Josh Cavallo: Only openly gay top-flight male footballer says FIFA's 'OneLove' armband ban has ma him feel 'exclud' | CNN

Contents:

• GAY & LBIANS IN SOCCER
• COLL MART IS U.S. SOCCER'S ONLY OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER, AND HE'S WORKG TO MAKE THE GAME MORE CLIVE FOR FUTURE LGBTQ+ PLAYERS
• JOSH CAVALLO: ONLY OPENLY GAY TOP-FLIGHT MALE FOOTBALLER SAYS FIFA’S ‘ONELOVE’ ARMBAND BAN HAS MA HIM FEEL ‘EXCLUD’
• GIANT MURAL ON NORWICH PUB HONOURS JT FASHANU, ENGLAND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER
• 20 INSPIRG GAY AND LBIAN FOOTBALL (SOCCER) PLAYERS
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS

GAY & LBIANS IN SOCCER

It is a long sought victory for gay rights. This cisn is the end rult of s of effort and gay rights activism. While the world gradually accepts non-heterosexuals as star players the world of sports, all to often gay and lbian soccer players and ach keep a low profile.

Attus about gay and lbian people have shifted dramatilly over the last . Support for same-sex marriage has steadily creased and more than 6--10 Amerins now report they have a close iend or fay member who is gay or lbian.

COLL MART IS U.S. SOCCER'S ONLY OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER, AND HE'S WORKG TO MAKE THE GAME MORE CLIVE FOR FUTURE LGBTQ+ PLAYERS

Millennials, who have nsistently monstrated strong support for gay marriage, are growg size and fluence— 2015 they will surpass Baby Boomers as the largt sgle generatn. Their views on gay marriage and other hotly ntted social qutns may soon serve as the flt cultural norm.

JOSH CAVALLO: ONLY OPENLY GAY TOP-FLIGHT MALE FOOTBALLER SAYS FIFA’S ‘ONELOVE’ ARMBAND BAN HAS MA HIM FEEL ‘EXCLUD’

Yet, spe the creasg acceptance of gays and lbians the U. S., openly gay profsnal athlet are still somethg of an anomaly—the NFL was whout a sgle openly gay player until the draftg of Michael Sam 2014. There are three possible reasons why profsnal sports have so few gay and lbian athlet.

GIANT MURAL ON NORWICH PUB HONOURS JT FASHANU, ENGLAND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER

First, there may simply be a arth of gay and lbian athlet wh the realm of profsnal sports. This optn seems unlikely, however, as gay and lbians would have to exceedgly unrreprented for the numbers to add up.

5 percent of the public is gay or lbian. This would translate to as many as 60 gay football players currently the NFL alone.

20 INSPIRG GAY AND LBIAN FOOTBALL (SOCCER) PLAYERS

A send reason might be that sports fans are simply not ready to cheer for gay and lbian athlet, disuragg such athlet om g forward.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

The PRRI/RNS Survey found that most Amerins (73 percent) support profsnal teams signg gay and lbian athlet. Even among diehard football fans support for signg gay athlet remas robt: roughly three-quarters (72 percent) of football fans say they would support their favore team signg an openly gay player. After g out, Robbie Rogers, an openly gay MLS player, said he more often heard words of enuragement and support om fans than jeers or tnts.

But the LA Galaxy player was highly cril of FIFA, ternatnal soccer’s erng body, for selectg Rsia and Qatar, untri wh strict anti-gay laws, to host the next two world Cup tournaments.

“The msage FIFA sends to gay athlet is pafully clear. A majory (56 percent) of Amerins believe that gay and lbian athlet face a lot of discrimatn profsnal sports.

JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS

Gay former athlet who have reunted experiencg substantial discrimatn, om the ont office and the locker room, largely rroborate this perceptn. One of the strongt predictors of one’s attu toward gay and lbian people is simply havg a close iend or fay who gay or lbian. Erik Brady of USA Today reports that when gay athlet e out to their teammat the homophobic jok and slurs, which once may have been mon, tend to evaporate and players themselv are embraced by their teammat.