Eight per cent of fans ‘wouldn’t watch team containing gay player’

You say they could but you don't have an inkling of the pressures which make them feel they can't.

And it's not about them wishing to "scream it from the rooftops" either. It's about them being able to live their lives without feeling the need to deceive even people they care about and to suppress fundamental aspect of their nature, personality and character. To need to be ready to actively suppress significant aspects of their true selves every minute of every day. Not something I have experienced but you don't need to be a shrink to appreciate the torture it must be to live your life like that. But you may need to be some degree of sociopath not to be able to.

Why would anyone wish to put people through that? And all over something that is a threat to no one.

It's easy to be brave when you aren't the target.

 

I completely agree. On average, the chances of there not being at least one are slim.

This shouldn't even be an issue anyway. Let people live their lives, for ****s' sake.

 

Get her

 

Did Justin Fashanu not count?

 

I don't think it's surprising. In fact I'm surprised it wasn't higher. Lot of Neanderthals roaming the world.

 

It will be way higher. A lot of people wouldn't openly admit if they're homophobic.

 

I wonder if it might be lower only because of the systemic homophobia in a lot of sports that disincentivise gay men from playing sport.

Of course I could be talking absolute rubbish but it seems remarkable that not a single one feels like they can come out to break the stigma.

I know it's their lives we don't need to know, etc. But the womens teams don't seem to have the issue of being out and proud.

 

True

 

Women's football isn't as overblown and scrutinised by the media like men's football.

If men's football had the same level of media coverage as the women's, I guarantee multiple men would've come out by now.

 

But that's why I wonder if instead of it being a case of men not wanting to come out, but instead gay men not wanting to play sport? Who knows though, it truly is a bizarre situation and I suspect it'll just need one to come out for the whole thing to blow over and be put to bed.

Just strange no sport in the world seems to have openly gay men playing in a team environment (if I'm not wrong?)

 

Rugby definitely has some, but not many, at least openly.

I think it has many parallels to the treatment of men's mental health in the past, in that people think that expressing their true feelings will only alienate them. The media seriously does not help either, particularly ours.

 

Prevention is better than cure.

Your idea has some merit.

 

Blimey this has been dragged up.

Yes you are correct, I should have said next.

But you can’t compare Fashanu to a player now, different world.

 

They don't have to pretend to be anything because its nobody else's business. No-one gives a toss, except probably tabloid newspapers and their readers, what people do in their private lives as long as they are not harming anyone. Why is it news and has to be common knowledge what someone's sexuality is ?

 

if a player decides to hold his boyfriends hand in the street, do you not think it would be news?

 

Of course its not 'news' - what kind of person gives a **** about 'who's ****ing who?'

 

I don’t, but it would be news, whether you like it or not.

Which then raises the problem of either they deal with that and the following scrutiny, or they hide away.

 

Thousands dying from Covid 19, hundreds of thousands are soon gonna be out of work, race riots around the world - that's NEWS; two guys holding hands, whoever the **** they are, is GOSSIP - see the difference?

 

No. I see three things that will become a news story.

Philip Schofield made the news when he came out. It’s not been thirty years since the last gay TV presenter. This would attract significantly more attention.