I'll be honest, it's time football truly accepts the LGBT community.

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Everyone would be massively supportive, of course. There would be the minority who would mindlessly attack the player in question, via social media or terrace chants, which would lead to Guardian comment columns galore.

tbf these days even the Daily Mail comments section seems a bit more liberal, I mean okay you still get some non-supportive comments but for example the pretty recent story of a male soldier having a sex change and still being in the army got a lot of pos comments on the Mail website.

Reply 21

mojojojo101

Original post by al_94

I think if a footballer is gay they should keep quiet about it. Football is a sport they're not paid to advertise their sexuality. If they reveal it the club would be associated with homosexuality.

Why would that be a bad thing?

Reply 22

Mackay

Players have a duty to be role models. I don't care what anybody says, they do. That much is evident. Therefore, the 'football is a sport' argument doesn't really wash for me.

Reply 23

Tom_Ford

Original post by Mackay

Players have a duty to be role models. I don't care what anybody says, they do. That much is evident. Therefore, the 'football is a sport' argument doesn't really wash for me.

It's true, guys like Oli Giroud are my role models. :sadnod:

Reply 24

Mackay

Original post by Tom_Ford

It's true, guys like Oli Giroud are my role models. :sadnod:

Shags who he wants.

Reply 25

Mad Vlad

Original post by Zürich

Another elephant in the room is that there probably arent that many gay footballers to begin with.

Thinking about the gay people I know, a hugely disproportionate % are camp. Most of the gay guys I went to school with never played football at all actually so why do we presume that there are so many players in the closet?

If 1/7 of the population is gay, I'll wager 1/100 footballers are, at most. So, is the level of media coverage from the Right-on brigade proportionate at all?

Because only a minority of gay guys conform to the glitter covered, rainbow ****ting stereotype you're referring to. You probably know more gay people; you just don't realise it because they don't fit the profile of the archetypal gay man. A large number of people that know me have said that "they wouldn't have guessed", for instance - not because I'm "straight acting" (I hate that term... :colonhash:

) but because I'm not the sort of person that they'd associate with being gay; in that I hate pop music, I'm not some bleached blonde twink, I have questionable fashion sense, I don't act like a complete diva 24/7 etc. etc. etc.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 26

username917703

I don't think gay players should keep quiet about it but I don't necessarily think they need to do a big announcement ala Tom Daly. It could be as simple as being seen in public holding hands with their partner. At the moment they don't feel they can be themselves e.g. live their lives, go out with their partners and so on which is pretty sad for football to be honest.

I agree with Mackay, there would be overwhelming support for them from the fans if they 'came out', it takes a lot of courage to do that. I think it just needs the first one to be brave enough to do it, then more will hopefully follow.

Reply 27

Mackay

Original post by Wilfred Little

I agree with Mackay, there would be overwhelming support for them from the fans if they 'came out', it takes a lot of courage to do that. I think it just needs the first one to be brave enough to do it, then more will hopefully follow.

Definitely. I think, in the modern era with movements on social media etc, it will just take one player to set a precedent and then more will be inclined to follow.