UK rugby star Ben Cohen on Thursday
signed copies of his 2012 calendar at UK gay sex shop Prowler.
Prowler hosted the event, which
attracted a line of fans that spilled out of the shop and onto the
streets of Soho. (A video of the event compiled by Prowler is
embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The openly straight Cohen retired from
rugby earlier this year and launched the Ben
Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat homophobia and the bullying of
LGBT teens. Cohen is particularly interested in promoting greater
acceptance in the world of sports.
A portion of the proceeds from the gay
ally's 2012 beefcake calendar benefit his foundation. (Buy
yours here.)
Cohen was honored for his gay rights
advocacy in October by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force at the
group's annual recognition dinner in Miami.
Before accepting the award, Cohen told
NBC Miami that straight people do not get his gay rights advocacy.
“Yeah, not many people get it,”
Cohen said. “Well, that's not true. A lot of people do get it.
But a lot of straight people have asked, 'Why are you doing
this?' I just explain that it really is just to break down
stereotypes. I knew I would be able to speak to both the gay and
straight community and maybe reach a few different groups of people.
I just want people to know that how you treat others is how you
should want to be treated yourself. Random acts of kindness are
simple.”