Openly gay footballer Zander Murray shared a heartwarming message from a fan he inspired to come out. Back in September, the Gala Fairydean Rover striker made history as the first Scottish senior football player to come out as gay. “First, it feels like the weight of the world is now off my shoulders…It can be difficult, and you can feel very alone,” he said via the club’s website. “I knew I was different for many years, but with other people in the game coming out, it’s been amazing. “Hopefully, the SFA can work with other leagues and partners and look at support and drive how we help other players.” On 27 September, the young talent took to Twitter and shared a heartfelt message he received from a fan who was inspired by his groundbreaking announcement. “Hi Zander, hope you’re doing okay.
I just wanted to tell you that you’ve been a massive inspiration for me to come out to teammates and family,” the person wrote. “As a young footballer, I find it difficult to be myself as it is but being gay and keeping it secret was so challenging.
It felt amazing when I told my teammates, they were super supportive.” In his caption on Twitter, Murray wrote: “Makes it all worthwhile young man.” Since coming out as gay, Murray has remained an open book regarding his journey and the difficulties he faced along the way.
In a recent interview with Lorraine Kelly, the young talent said that “a weight was lifted of [his] shoulders” since opening up about his identity. “I’m riding the wave.