The former professional English footballer penned a powerful essay for ESPN, in which he detailed the difficulties in being openly gay in a sport that is notorious for their lack of LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
Beattie recalled when his club, Warriors FC in Singapore, won the Asian Champions League in 2015. They subsequently flew to Singapore and explored the island, but Beattie told his teammates that he was going to “do my own thing”. “I couldn’t lie like this forever.