Jags' Maxen is first male Amerin pro sports ach to e out as gay - ESPN

Contents:

• A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
• WHY ’S IMPORTANT FOR GAY ATHLET TO TELL THEIR STORI
• PRO ATHLET WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY: SPORTS STARS WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN RECEIV OVERWHELMG SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY

A GAY GIRL’S GUI TO THE 2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Gay, lbian, bisexual, trans and queer soccer players who are publicly out — now at least 95 total — make up almost 13% of all the athlet petg the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Atralia and New Zealand, Outsports has found. Countri like Nigeria and Zambia imprison gay people. Still ’s hearteng to see some women om South Ai, where homosexualy has been legal for 25 years.

It will be a glor month to be a gay fan.

Last time at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the Netherlands lay claim to the honor of beg the team wh the most out LGBTQ players, but this year Atralia boasts 10 out players and overtak them for the tle of Gayt Team 2k23. Ireland’s historic entry to the tournament marks another triumph for out midfielr Sead Farrelly, whose natnal team but and 2023 return to the NWSL e more than six years after retirg om soccer the wake of systemic homophobic and sexual abe wh the league, which the Athletic first reported on 2021. It was a random yet powerful enunter last week that showed me the power of gay athlet tellg their stori.

WHY ’S IMPORTANT FOR GAY ATHLET TO TELL THEIR STORI

Beg at Penn State, I thought about Carl Nassib, a fellow Ntany Ln who shook the sports world 2021 when he said he was gay a short but powerful Instagram vio. Nassib was no more gay the day he did the vio than he was the day before, but until he told his story, no one knew of a publicly out NFL player. In the se of the Penn State athlete whose boyiend I met, was readg about other gay athlet sports that gave him the strength to realize he wasn’t screwed up; like all LGBTQ people, he was different om the majory of the populace, but beg different do not mean beg abnormal.

"Navratilova, a trailblazer for gay rights, tweeted a one-word rponse: "Yik... Riley Ga, the former Universy of Kentucky swimmer who has advoted for a ban of trans women the female sports tegory, ma a pretty bold — and utterly false — claim this week about gay athlet. Breanna Stewart and Marta Xargay, basketball.

PRO ATHLET WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY: SPORTS STARS WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ

The number doubl the 40 openly gay, lbian and bisexual women who peted of the women are om North and South Ameri, Europe, Atralia and New Zealand, Outsports reported. Meanwhile, the 2022 Men’s World Cup was set to be hosted Qatar, where homosexualy is illegal and punishable by up to three years prison. The associatn’s cisn prompted some fans and athlet — cludg the first openly gay major league soccer player — to speak out.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

“If actns speak lour than words, then the msage FIFA sends to gay athlet is pafully clear. Not only don’t they have our backs, our liv don’t matter, ” Robbie Rogers, one of the first openly gay major league soccer players, said a 2015 opn article for USA Today after FIFA announced the untri that would host the upg tournaments. “So for any gay soccer player who has hop of playg for the U.

It is a fact, that there are untls men and women playg and participatg profsnal sports today, who are homosexual and hi om public knowledge. Simply bee of the jtifiable fear, of what might happen to them if fans, ach, teammat and y sponsors disvered the profsnal athlet have ‘e out’ as gay? Wh the NFL Draft followg shortly after, Sam beme the first openly gay man to be drafted to the NFL when he was selected by the St.

Louis 2014, Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player drafted to the opened up about the journey that saw him step away om football for some time before g back to the game he lov wh the Barcelona Dragons. “Sce Febary and my big announcement, this has been a whole [lot of] speculatn of the first openly gay football player, but you know what? A former fensive end for both the Cowboys and the Bucneers, Rsell was the talk of the town 2019 when he announced via an say on ESPN, that he was Vegas Rairs' Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to announce that he is gay.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Defensive end Carl Nassib announced he was gay via a social media post, before also explag that he had donated $100, 000 to The Trevor Project - an anizatn that foc on suici preventn LGBTQ youth. “I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” Nassib said the vio.

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN RECEIV OVERWHELMG SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY

Nassib is the first openly gay active player the Pl Colls - BasketballProvg that this is not limed to any specific sport, let’s jump to the NBA where 2013, Jason Pl Colls ma history by beg the first person to openly e out any of the four major profsnal sports. And I’m gay.

“I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playg a major Amerin team sport. Yet, as you’ve surely noticed by now, a large part of what people talk about when to the former star, is not her prows on the urt, but rather her 2005 admissn that she is gay.

” After beg an openly gay woman the league, Swoops would go on to retire Rogers - SoccerInto the world of soccer we go, where we fd Robbie Rogers who played profsnally England up until 2013 when he announced he was gay and leavg the sport. Homophobia sports is no joke. I remend the book “Comg out to play” by Robbie Rogers, one of the very few football (soccer for some of you) players to e out as gay.