Posted in: Pop Culture | Tagged: finn balor, LBGTQ+, pride month, sonya deville, wrestling, wwe

Finn Balor Doesn't Care if Some Fans Don't Like His Pro-LGBTQ Stance

As we all know, Finn Balor debuted his Balor Club Pride shirt at WrestleMania earlier this year. It was a stunning, beautiful statement, and one that I'm sure wasn't easy to get approved. Before the show, I honestly thought we would see The Demon King, but I was pleasantly surprised at what he came out in instead. According to Sports Illustrated:

"A lot of people maybe thought going into WrestleMania, 'Well, if Finn's not gonna be the Demon, it's gonna suck,'" Bálor says. "I think what we did at WrestleMania is a lot more important than any Demon could have been."

"I feel like—not that they were excluded, but sometimes they felt like they weren't included," says the 36-year-old Irishman. "That's something I felt a responsibility for, to use the platform that I have for good and to help maybe a small amount of people for the right reasons."

"I've had messages from fans who've said I've inspired them to come out to their family," Bálor says. "It's incredible… What we do in WWE in the ring is important, but what we do and what we stand for outside of the ring is a lot more important." Some people had warned him that he might risk alienating those who do not feel the same way that he did. "My answer was if those people think like that, I don't necessarily want them as my fans," Bálor says. "That was a risk I was willing to take."

Of course, though, getting this idea up and running took a while. It's no wonder — typically wrestling has not been an inclusive place. But Balor took it upon himself to make the statement known, and I'm here for it. Between Balor and Sonya Deville, WWE may be heading in the right direction to being inclusive in a positive way.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!