Kev Maxen be first male ach a US men’s pro sports league to publicly e out as gay | CNN

is soccer gay sport

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

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

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. * is soccer gay sport *

When Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop me out this week, was the first time an active player unr ntract to an NHL team had ever publicly acknowledged they were gay.

Overnight, Prokop's announcement doubled the number of out gay athlet currently playg the untry's four major men's sports — football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

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

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

Though many retired former players have e out, is more unual for male profsnal athlet to say they are gay while still playg. Gay male athlet face cultural barriers Part of the reason for the lack of out gay players men's profsnal sports uld be that there are jt fewer of them the game.

Rory Magrath, a rearcher at Solent Universy England, has suggted that 's possible gay men are unrreprented profsnal sports. "Gay men are a fe rource, so they n't exist great numbers every quarter, " Magrath told "Gay men are overreprented some areas, and as a nsequence are gog to be unrreprented sports.

That uld be due to the mascule culture at the center of the major sports, experts say, creatg an environment that is ls welg to gay athlet.

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

* is soccer gay sport *

Magrath helped thor a study that found that male athlet who me out as gay while still playg sports were largely met wh acceptance by their teammat. Robbie Rogers ma history 2013 when he took the field for the Los Angel Galaxy after as the first openly gay player profsnal U.

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

Plagued for years by swirlg mors about s sexualy, soccer has fally e out, beg the world's first openly gay sport. * is soccer gay sport *

NBA player Jason Colls, who me out 2013 while he was still playg the league, later told NPR " went great" when he scribed the perd after announcg he was gay. After Michael Sam beme the first openly gay athlete to be drafted to the NFL 2014, then-Miami Dolphs safety Don Jon tweeted "horrible, " rultg penalti and a spensn. David Kopay, a former NFL nng back who me out 1975, was unable to land a profsnal achg job after he announced publicly that he was gay.

There are key differenc the cultur of men's and women's athletics While few active players the major men's sports leagu have e out, many female profsnal athlet have said publicly that they're gay, om U. 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.

SOCCER OFFICIALLY ANNOUNC IT IS GAY

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.” * is soccer gay sport *

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. “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.

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. * is soccer gay sport *

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.

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.

AMERINS HATE SOCCER BEE 'S GAY

As wh a uple of proment unmarried senators, Amerins have long spected that soccer might be gay. Now, ’s official * is soccer gay sport *

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. “Globally speakg, homosexualy isn’t as accepted as is here, and top players are world stars not jt for their club. ”Adams was optimistic that the next World Cup 2018 would be the first tournament wh a gay ternatnal soccer player.

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

For the first time, pro baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer has an out gay male player unr ntract. * is soccer gay sport *

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

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. 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. "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.

BREAKING: SOCCER IS GAY

Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib publicly me out June 2021, makg him the first openly gay man to actively play the NFL. * is soccer gay sport *

Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual.

Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league.

EACH OF AMERI’S BIG 5 SPORTS CURRENTLY HAS AN OUT GAY MAN THE PROS. THAT’S NEVER HAPPENED

Dan Cox discs Why Are There so Few Gay & Lbian Athlet Profsnal Sports? 60 gay football players currently the NFL alone... * is soccer gay sport *

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 & LBIANS IN SOCCER

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. He me out 2011, and won the seventh season of Swedish realy show Let's Dance, beg the first out gay person to w. In 2014, he beme Bra's hight-profile out, gay player, and was the first out, gay male player to play at Wembley.

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. Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so. "He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay.

In a September terview wh USA Today, 25-year-old mor league baseball player beme the only active baseball profsnal to be out as gay!

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay July, the first active player the league to e out.

The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract. The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know. Hiltz had prevly e out as gay while llege and has been a visible and affirmg prence for gay athlet the past.

Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* IS SOCCER GAY SPORT

Soccer Officially Announc It Is Gay .

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