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 - ESPN

gay playing soccer

In 1990, Jt Fashanu beme the first football player to publicly e out as gay. Sce then, only seventeen players have done the same.

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GAY FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO WOULD BE ‘SRED’ TO PLAY AT WORLD CUP QATAR

Pri month cis wh soccer's Copa Ameri and Euro 2016 but none of the untri is reprented by an openly gay player. * gay playing soccer *

As the World Cup go on a untry where homosexualy is illegal, many global football fans are havg to reckon wh the sports' soccer remas one of the most popular sports around the world, very few players have been able to e out and enjoy a succsful reer afterwards. Gay players face prsure om teammat, ownership, ach, and fans over their are some of the men who have e out, fightg those stereotyp, and pavg the way for LGBTQ+ athlet who e after them.

Rogers me out as gay 2013, beg the first out gay man to pete a top North Amerin pro sports league when he played for the LA Galaxy that same year.

PRI ON THE PCH: DO SOCCER HAVE A GAY PROBLEM?

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The world’s only openly gay top‑flight men’s footballer says he would be “sred” to play at the World Cup tournament Qatar next year bee of the emirate’s harsh ban on homosexualy and legal penalti rangg om floggg to lengthy prison terms and Cavallo, 21, who plays for Alai Uned Atralia’s A-League, received a wave of support om football fans and current and former players last month after openg up about his sexualy a vio posted to the club’s social media feeds. ”The announcement ma Cavallo the only out gay player men’s profsnal football, his isolatn stark a sport whose admistrators have lnched high-profile public mpaigns recent years embracg LGBT fans and only a handful of male players have ever e out, ntrast to the women’s game, which has easily blown past the same barrier: more than 40 lbian or bisexual players took part the 2019 women’s World Cup France, acrdg to Fifa.

Crics have raised the fact that Fifa ntu to award World Cups to untri such as Rsia – where homophobia has been lled a “state‑sponsored” project – and Qatar, where same-sex acts are illegal, as evince of the erng body’s patchy mment to if holdg the tournament a untry wh strict penalti for homosexualy sent the wrong msage to gay footballers and fans, Cavallo, who has played for Atralia’s unr-20s ternatnal si, told the Guardian’s daily news podst that he would be aaid for his safety if asked to participate the 2022 Qatar World Cup. 'I'm a footballer and I'm gay': A-League player Josh Cavallo talks about his sexualy – vio“I read somethg along the l of that [they] give the ath penalty for gay people Qatar, so ’s somethg I’m very sred [of] and wouldn’t really want to go to Qatar for that, ” he said. At the end of the day the World Cup is Qatar and one of the greatt achievements as a profsnal footballer is to play for your untry, and to know that this is a untry that don’t support gay people and puts at risk of our own life, that do sre me and mak me re-evaluate – is my life more important than dog somethg really good my reer?

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, the only openly gay top-flight male soccer player the sport, has told CNN that FIFA’s cisn to ban players om wearg “OneLove” armbands at the Qatar 2022 has ma him feel “exclud.” * gay playing soccer *

Mlims the untry n be subject to Sharia law that bans any sexual activy outsi marriage wh punishments rangg up to the ath penalty, meang homosexual acts n technilly rult executn, though several human rights reports have said there is no evince any gay people have been executed for the offence.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

Two athlet recently g out has highlighted the arth of openly gay players the world of U.S. men's profsnal sports, often dubbed "the last closet" for s lack of LGBTQ reprentatn. * gay playing soccer *

”Along wh the appallg ndns for migrant workers buildg the astcture for the tournament, the prospect of gay fans or players beg arrted Qatar has dogged Fifa sce the emirate was announced as host of the tournament 2010. The anisatn’s then print, Sepp Blatter, fuelled the ntroversy the same year when he was asked if he had any advice for gay people who wanted to travel to the Gulf state for the petn. But they walk a fe le between acmodatg what are now mastream attus towards gay people much of the world and the untry’s own nservative relig the tournament has approached, Qatari officials have sought to reassure LGBT fans that they will be wele the untry and n exprs themselv – wh lims.

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

The Alai Uned midfielr announced that he was gay a vio posted to the team's Twter acunt Tuday. * gay playing soccer *

”Prsed at the time over how Qataris would react to a gay uple holdg hands, Khater said they would be treated the same as a heterosexual uple. This month’s gay pri celebratns ci wh two of the world’s most high-profile sports tournaments: Copa Ameri — hosted for the first time by the Uned Stat — and Euro while the NFL and NBA have passed the tone of havg openly gay athlet their top profsnal leagu, not a sgle soccer player eher petn has e out as leav the “betiful game” whout any gay male role mols even an age when sponsors are unncerned about players’ Rogers of LA Galaxy plays agast New York Cy FC on Augt 23, 2015.

Is one of only two untri known to have field gay players s senr men’s team — Californian wger Robbie Rogers reprented his untry 18 tim and sred two goals but, like Germany’s midfielr Thomas Hzlsperger, he me out after his ternatnal reer was over.

“Once aga we have top ternatnal tournaments featurg the bt players the world and supposedly none of them are gay, ” said Jeff Kfman, a 26-year-old player and external sportg activi director for the world’s first gay soccer club, the New York Ramblers.

WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

Every U.S. Natnal Football League team has at least one gay or bisexual player, acrdg to openly gay former player Ryan O'Callaghan, but they fear backlash for g out cludg losg sponsorships or even their place on the roster. * gay playing soccer *

“There uld be 100 if not 1, 000 gay soccer players across the world at the higher levels of the game, yet no role mols the petns.

”Two years after Michael Sam was drafted to the NFL, and three years after the NBA’s Jason Colls ma history as the first openly gay player the four major U. At a game Sunday Glendale, Ariz., Mexin fans chanted the gay slur "puto" — meang “faggot” — spe a YouTube plea om the team for an end the practice. “At a young age ’s beaten to kids that gay and sports don’t le up and that’s a terrible stereotype that has transcend the generatns.

Stars cludg English Premier League players Per Mertacker, Las Podolski and Olivier Giroud have worn rabow-lored lac as part of a mpaign by Stonewall, backed by England’s Football Associatn and major rporate sponsors, agast homophobia on the pch and at than 100 gay-clive teams reprentg over 30 untri are registered wh the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Football Associatn (IGLFA), whose world cup tak place this Augt Portland, Ore. “We don’t face any discrimatn when we play and is difficult to unrstand why ’s a problem the hight leagu but clearly is, ” said Jamie Feldman, 29, a midfielr and tstee of the world’s most succsful gay soccer club, London-based Stonewall last month a soccer referee Spa gave up his job after repeatedly beg the target of verbal abe at gam bee of his sexual orientatn. However, Adidas nfirmed Febary that s sponsorship ntracts clu a clse promisg not to ncel als if athlet reveal publicly that they are gay, while Nike announced Tuday was beg a major rporate sponsor of the IGLFA’s gay world Euro 2016, which begs Friday France, a mercial featurg a fictnal gay soccer player and his boyiend is beg aired to promote German railways.

20 INSPIRG GAY AND LBIAN FOOTBALL (SOCCER) PLAYERS

Explore gay Mosw wh Mr Hudson. The bt of Mosw for the discerng gay man. Where to sleep, eat, drk, shop and play. * gay playing soccer *

Louis Rams as the NFL’s first gay player but was later cut and eventually cid to "step away" om football altogether to protect his own mental health. Bra’s first gay profsnal player, Jt Fashanu, endured a profsnal and fay backlash after his g out 1990 and end his own troubled life 1998.

”Even gay players acknowledge that fears over team uny uld be holdg some profsnal players back om g out, spe evince to the ntrary. “In a team sport, any profsnal athlete wants what’s bt for the team and they might thk that anythg drawg a lot of attentn to one player for a non-sportg reason go agast the fans chanted a gay slur at a game Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, spe beg fed by FIFA for prev homophobic York / AP“I n easily image that brgg a lot of outsi scty uld hurt the chemistry of a locker room, but this has already been played out NFL and NBA locker rooms and really don’t matter.

”Meanwhile, as Euro 2016 and Copa Ameri domate this month’s sports pag, gay teams and players ntue to prepare for their own tournaments.

THERE ARE 0 OUT GAY PLAYERS AT THE MEN’S WORLD CUP. THERE WERE 40 WOMEN 2019

Moments earlier, an opposg player targeted Mart, an openly gay man, wh a homophobic slur, and as they gathered unr a tent at halftime, they discsed how to team was agreement: Somethg need to be done. "Beg able to have a posive msage e out of a really tough suatn was the silver lg, " he the only openly gay men's profsnal soccer player the Uned Stat -- and one of the few who have ever e out globally -- Mart has e to embrace the signifince of what he reprents, pecially for the LGBTQ+ muny.

JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY

Play1:48Coll Mart: Locker room support was all I needSan Diego Loyal midfielr Coll Mart says the support om his old teammat at Mnota Uned was a big help to him when he me out as gay. Around those years, havg to hi, havg to remd myself that like, 'Oh, my bt iend on the team, who jt lled another person a f----t, he isn't really homophobic, but he is jt tryg to be hurtful to that person.

GAY OR BISEXUAL PLAYERS ON EVERY PRO FOOTBALL TEAM, SAYS FORMER U.S. FOOTBALLER

"Mart is not unique that he didn't have ach who were willg to step to put an end to homophobic language when was ed. 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.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

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.

GAY MOSW · CY GUI

The associatn’s cisn prompted some fans and athlet — cludg the first openly gay major league soccer player — to speak out.

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. But tak guts to e out and reveal one’s genr as gay, which is ually an act of urage a world that is not ndned to accept every genr. Even though has already been three s sce Jt Fashanu first publicly me out as gay, there are only a few of them revealg .

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY PLAYING SOCCER

World Cup 2022 featur 0 out gay players. There were 40 women 2019 - Outsports .

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