Former Leeds man has come out of the closet. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Anyway, good for him. Things are never what they seem⦠My whole life I have felt different, different from my peers, even different from my family. In todayâs society being different makes you brave. To overcome your fears you must be strong and have faith in your purpose. For the past 25 year I have been afraid, afraid to show whom I really was because of fear. Fear that judgment and rejection would hold me back from my dreams and aspirations. Fear that my loved ones would be farthest from me if they knew my secret. Fear that my secret would get in the way of my dreams. Dreams of going to a World Cup, dreams of The Olympics, dreams of making my family proud. What would life be without these dreams? Could I live a life without them? Life is only complete when your loved ones know you. When they know your true feelings, when they know who and how you love. Life is simple when your secret is gone. Gone is the pain that lurks in the stomach at work, the pain from avoiding questions, and at last the pain from hiding such a deep secret. Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently. I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined⦠I will always be thankful for my career. I will remember Beijing, The MLS Cup, and most of all my teammates. I will never forget the friends I have made a long the way and the friends that supported me once they knew my secret. Now is my time to step away. Itâs time to discover myself away from football. Itâs 1 A.M. in London as I write this and I could not be happier with my decision. Life is so full of amazing things. I realized I could only truly enjoy my life once I was honest. Honesty is a bitch but makes life so simple and clear. My secret is gone, I am a free man, I can move on and live my life as my creator intended.
Good for him I say, I have no problems with gay,lesbian or even religious groups as long as they keep it to themselves and respect others beliefs. Why he feels the need to step away tho I cannot fathom.
Football fans are very cruel, I can think of a few reasons why gay person wouldn't like to get heckled when he stepped on a pitch
The FA are now promoting him as some kind of hero for coming out- despite nobody knowing who he was on this side of the pond (unless you're a leeds fan). He did this because he was comfortable in what he was and not for publicity, or to be made into an idol for equality in sport. Fair play to him for doing what he feels right, but it's a none story compared to Pistorious shooting his missus.
Agree and unfortunately it is a sad indictment of the society that we live in these days, people just don't have respect for others anymore
People say gays will be accepted this that and the other but for Sky Sports to put it as breaking news sums it all up
If you'd played in the same team, would you be relieved or disappointed if, looking back, you realise he never got a hard on when you shared a shower?
There are already quite a few gays playing in the Premiership, not going to write it here for legal reasons but it only takes a bit of knowledge with a search engine. The Italian national squad has several in it and they are all accepted by their team-mates, its other factors which stop them being openly gay. The obvious ones they go on about like Sol Campbell usually aren't gay at all. It will take several to come out at once to help the others. I don't have a problem with it, half the time you turn on the TV you see an openly gay or lesbian, what people get up to their business.
Sorry if i'm misinterpreting your sentence, but are you suggesting gay and lesbian people should 'keep it to themselves'? Yet it's okay for heterosexuality to be flaunted in the media and in the streets etc? The fact that they feel like they have to keep it to themselves is the whole problem, they shouldn't have to hide their identity, it has no bearing on their ability as an athlete and it shouldn't be an issue.
Agreed, it should be a non-story, however the sad fact is that it will take numerous stories like his being made public before it can become a non-issue and not be such a big deal to the media. Yes he's done it for himself, not for attention etc. but if him doing it means others can feel comfortable in their own skin and able to be themselves then that's brilliant. I really hope that his retirement is not because he feels he cannot be an openly gay man within football.
