As with all sports in the world, athletes are known for their rugged looks, strict exercise and nutrition regimen and, above all, the determination to win. These are all common and widely accepted characteristics of athletes, but being gay is not usually associated with an athlete. The situation is no different when it comes to soccer, with few players coming out as gay.
The concept of homosexuality is a relatively new subject in world affairs and has been a subject for fervent debate and still is today. Despite this, the first soccer player to have come out gay was Justin Fashanu in 1990. Fashanu played as a striker for numerous teams across the world from Europe to Australia to North America. He most notably played for Norwich City and Notts County (both in England). His career started in 1978 playing for Norwich City while making a name for himself as regular scorer in the English Premier League. He even won goal of the season in 1980 with a goal against Liverpool. When he moved to Nottingham Forest, his career started going downhill amid rumors of him visiting gay clubs which unsettled the coach at the time, Brian Clough. He then went on to play for a few teams in North America before returning to England. During this time, he could never quite rediscover his form at Norwich City due to suspicions of him being gay hampering his confidence as a goal scorer. When he moved to Manchester City in 1989, it seemed as if he had lost all his talent and was just going through the motions before finally coming out as being gay in 1990.
The response after he came out as gay was extremely critical with some former soccer players saying that “being gay has no place in a team sport.” His brother John actually disowned him due to his fury at Justin’s revelation. After his announcement, he was the target of fervent crowd abuse from opposition fans whenever he would go for away matches. His own teammates would even negatively joke around with him about his sexual orientation. It was clear that Fashanu was not getting much support for his announcement, and he continued to switch teams in an effort to be accepted by his teammates and coaches to little avail. Fashanu’s career was going down the drain and eventually he was involved in an unsavory incident in March 1998.
At the time, Fashanu was playing in Maryland and a story came out that a seventeen-year old male claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Fashanu. As a warrant was about to be issued, Fashanu fled back to England where a few months later he committed suicide. He left behind a note where he denied the charges of sexual assault and stated that the sex was consensual between him and the seventeen-year-old. He also wrote that he assumed he was going to be found guilty and didn’t want to go through the trial to cause further embarrassment to his family. Fashanu died at the age of 37.
Why did he have to suffer all these years? Why was he forced to throw away his soccer career because he was gay? You can look at Fashanu’s plight in two ways. Perhaps, the soccer world and sport in general were not used to having to deal with someone who was gay. Furthermore, think of his teammates, would they really be comfortable changing clothes and using the showers in the stadiums with someone who is homosexual? Perhaps, it was a mentality issue and for someone in the soccer world to come out as gay was just a massive abomination and had no place in sport. That would be being too narrow minded. Fashanu, undoubtedly had talent as a soccer player as he showed in his earlier years playing for Norwich City, if he had got support for his sexual orientation who knows where he could have ended up. Fortunately, the situation regarding homosexuality in soccer is starting to look a bit more optimistic.
In February of this year, a second soccer player came out as gay. American soccer player Robbie Rodgers (who had actually retired from professional soccer after a season with Leeds United) decided to make his decision well known. He posted a blog on his website where he explained his sexual orientation. He stated that he recognizes that being gay and Christian often don’t go well but he doesn’t worry about that mentioning that his parents raised him “to be an individual and stand out for what he believes in.” The reason he retired, at the tender age of 25, was because he thought that if he had continued playing while he was gay he would get a barrage of criticisms from fans, players, and connoisseurs of soccer. Instead, he was supported by everyone around him and eventually came out of retirement to play for the LA Galaxy.
To this day, he plays as a winger and his flourishing with the LA-based team. He is recognized as a role model and a pioneer for homosexuality in soccer. He is widely admired and is constantly invited to talk shows. Maybe there is a place for homosexuality, and perhaps there is a bright future.
Richard Duh can be reached at richard.duh@spartans.ut.edu.