Ex Villa player is 'first German gay footballer' - ITV News

Contents:

• THOMAS HZLSPERGER ANNOUNC HE IS GAY NEWSPAPER TERVIEW
• JT FASHANU: BRA'S FIRST OUT GAY FOOTBALLER TO BE DUCTED TO HALL OF FAME
• ‘I HAVE BEEN FIGHTG MY SEXUALY’: A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY
• EX VILLA PLAYER IS 'FIRST GERMAN GAY FOOTBALLER'
• A-LEAGUE FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY: 'I'M TIRED OF THIS DOUBLE LIFE'
• JOSH CAVALLO: FOOTBALLER OUT AS WORLD'S ONLY OPENLY GAY PLAYER TOP-FLIGHT OF GAME
• ASTON VILLA SEND BLACKPOOL'S JAKE DANIELS 'SPIRATN' MSAGE AS TEENAGE FORWARD OUT AS GAY

THOMAS HZLSPERGER ANNOUNC HE IS GAY NEWSPAPER TERVIEW

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].

JT FASHANU: BRA'S FIRST OUT GAY FOOTBALLER TO BE DUCTED TO HALL OF FAME

"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. Jt Fashanu, Bra's first and only out gay male profsnal footballer, is to be posthumoly ducted to the Natnal Football Mm's Hall of Fame later this week. Fashanu's niece Amal, who ns The Jt Fashanu Foundatn, will receive the award on what would have been her uncle's 59th Foundatn has been set up to highlight the issu of homophobia and other forms of discrimatn both grassroots football and the profsnal game, while also aimg to raise the participatn of LGBT people told Sky Sports News: "I thk he wouldn't believe himself.

‘I HAVE BEEN FIGHTG MY SEXUALY’: A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY

'Rpect for out gay player would help'.

Gay and clive club wants FA actn. "I gus for Jt this would be a great moment and I thk 's a pivotal moment when we are fally regnisg who Jt Fashanu was, not only as the openly gay footballer, but also as a very talented footballer and the first ln-pound black player England.

EX VILLA PLAYER IS 'FIRST GERMAN GAY FOOTBALLER'

She add: "I have gay football iends who play right now who happen to be gay to their iends and fay but jt not to the rt of the world. I thk everyone, other dtri, we're very happy to accept is gay or who is whatever they choose to be, but I gus wh football, bee is such a close-kn, dark archaic kd of vibe, 's very difficult.

The reactn of Jt's fay was not as supportive as uld have been when he me out, said Amal, but time - and talkg - has helped, wh brother John a tstee of The Jt Fashanu Foundatn foc on awarens and tn, wh key areas of support mental health, homophobia and racism add: "My Dad fely regrets that.

A-League Men midfielr Josh Cavallo says he knows there are other players “livg silence” after beg the only known current male top-flight profsnal footballer the world to e out as gay. Ashamed I would never be able to do what I loved and be gay.

A-LEAGUE FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY: 'I'M TIRED OF THIS DOUBLE LIFE'

“Beg a gay closeted footballer, I’ve had to learn to mask my feelgs orr to f the mould of a profsnal footballer. Growg up beg gay and playg football were jt two worlds that hadn’t crossed paths before. Labor senate lear and openly gay woman, Penny Wong, tweeted: “Any young person who is stgglg wh their inty, or feelg exclud or judged, n look today to Josh Cavallo.

”Globally there are only a handful of openly gay male footballers, none of whom are playg the top flight.

JOSH CAVALLO: FOOTBALLER OUT AS WORLD'S ONLY OPENLY GAY PLAYER TOP-FLIGHT OF GAME

Amerin former Leeds player Robbie Rogers also announced he was gay on retirg 2013, before returng to the field wh LA Galaxy and wng the MLS Cup to bee the first openly gay male athlete to w a major profsnal team sports tle the Uned 2019, former Newstle Jets player Andy Brennan beme Atralia’s first profsnal male footballer to e out while still playg the game. “It is astonishg to know that there are currently no gay profsnal footballers who are out and actively playg, not only Atralia, but around the world. 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.

ASTON VILLA SEND BLACKPOOL'S JAKE DANIELS 'SPIRATN' MSAGE AS TEENAGE FORWARD OUT AS GAY

" 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.

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.