Claudia Moloney-MacDonald: 'I just found it interesting that they had chosen to single me out'

Claudia Moloney-MacDonald returned to her club Exeter Chiefs last month after a hugely successful Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

Not only did England win an eighth consecutive tournament but Moloney-MacDonald played more of a starting role after only featuring in just one match in last year’s trophy-winning Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign.

During her first club training after the Grand Slam win, the wing picked up a letter sent to Sandy Park which was addressed to her. But when she opened it she was not met with the usual fan letter most would expect.

Instead, it detailed criticism for Moloney-MacDonald’s relationship with her wife Cliodhna, the Ireland and Exeter hooker.

The sender, who did not identify themselves, said they were not “impressed” after seeing a picture of Moloney-MacDonald with Cliodhna in a newspaper.

The letter read: “Being a lesbian or homosexual is contrary to how human life should be according to scripture. Everyone, including myself, will be judged according to the life we lead now before the final judgement which is due soon, no one knows the day or hour. It’s a shame you and your partner have taken this course and there are consequences, your future is down to you, you carry your own load.”

Moloney-MacDonald said her initial reaction was one of shock.

“I guess I am quite secure in who I am,” she said. “I would have been more concerned if I was someone who was perhaps less confident in who they were and who they were with.

“I was quite fortunate in that at least that I am pretty confident in who I am and the decisions that I have made. When I read the letter I was kind of in shock but I almost laughed at it, which sounds a bit nasty, but I was just a bit surprised and shocked.

“The first person I went over and showed was Cli and I think she found it bizarre as well. It did then spread around the changing room amongst players and then you get a range of opinions around it. Some people are genuinely insulted and found it very rude, others just quite comical and funny.

“I think although they [the sender] are expressing their opinion about something despite clearly not approving of my decisions, they seem to be doing it in a non-insulting, nasty way which I found quite interesting.

“It’s not that horrible in terms of there is no emotion attached to it. It is not nasty or insulting as such because the person is more just expressing their view around their religion. I just found it very interesting that they had chosen to single me out in particular.”

Despite the letter not containing “insults”, the fact it was in letter form and not a spontaneous or impulsive social media message shows how purposeful the action was.

“There is definitely a lot of intention behind it,” Moloney-MacDonald added. “Clearly they have concern for me, I would guess, or disapproval of how I choose to live my life. I don’t really believe I am hurting anyone with the way I live my life.

“They clearly thought about what they wanted to send to me because it wasn’t a spur of the moment [social media post]. But there were a fair few comments about the cost of a stamp at the moment and was it truly necessary.”

 

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The 30-year-old responded perfectly by posting the letter on social media accompanied with pictures of her and Cliodhna. She received an outpouring of love from not just teammates but the rugby community as a whole.

Moloney-MacDonald said: “I think that is the beautiful part. We are very fortunate. I am gay, I am married to a woman but I live in an environment and space where that is very much accepted.

“A lot of people don’t and a lot of people are exactly the same as us but live in a community where it is not seen favourably. They might get a lot of hate for it.

“The fact the letter came to me I think is a positive because I can deal with it and not be particularly bothered by it. I wouldn’t want something like that to land in the postbox of someone who doesn’t live in such a supportive community.”

The incident has also not hampered her form with the star scoring twice in Exeter’s 57-5 win over Bristol Bears last Saturday and the club have sealed their semi-final spot.

The South West side are likely to play Saracens in the play-offs but Moloney-MacDonald says there is no such thing as an ‘easier’ semi-final in this league.

“The league is unbelievably competitive this year,” she added. “Up until Trailfinders won their game [against Gloucester Hartpury] last weekend there were three, if not four teams that could possibly have made a semi-final which I think is really indicative of where the league is at at the moment.

“Gloucester and Saracens have sat at the top of the league for the majority of the season really so inevitably someone is going to have to face one of those for a semi-final. Certainly no easy games coming up but hopefully ones that we are ready for.”