-video-boyfriend-surfaces/) and [in 2019 as gay](https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/01/02/bisexual-wrestler-anthony-bowens-gay/). He and Pavano have a YouTube channel together.
“I’ve loved pro wrestling ever since I was 5 years old and I didn’t want my experience ruined because of other wrestlers thinking I got into it for the wrong (sexual) reasons,” [Bowens wrote when he first came out](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/03/pro-wrestler-comes-bisexual-silly-video-boyfriend-surfaces/). “The ring is my sanctuary, where nothing else matters. I couldn’t bear to think that if I came out, I’d spend most of my time worrying if the person I was wrestling was uncomfortable and didn’t want to work with me.”
*(Alex Bollinger has been working in LGBTQ media for over a decade and has a Masters degree from the Paris School of Economics. He lives in Paris with his partner. Follow @alexpbollinger on Twitter.This article was published on LGBTQ Nation.)*
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