jondesouza
Well-Known Member
- Oct 18, 2004
- 2,842
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Footballer comes out
- Thread starter jondesouza
- Start date
Spurger King
can't smile without glue
- Jul 22, 2008
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Fair play to him. Must be incredibly difficult to do, even in this day and age. Slowly but surely differences between people are becoming more accepted. Still a long way to go but gradually society (at least in the west) is beginning to grow up a bit over the issue of sexuality.
Danners9
Available on a Free Transfer
- Mar 30, 2004
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Good for him, must be tough living a lie for so long. I've seen messages of support from former teammates. I wonder if they knew beforehand.
SSN said this, not entirely sure they phrased it well (surprise). Almost as if he's retiring because of the announcement.
Sky Sports News @SkySportsNews
Former Leeds midfielder and USA international Robbie Rogers retires from football after announcing he is gay#SSN
SSN said this, not entirely sure they phrased it well (surprise). Almost as if he's retiring because of the announcement.
Sky Sports News
Former Leeds midfielder and USA international Robbie Rogers retires from football after announcing he is gay
Monkey boy
Well-Known Member
- Jun 18, 2011
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What a gay
tony_parkes
Well-Known Member
- Jun 21, 2008
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Recurring split sphincter muscle that wouldn't heal.
Dundalk_Spur
The only Spur in the village
- Jul 17, 2008
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Nice to see a mature debate on a serious topic.
Its comments like these that leaves football in the dark ages.
I am straight but have plenty of gay/lesbian/bisexual friends and don't treat them any differently to anyone else, so why should the same not be the case for football?
Its comments like these that leaves football in the dark ages.
I am straight but have plenty of gay/lesbian/bisexual friends and don't treat them any differently to anyone else, so why should the same not be the case for football?
Lilbaz
Just call me Baz
- Apr 1, 2005
- 41,363
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Robbie Rogers? With a name like that they couldn't tell he was gay?
Good luck to him, but at the end of the day footballers private lives are none of my business. Gay, straight, a fetish for vacuum cleaners, all that matters is what they do on the pitch. This fascination with celebrities private lives is just a bit sad.
Good luck to him, but at the end of the day footballers private lives are none of my business. Gay, straight, a fetish for vacuum cleaners, all that matters is what they do on the pitch. This fascination with celebrities private lives is just a bit sad.
hughy
I'm SUPER cereal.
- Nov 18, 2007
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Good lad. Not 100% sure why he felt the need to retire though. These days it'd be the very small minority that wouldn't be able to accept someone coming out, and I'd hope it would be them that would be subject to criticism, not the man/woman who refuses to live a lie. The more high profile sports stars/film and tv stars/musicians that come out as gay the better as far as I'm concerned. No need to hide it, not in 2013.
CosmicHotspur
Better a wag than a WAG
- Aug 14, 2006
- 51,069
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Good luck to him, what a relief it must be for him to be able to be himself openly and publicly. Rugby player Gareth Thomas took the plunge (pun not intended) when he came out and I was full of admiration for him.
Chris Birch was also a rugby player, very macho and burly until a freak accident in a gym caused a stroke and he came out of it gay! He is now a hairdresser.
Will this prompt more footballers to come out? Probably not, because of the thick, thuggish, prejudicial element among football supporters of certain clubs.
If others did come out, who would you expect them to be?
Chris Birch was also a rugby player, very macho and burly until a freak accident in a gym caused a stroke and he came out of it gay! He is now a hairdresser.
Will this prompt more footballers to come out? Probably not, because of the thick, thuggish, prejudicial element among football supporters of certain clubs.
If others did come out, who would you expect them to be?
- Feb 1, 2005
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- Staff
- #11
It's hard to imagine just how difficult it must be for gay professional footballers. Pure stats suggest every club must have at least four or five gay players. Hopefully Rodgers statement will give others the strength to come out. What it needs is one of the truly top players to make an announcement, to save another generation of young players feeling the need to live in the closet.
Just one stroke? I'd have thought it would have taken at least a few...
Just one stroke? I'd have thought it would have taken at least a few...
I grew up in the same street as Gareth Thomas, and know many people who were the same age as him in school. And there was always suspicions of him being gay, very effeminate was one description.
There was a program on recently where he was bringing this issue out in the open to help others, and described how he coped with hiding his sexuality and what happened when he eventually came out. When he eventually told some team mates, it was brushed aside as something that didnt matter, but he had built it up to the point that he wouldnt be accepted by his peers (and probably the crowds) despite being captain of his nation and record try scorer at that point.
Dan Yeats
Well-Known Member
- Jul 12, 2011
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Unfortunately, some of the comments on this thread already suggest otherwise.
jondesouza
Well-Known Member
- Oct 18, 2004
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- Thread starter
- #14
Rogers tweeted last night to say he was surprised by the positive reaction, which is kind of sad in itself. I hope he hasn't retired from the game because he's worried about the potential reaction from fans and, more importantly, colleagues.
Luka Van der Bale
Well-Known Member
- Jan 29, 2011
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Such a difficult situation for anyone involved, one of the worst 'dark ages' mentalities left in football is the attitude towards homosexuality. Real shame he's retired, but he should receive no criticism for that, it's his life and I can't imagine how terrifying a decision this must have been for him to make. Hopefully the positive reaction towards this is the first step towards getting rid of the issue. What we need is for a player to come out, remain in the game, and any **** who abuses them to be banned for life. English football has managed to reduce racism in its game through many schemes and panels - let us now do the same for homophobia. This should not have a feeling of fear hanging over it - I look forward to the day where footballers no longer live in fear at their sexuality becoming public knowledge, and a footballer being gay is no longer headline news. Let's be honest, I had never heard of this man, and now I have simply because he's gay. And that's sad.
EnfieldYiddo
Silence
- Aug 6, 2012
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We live in the stone ages. Regardless of the more educated of us who won't abuse a gay footballer; the majority of delinquents in the crowd will.
Slightly off topic; who do we reckon IS actually gay in the English football leagues? I've heard rife speculation about Dean Ashton but not sure.
Slightly off topic; who do we reckon IS actually gay in the English football leagues? I've heard rife speculation about Dean Ashton but not sure.
Who gives a shit and what purpose does guessing based on a players appearance ( because that's all you have to go on ) serve other than to reinforce the impression that being gay is something to gossip about and that gay men look or sound "different" .
EnfieldYiddo
Silence
- Aug 6, 2012
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Appearance? Sorry didn't know you knew how I formed my opinions... Quite the talent you have there (being psychic) It was more a question to probe and gauge as to why certain footballers haven't come out. A la someone like Dean Ashton who isn't in football any more would have less incentive to keep his sexuality secret. (Not saying what I've heard is 100% correct)
You sound like you're the one stuck in the stone ages with the 'sound and look' different allegation; I have gay relatives so I have no qualms with them.
tony_parkes
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- Jun 21, 2008
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Thanks for the dislike for my infantile post in this thread. See, I can admit that my little joke may not have been the most mature thing ever written, but that's all it was a childish little joke. Lighten up.
You are such a moral crusader on many threads that when I see something written by another poster, I just know that you will not be able to help yourself from replying.
