Soccer star Zander Murray’s wild year of inspiring gay athletes & swatting down homophobes after coming out
Out on the Pitch, which explores homophobic attitudes in Scottish soccer.“When I got the offer of the documentary, I sat down and thought, ‘Why do I want to do this?
What do I want out of it?,'” he told Outsports in a recent interview. “I wrote down that I wanted to empower a young Zander Murray and help them to say, ‘I’m not going to give up just because I‘m different to everyone else in my changing room.’”Shortly after the doc premiered in the U.K., Murray received a text message from a youth soccer coach, who said his story inspired one of his own players to come out and live his truth.That text remains pinned to the top of Murray’s Twitter to this day.“I just think it’s amazing,” said Murray. “The coach said to me that this boy is so much more confident now.
I’m like, ‘Bingo — that’s why I did it.’ It was the most awesome, powerful moment.”This is why ?? ??? #proud #beyou pic.twitter.com/yi2p5JRh0CMurray, 31, has made a habit of sharing notes he receives–both good and bad.
A few months before he shared the aforementioned text message, he posted a handwritten note from a young fan.The address has been smudged in the rain!
