Jake Daniels: Why Blackpool player's cisn to e out as gay matters | CNN

Contents:

• JAKE DANIELS: WHY BLACKPOOL PLAYER’S CISN TO E OUT AS GAY MATTERS
• JAKE DANIELS BE FIRST UK MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY SCE 1990
• BLACKPOOL'S JAKE DANIELS BE UK'S FIRST ACTIVE OPENLY GAY MALE FOOTBALLER 32 YEARS
• BLACKPOOL FC'S JAKE DANIELS OUT AS GAY: 'I’VE HATED LYG MY WHOLE LIFE'
• LGBT GROUPS ACCE FIFA OF HYPOCRISY FOR PUBLICLY SUPPORTG UK SOCCER'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER 30 YEARS, BUT READILY HOSTG A WORLD CUP QATAR

JAKE DANIELS: WHY BLACKPOOL PLAYER’S CISN TO E OUT AS GAY MATTERS

When 17-year-old Jake Daniels publicly me out as a gay on Monday, phon pged as the UK’s media raced to ph out news alerts.

JAKE DANIELS BE FIRST UK MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY SCE 1990

“I’ve known my whole life that I’m gay, and I now feel that I’m ready to e out and be myself, ” the English footballer said his statement. Until Monday, Alai Uned’s Josh Cavallo was the only current openly gay top-flight male profsnal footballer the world. Daniels is the first profsnal male player to e out as gay the UK the last 30 years, says the Brish LGBTQ advocy group Stonewall.

Jt Fashanu was the first and, until now, only active male profsnal footballer the UK to speak publicly about beg a gay man. It was only last month that a football fan was banned om watchg live football by a Brish urt for three years for shoutg homophobic abe at a Premier League match between Brighton and Hove Albn and Arsenal October 2021. Men’s profsnal football is still behd the women’s game – there were 40 openly gay, lbian and bisexual players at the 2019 Women’s World Cup – and other sports.

Daniels, who said he had known he was gay sce the age of five or six, received support om his club and Stonewall before makg his statement and he will need that to ntue bee beg a trailblazer n be a heavy load to rry. The Blackpool forward Jake Daniels has end s of silence wh men’s football to bee the first player the UK to e out as gay sce Jt Fashanu 1990.

BLACKPOOL'S JAKE DANIELS BE UK'S FIRST ACTIVE OPENLY GAY MALE FOOTBALLER 32 YEARS

Photograph: Pl Dennis/TGS Photo/ShutterstockDaniels’s revelatn is a strikg landmark that when men’s football is more engaged wh social issu than any recent time, but still unable to ce progrs LGBTQ reprentatn wh the year Alai Uned’s Josh Cavallo beme the only male top-flight profsnal footballer the world to e out as gay, but others are yet to follow. In six months the men’s World Cup will be played Qatar, where homosexualy is illegal, and Cavallo revealed to the Guardian he would be “sred” to play at the tournament, the pnacle of world English football specifilly, the shadow of the talented and unfulfilled Fashanu still lgers over the game. The England ternatnal me out at the end of his reer and was to take his own life eight years later, Fashanu, Jt’s niece, who ns a charable foundatn his name, said that Daniels’s cisn would “e as a huge fort to the many footballers at all levels of the game still secretly livg as gay and who still feel unable to e out”.

ESPNMay 16, 2022, 12:35 PM ETBlackpool's Jake Daniels has bee the first active openly gay profsnal male footballer the UK sce 1990 after g out publicly and makg an announcement on 17-year-old recently signed a profsnal ntract wh the Champnship team and ma his club but earlier this month. Speakg to Sky Sports, Daniels said he hop he n bee a role mol for others and hop there will be a gay Premier League footballer the 17 LGBTQ+ athlet share their g out journeys"Of urse I am aware that there will be a reactn to this and some of will be homophobic, maybe a stadium and on social media, " he said.

BLACKPOOL FC'S JAKE DANIELS OUT AS GAY: 'I’VE HATED LYG MY WHOLE LIFE'

✊?️‍? — FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) May 16, 2022 Jt Fashanu beme the first openly gay male Brish footballer 1990 but took his own life at the age of 37, eight years after g out publicly to the Fashanu, there has not been a sgle male player to publicly e out durg his playg reer. "Daniels be the latt male athlete to e out after Alai Uned's Josh Cavallo beme the only openly gay top-flight male profsnal player world football at the time last June, Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay.

"I n't really put a date on , but I was probably five or six years old when I knew I was gay. "At that age you don't really thk that football and beg gay don't mix. Blackpool FC forward Jake Daniels me out as gay a msage posted onto the club’s webse on Monday.

LGBT GROUPS ACCE FIFA OF HYPOCRISY FOR PUBLICLY SUPPORTG UK SOCCER'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER 30 YEARS, BUT READILY HOSTG A WORLD CUP QATAR

(Mick Walker - CameraSport via Getty Imag)"I’ve known my whole life that I’m gay, and I now feel that I’m ready to e out and be myself, " the msage thanked those who supported him his cisn to e out as gay.

"Acrdg to Sky Sports, Daniels is the only active gay male soccer player Bra.