Gay male footballers won’t come out ‘because they don’t feel safe,’ says Megan Rapinoe
metro.co.uktold Sky Sports.‘We get asked all the time — why aren’t there more out male athletes in elite sport? It’s because they don’t feel safe.
They feel like they’re going to get abuse from fans, they’re going to be kicked off teams, have slurs thrown at them, whatever it is.‘It’s safer on the women’s side — we have a lot of camaraderie between ourselves and people coming out, which makes it easier for everyone.
But I would say from sporting directors to club owners, to fans and players, it’s your responsibility also.’A 2017 survey from the BBC and Ipsos Mori found that 34 percent of people aged 16-22 in the United Kingdom did not define as exclusively heterosexual, while an alternative study by Kantar TNS in the same year found that seven percent of British men identified as homosexual, and five percent as bisexual.
No player in Premier League history has ever come out as gay while playing in the English top flight.Andriy Yarmolenko left in tears at West Ham training after sending family to KyivUK home nations and Republic of Ireland confirm bid to host UEFA Euro 2028 tournamentFor more stories like this, check our sport page.Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
