‘A gay in no more’: will David Beckham’s Qatar role kill his brand? | David Beckham | The Guardian

Contents:

• BECKHAM: THE MAN WHO BROKE FOOTBALL’S GAY TABOO?
• DAVID BECKHAM’S ‘STAT AS A GAY IN WILL BE SHREDD’ IF HE NTU AS QATAR WORLD CUP AMBASSADOR SAYS BRISH EDIAN
• IS DAVID BECKHAM GAY? WHAT IS THE QATAR CONTROVERSY?
• IS DAVID BECKHAM GAY? HERE IS THE TTH
• ‘A GAY IN NO MORE’: WILL DAVID BECKHAM’S QATAR ROLE KILL HIS BRAND?
• HEY, DAVID BECKHAM: YOU N’T BE A ‘GAY IN’ AND FACE OF QATAR
• DAVID BECKHAM, ¿EL HOMBRE QUE ABó N EL TABú GAY EN EL FúTBOL?

BECKHAM: THE MAN WHO BROKE FOOTBALL’S GAY TABOO?

Beckham 'opened the door' for to be ol to be gay.

David Beckham was always apt at curlg the ball around a wall – but when me to the barrier of homosexualy football, he broke straight through . Former England pta Beckham, who announced his retirement om football Thursday, was the first superstar footballer to embrace his “gay in” stat, eely givg terviews to gay magaz and openly talkg about his gay fan base.

DAVID BECKHAM’S ‘STAT AS A GAY IN WILL BE SHREDD’ IF HE NTU AS QATAR WORLD CUP AMBASSADOR SAYS BRISH EDIAN

“What David Beckham did was break the long silence about homosexualy football, ” Newkey-Burn told CNN.

“He openly urted his gay fan base, sayg he loved beg a gay in and was happy for his wife to broadst that around. “He was the first to give terviews to gay magaz – before that, no footballer would have done that. In an terview wh the BBC given 2007, Beckham spoke of his pri at beg tagged as a “gay in”.

Once Newkey-Burn spent five months tryg to anize an terview wh the midfielr, only for the player himself to sanctn the piece after readg one of the journalist’s articl on football and homosexualy Four Four Two magaze.

IS DAVID BECKHAM GAY? WHAT IS THE QATAR CONTROVERSY?

“David read the piece I did about how far football had e alg wh homophobia, ” Newkey-Burn relled.

“Look, there are 92 league clubs England wh each squad havg around 20 players, so statistilly, there mt be some gay players, ” add the journalist.

“Beckham said to the world: ‘I’m straight, I’m the England pta and I thk ’s ol people are gay. Dpe Beckham embracg his “gay in” stat, football ntu to stggle wh homophobia.

IS DAVID BECKHAM GAY? HERE IS THE TTH

Football star Robbie Rogers announced he was retirg om football after “g out” – leavg Swedish player Anton Hysen as the only openly gay player Europe. Read: In search of a gay soccer hero.

“Gay football fans don’t want 11 neatly iffured and manicured players to admire, ” said the journalist and celebry bgrapher who has wrten books about Ale, Brangela, Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton. “But Beckham was someone who was proud to be a gay in and ma ol too.

‘A GAY IN NO MORE’: WILL DAVID BECKHAM’S QATAR ROLE KILL HIS BRAND?

Read: The gay footballer who chose eedom. David Beckham is the sarong-wearg, goln ball-swgg hband of a Spice Girl who basilly vented the word “metrosexual”.And yet, this hherto natnal treasure has started to dramatilly shed his glossy sheen.The footballg superstar is the midst of a spectacular fall om grace thanks to his £10 ln role as ambassador for the imment World Cup Qatar.The Middle Eastern natn is wily nmned for s approach to human rights, namely s wispread e of morn slav and s crimalisatn of homosexualy.Sign up for our ee Indy100 weekly newsletterAnd so the qutn on everyone’s lips is: how n a self-proclaimed gay ally jtify promotg a untry which systematilly locks up LGBTQ+ people?To illtrate the extent of Beckham’s hypocrisy (and up the prsure on him to end his multi-ln-pound al wh the Qataris), dy100 has piled a list of the moments over the years that cemented his now cmblg stat as a “gay in”.1998 – That sarongFirst thgs first, we’re not suggtg that wearg a sarong, or ed any cloth, should be an ditn of someone’s sexualy.

HEY, DAVID BECKHAM: YOU N’T BE A ‘GAY IN’ AND FACE OF QATAR

Breakg down such barriers would be at the heart of his transformatn to an LGBTQ+ idol.\u201cdavid beckham photographed by david lachapelle for gq, 2002\u201d — High End Homo (@High End Homo). 16667087452002 – Beg a gay ver starThat same year, when Beckham also happened to be the England team pta, he ma history by beg the first heterosexual footballer to appear on the ont ver of a gay publitn when his face was splashed across Attu Magaze.In a 2015 article markg s 21-year anniversary, wrer Malee Morley ced Becks’s as her favoure of all the magaze’s ver shoots.“He is an in of morn masculy and so was a real moment, a signal to the untry that was OK to be OK wh gay people,” she wrote at the time.2002 – Sir Elton John be godfather to two of his kidsBeckham has repeatedly shared his love for close iend Sir Elton John, even namg him as godfather to not one but two of his sons: Brooklyn and Romeo.Sadly, we n’t image all footballers would be so ready to profs their closens to an openly gay man, but that’s never been an issue for old Goln Balls.In 2019, he posted a snap of himself wh his arm around his pal, ptned: “Geo day wh Elton John David Furnish.

DAVID BECKHAM, ¿EL HOMBRE QUE ABó N EL TABú GAY EN EL FúTBOL?

24 years we have known each other and we lgh like ’s day one…” followed by two heart emojis.Beckham has been iends wh Sir Elton for nearly three sDavid Beckham/Facebook2007 – ‘I feel honoured to be a gay in’Beckham said he felt “honoured to have the tag of ‘gay in’” durg a 2002 terview wh the BBC.The then-32-year-old suggted to the L of Enquiry rad programme that he’d possibly earned himself the acla bee: “I like to look after myself, I like to look smart and prentable most of the time.”He add: “I always liked to look good, even when I was a ltle kid. “It was a ltle b strange at the time and my dad gave me a b of stick – but I was happy.”2009 – Officially hailed as a gay inIn 2009, a survey of 5,000 gay men and lbians named s top 10 list of “male celebry gay ins”.Only one of the ins wasn’t actually gay himself: you gused … David Beckham.2014 – Celebratg Gay PriNot necsarily bt known for his way wh words, Becks shared a photo of a rabow flag to his Facebook page June 2014, along wh the ptn: “Great to see people celebratg Gay Pri around the world this weekend.”Around the world, y.

But Qatar…?2018 – Named a top 10 ‘Celebry Ally’ at the Brish LGBT+ AwardsJt four years before he’d scribe an eveng Qatar as “perfectn for me”, Beckham was named a top ally at the Brish LGBT+ Awards.Here’s what the ceremony’s anisers said of him at the time: “Faced wh tribal football fans, a vic sports prs and a bayg bevvy of showbiz journalists, David Beckham has never shied away om his stat as a gay in.

He clearly lets his children exprs themselv (Brooklyn has been spotted a Pri top) and is generally jt a top sportg gent.”June 2020 – Wearg a Pri t-shirtBack to the footballer’s wardrobe choic...In June 2020, Becks's popstar-turned-signer wife Victoria shared a snap of her hubby wearg a t-shirt of her own makg.The top bore the words "Listen Whout Prejudice" – the tle of Gee Michael's 1990 album – a rabow font, celebratn of Pri month.The top was a tribute to both Gay Pri and the late Gee MichaelVictoria Beckham/InstagramMay 2022 – 'It shouldn't be strange for a footballer to e out'Beckham told theEveng Standararlier this year that he was glad football had improved sce his own playg days when to tacklg prejudice.“I played for 22 years, I saw a lot of racism and homophobia and do thk has changed," he said. "But there’s still a lot of work to be done.” The former Man Utd star said of Blackpool’s Jake Daniels, who me out as the first gay current player May: “It’s a shame that when someone do e out that ’s such a strange thg. He ntued: “At the end of the day there will be a huge amount of gay people sports and why should they be any different om anyone else?”Have your say our news mocracy.