My hidn journey: A profsnal soccer player reveals he is gay - ESPN

thomas gay footballer

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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THOMAS HZLSPERGER ANNOUNC HE IS GAY NEWSPAPER TERVIEW

<p>Former Premier League footballer and German ternatnal talks to <strong>Raphael Honigste</strong> about how he wanted to tell the world he was gay while he was still playg Germany for Wolfsburg, but was advised agast </p> * thomas gay footballer *

In the morng he had bee the hight-profile footballer to announce he is gay, and the hours afterwards he had not checked the public reactn. " The prime mister, as turns out, would soon add his voice to a raft of high-profile well-wishers that clud Angela Merkel, the German natnal team manager Joachim Löw, and the former German foreign mister Guido Wterwelle, who is also all talked about the former Aston Villa, Wt Ham and Everton midfielr's "urage" breakg one of sport's last great taboos: Hzlsperger, pped 52 tim by his untry, is the first German footballer to reveal he is gay. Where I e om, ral Bavaria, homosexualy is nsired 'un-normal'.

Photograph: Peter Kneffel/EPAWhile Germany as a untry has noticeably bee more and more relaxed about homosexualy recent years, he had also noted there was an unhelpful media obssn wh fdg the first gay footballer.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

<p>Thomas Hzlsperger has bee the most high-profile footballer to e out, announcg on Wednday that he is gay</p> * thomas gay footballer *

All sorts of well-tend but ultimately unhelpful terventns om heterosexual players – who eher oped that gay players would benef om g out or utned agast – did not exactly fill him wh nfince that this was ed the right step. Homosexualy was rarely a big topic any of the drsg rooms he enuntered, he says, and "the subject only me up when people were speculatg about someone else's sexualy, but never their prence. "There was the odd cince of crass homophobia, as well, "but that was jt your general, non-specific football talk, " says Hzlsperger.

"I too, ed rogatory terms like 'what a gay pass' whout thkg about when I was younger.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * thomas gay footballer *

"But the important thg for me is to show that beg homosexual and profsnal football player is somethg that is normal.

The perceived ntradictn between playg football, the man's game, and beg homosexual is nonsense. I scerely hope that we'll see the when nobody mentns urage the circumstanc anymore, bee will be seen as totally normal that a sports person will speak about his homosexualy, the way others talk about their wiv and girliends. When the chancellor out your favour, you know that 's safe beg homosexual this untry, that you won't be discrimated.

MY HIDN JOURNEY: A PROFSNAL SOCCER PLAYER REVEALS HE IS GAY

* thomas gay footballer *

Thomas Hzlsperger has bee the most high-profile footballer to e out, announcg on Wednday that he is gay.

The former Aston Villa, Wt Ham and Everton player has given a long terview to the German paper Die Ze, which he says that he is talkg about his sexualy bee he wants "to further the bate about homosexualy among sports profsnals". "It's been a long and difficult procs" [of beg aware of beg gay].

"In England, Italy and Germany beg a homosexual is no big thg, at least not the drsg room, " he said, before addg: "I was never ashamed of beg who I am but was not always easy to s on a table wh 20 young men and listen to jok about gays. "Beg gay is topic that is 'ignored' football and not 'a ser topic the changg room'. Fightg spir, passn and wng mentaly are trsilly lked, that don't f the cliché: 'Gays are soft'" year, the former Leeds Uned player Robbie Rogers me out, tellg the world about his sexualy a statement on his webse.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* THOMAS GAY FOOTBALLER

My hidn journey: A profsnal soccer player reveals he is gay - ESPN.

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