OUR LATEST ISSUE
SITE SEARCH
Gay News: A survey has shown that 93 per cent of football fans would support openly gay players.
By: Nigel Robinson
Gay players scared to come out?
Gay players scared to come out?
Majority of footie fans "would support gay players".
According to the Daily Star, there are dozens of gay professional football players in the UK, but none of them is brave enough to admit to it, fearing it would mean the end of their careers.
The only professional football player to have come out was Justin Fashanu in 1990. He subsequently faced abuse from the fans, his career went downhill and he committed suicide in 1998.
The newspaper quotes Ellis Cashmore, Professor of Culture, Media and Sport at Staffordshire University, who believes football players should follow the example of rugby player Gareth Thomas who came out last year.
“A lot of people said they would prefer it if gay footballers came out,” the Professor said, “because they don’t think they would have to put up with that much abuse.
“The fans are of the opinion that when we watch football every week we know we are watching gay players but actually it doesn’t matter to us.
“We have a new generation of football fans, managers, coaches and players themselves. They don’t actually care very much about a person’s sexual orientation.”
