‘He said yes’: First openly gay All Black, Campbell Johnston, engaged

Campbell Johnstone came out publicly in January.
Photo: Kai Schwoerer / STUFF

Campbell Johnstone, the first openly gay All Black, has announced his engagement to partner Ben Thomson.

All Black No. 1056, who came out publicly in January, said on social media that he was “incredibly happy” Thomson, his partner of two years, had agreed to marry him.

“Thank you @beniboinz for making this one of the happiest days ever,” he said.

Thomson, meanwhile, informed his social media followers that he was “a fiancé now”, adding “can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you @campbelljohnstone.nz”.

Johnstone – who played in three All Blacks tests in 2005, made 72 appearances for Canterbury and 38 for the Crusaders – said in January that he had been “overwhelmed and humbled” by how far and wide his story had travelled since opening up about his identity on Seven Sharp.

His story was featured on global media outlets such as CNN and the BBC, and he said he had received messages from as far afield as Norway.

In an interview with Woman’s Day, Johnstone said he asked Thomson’s parents for permission to marry him, and they both gave him their blessing.

The couple, who first met in 2016, had decided they would like to get engaged in Turkey, and so travelled to Cappadocia, where Thomson got down on one knee at sunrise as the region’s famous hot-air balloons took to the skies.

“It was a bit of an off-the-cuff speech, really,” Johnstone told the magazine.

“I just said, ‘Ben Thomson, will you do me the honour of marrying me?’ and he said yes, obviously. I was concentrating on not dropping the ring while I was putting it on. It’s quite a fiddly process!”

Johnstone told Stuff in January that he had decided to come out publicly to help those who might be struggling.

“When we decided to go on this journey, and open up this door, even if we help one person then this has been a success for us. It’s been rewarding. The messages we are getting, which are so humbling, we’ve been able to do that,” he said.

“I’m very keen to encourage any movement that comes out of it, and as long as it’s helpful to everyone, we’ll keep going.”

This story was originally published by Stuff.