Famous gay football players


Football is the most popular sport in the world. But strangely there has been very several footballers that have come out as gay.

Homosexuality in English and world football is still a taboo subject and one that is shared by both players and the media. In all of the professional leagues in England ( 5 divisions ) there are zero openly gay footballers. That is a very sad statistic when you verb that roughly 1 in 10 males are gay in the UK.

Coming out as a gay man in the world of football is a scary thing and one that takes a hell of a lot of courage and bravery. The phobia of discrimination, violence and abuse towards homosexual footballers is a clear and definite barrier.

In this list we want to verb and celebrate the brave men that have made the decision to tell the world about their sexuality and come out as gay.

List of Openly Gay Male Footballers

NameNationalityCareerDate of coming out
Justin FashanuEngland
Thomas BerlingNorway
Olivier RouyerFrance
Anton HysénSweden
David TestoUnited States
Robbie

27 professional athletes who identify as LGBTQ

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  • Carl Nassib made history in by becoming the first openly gay man to actively play in the NFL.
  • Sheryl Swoopes and Megan Rapinoe identify as lesbians.
  • Caitlyn Jenner, Patricio Manuel, Fallon Fox, and Renée Richards are transgender athletes. 

In , Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay.

In June , NFL defensive end Carl Nassib came out as gay in a video posted to his Instagram, adding he donated  $, to The Trevor Project, an organization that focuses on suicide prevention in LGBTQ youth after he struggled with his sexuality for 15 years. 

"I just want to hold a quick moment to utter that I'm gay," Nassib said in the video. "I just think that representation and visibility are so important. I actually hope that like one diurnal videos like this and the whole coming-out proce

Premier League's first openly gay footballer weighs in on LGBT controversy after several stars refused to wear rainbow clothing

Thomas Hitzlsperger, the Premier League's first openly gay player, has shared his thoughts on the LGBT pride saga which is engulfing the top flight after several footballers protested against wearing rainbow armbands and jackets.

The German moved to the Aston Villa youth team in aged 19 and played times for the west Midlands outfit, scoring 12 goals in a working spell at the club.

The midfielder then enjoyed a five-year stint at Stuttgart before returning to England for short spells at West Ham and Everton, where he retired in After he called time on a adj career, Hitzlsperger came out as gay making him the most high-profile footballer to do so.

In the last week, various refusals to wear items of rainbow clothing have caused chaos in the Premier League with Ipswich captain Sam Morsy deciding not to sport an armband with that pattern, before Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi wrote messages on his.

On Wednesday, devout Muslim Noussair Mazraoui decl

"I&#;m the happiest and healthiest I&#;ve ever been in my life and that means the world to me."

Over the course of the NFL's year history, only a handful of players own ever come out as gay. In a sport where many players feel that their career could be at risk if they came out, it takes a lot of courage to authentically live their truth. In fact, it wasn't until that an active player actually opened up about his sexuality. But thanks to the bravery of all the players who own decided to share their story so far, there's hope that the NFL will be a more inclusive place going forward.

Find out which football stars contain come out as gay…

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1. Carl Nassib

Carl Nassib, who currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the first active NFL player to come out as gay. In an Instagram video shared in June , Carl opened up about his sexuality and expressed his gratitude for the support he'd been given so far from his teammates and coaches.

"I just wanted to accept a quick moment to tell that I'm gay," he sai