Gay footballers | Czech Republic international Jakub Jankto comes out as gay

[dannyrhinos89]

But that's what we want. Gradual acceptance to the point that even if a big profile name comes out we're all like "good for you" and we hear nothing negative since then. The end goal is to have a society where being gay openly is like breathing fresh air. No negative connotations or fear of any negative reactions from dickheads. Just benign acceptance.

You'll always get dickheads sadly, just look at all the middle Eastern people replying in Uniteds tweet of support for him. Posting vomit emojis and writing abusive messages.

I'm not going any further with that though as I got a warning for it on here before for calling it out but the evidence is right there to see.

 

[Acquire Me]

Good for him. Very brave thing to do. Will help a lot of other people.

 

[SilentWitness]

Given that Preston North End and Fleetwood aleady sing homophobic songs towards Blackpool because of Blackpool's large gay community I can only hope this lad has a thick skin.

going by the interview he seems like the type of lad who can handle it and will have the support of his teammates too. Says he doesn’t care what they say because they’ve paid to come watch him play and essentially paying him to abuse him.

 

[adexkola]

The owners of Manchester United may or may not be homophobic but they aren't a state. They don't make or uphold laws.

The owner of Newcastle United is Saudi Arabia.

The difference - again - should be pretty feckin' obvious.

I'm saying the difference doesn't fecking matter. A football club (the players, the staff, the supporters) is offering support to a young man. Who gives a flying feck who owns the club in this moment? If it really mattered the UK government would have blocked the sale. But it didn't.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

I remember that. The footballer visited a conversion therapist and they later happened to bump into each other in a sauna.

What a show!

 

[Trequarista10]

Wasn’t Justin Fashanu the first?

Yeah, and what happened to him probably contributed to preventing other gay footballers from coming out. So, the first since Fashanu/first for 30 years maybe more accurate, but no less significant.

 

[DOTA]

Yeah, and what happened to him probably contributed to preventing other gay footballers from coming out. So, the first since Fashanu/first for 30 years maybe more accurate, but no less significant.

My understanding is this kid's the first to do it out of choice. Fashanu was told either he sold the story or they ran their own one.

 

[balaks]

Fair play to the kid - hope he gets great support from everybody

 

[Mr Anderson]

Strong young man. Well done on him.

 

[RonaldoVII]

You would like to think so... however ongoing racist in football shows that a group of football supporters arent advanced at all.

I think if someone in my section shouted something, either racist or homophobic, they'd be dealt with. Either by stewards or people around would say something. Other sections can probably get away with it. Away fans were still singing the Park chat when I went to Everton a month or so ago despite being told not to. Same with the old Wenger chants that lasted a while a few years back. Hopefully this will start to drown it all out though.

 

[MUW4Eva]

What a show!

No way near as good as Sky One's "Dream Team" though!

 

[Cloud7]

Good on him for coming out and good to see the support he has received thus far

 

[H10]

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

No way near as good as Sky One's "Dream Team" though!

Come on Dragons!

Enjoyed it when someone shot a player in the knee WITH A PISTOL from row Z

 

[Mart1974]

going by the interview he seems like the type of lad who can handle it and will have the support of his teammates too. Says he doesn’t care what they say because they’ve paid to come watch him play and essentially paying him to abuse him.

Good on him BTW.

 

[MUW4Eva]

Come on Dragons!

Enjoyed it when someone shot a player in the knee WITH A PISTOL from row Z

There were soooooooo many iconic moments, such a shame that due to music copyright issues, and other things, it will seemingly never be shown again.....

 

[Acole9]

Good for him. Must've taken a lot of guts to do that. Hopefully others may follow suit.

 

[NoPace]

His comments about keeping a secret being a weight reminded me of the skip for the Scottish curling team, Mouat (#1 team by analytics, but probably #3 at the moment in actuality, though they're 15 years younger or so than the other top 2 teams so likely about to go on a dominant run sometime over the next decade and a half), who basically said he was spurred to come out because his sports psychologist made him realize that having to hide something was hurting his communication (huge in curling) with his teammates and maybe the rest of his play. Makes you wonder what footballers will come out post-retirement and could have been even better if they'd felt safe to come out rather than having this massive secret weighing on them.

 

[Robertd0803]

Fair play to the lad. Incredibly brave thing to do.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

I'm saying the difference doesn't fecking matter. A football club (the players, the staff, the supporters) is offering support to a young man. Who gives a flying feck who owns the club in this moment? If it really mattered the UK government would have blocked the sale. But it didn't.

Many people do.

This may be shocking to you but it's possible to entertain two ideas at the same time.

 

[Dansk]

I don't have an appetite for liver and brussel sprouts. As such, I don't eat them, and nobody ever tries to make me do so. It's a non-existent problem in my life. I simply choose not to buy liver and brussel sprouts. I don't give a shit if anybody else eats liver and brussel sprouts because it doesn't affect me. For what possible reason would I care if there are other people who enjoy those things? It has no impact whatsoever on my life.

I feel the same way about sexuality.

But we all hate Leeds scum.

 

[Melbourne Red]

Yeah, I’m not that old (or so I like to think!) and grew up in a school environment where full on, explicit homophobia was the norm. Not one kid in my school came out until long after they’d left. My own kids are light years more enlightened than I was at their age. The difference is astonishing (and heartening)

I've identified 2010 as the year when it stopped being OK for self-aware heterosexuals to say homophobic things. Maybe even a couple of years later tbh.

And about 50% of the zingers and put-downs on the Caf were homophobic in nature for the first ten years I was here.

Can't imagine what it was like for gay people reading it. No surprise that we never had a gay poster who was willing to come out until things changed.

 

[Wibble]

I've identified 2010 as the year when it stopped being OK for self-aware heterosexuals to say homophobic things. Maybe even a couple of years later tbh.

And about 50% of the zingers and put-downs on the Caf were homophobic in nature for the first ten years I was here.

Can't imagine what it was like for gay people reading it. No surprise that we never had a gay poster who was willing to come out until things changed.

Agreed.

 

[Melbourne Red]

Agreed.

And yeah, I was as guilty of it as anyone else to be fair. Just about all of us who posted regularly back then would be fecked if we became public figures and someone wanted to dig up the posts.

So I've decided not to become anyone notable.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Fair play to this fella

 

[Kaushal]

All I have to say this. Congrats and respect. In support of you coming out Jake Daniels, I will raise the toast of finest Jack Daniels. Happy for you. feck the haters and inhumans.

 

[Shane88]

Come on Dragons!

Enjoyed it when someone shot a player in the knee WITH A PISTOL from row Z

The most cursed club in football. Plane crashes, bus crashes, stadium shootings and they bought a £40 million striker from Barcelona who then went blind a few weeks after joining.

 

[Widow]

He's a friend of my daughter and a nice lad. The reaction has been so positive I hope it continues.

 

[adexkola]

And yeah, I was as guilty of it as anyone else to be fair. Just about all of us who posted regularly back then would be fecked if we became public figures and someone wanted to dig up the posts.

So I've decided not to become anyone notable.

How gracious of you.

 

[therationalprophet]

Yeah, I’m not that old (or so I like to think!) and grew up in a school environment where full on, explicit homophobia was the norm. Not one kid in my school came out until long after they’d left. My own kids are light years more enlightened than I was at their age. The difference is astonishing (and heartening)

So true. Stark difference in how today's school kids perceive homosexuality as compared to my time (the 90s) and kudos to that. Fills the heart with hope. Not just kids, I have seen opinions/PoVs changing in my own age group.
There will be a category of people though who would always hate homosexuality due to some or the other religious belief. Nothing can be done for them - let them stew in their hate.

 

[DeGea’sFeet]

How would he know? He'd probably know for the clubs he played for, obviously.

Probably a guesstimate

 

[Lord SInister]

What on earth do you mean by women's footballers are not main stream, of course they are, millions watch the women's World Cup, thousands go to games on a regular basis, the WSL has a TV deal with Sky and the BBC, what more are you thinking needs to be done to be mainstream exactly??!!

You know what I mean, stop over reacting.

 

[Dargonk]

Glad he felt strong enough in himself to make it public, though hopefully he is ready for the minority that are going to abuse him. The quicker gay players are normalised the better.

 

[mitchmouse]

Should not have to say this but he's a brave lad. 21st century, you should not have to be brave to do this but we are where we are.

I played at about 20 levels below him and although not out, most of my teammates suspected and let's just say many of them weren't the most pleasant people on the planet ( to give them just a little leaway, this was the 1980s). On (pre-season) tours. it was obvious no one would to share a room with me unless there were more than two to a room (not that i tend to be attracted to bigoted morons!). Things have improved everywhere I'm sure... but not enough yet.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

There were soooooooo many iconic moments, such a shame that due to music copyright issues, and other things, it will seemingly never be shown again.....

Surely it'll be online somewhere.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

The most cursed club in football. Plane crashes, bus crashes, stadium shootings and they bought a £40 million striker from Barcelona who then went blind a few weeks after joining.

Absolutely amazing!

 

[Dancfc]

The most cursed club in football. Plane crashes, bus crashes, stadium shootings and they bought a £40 million striker from Barcelona who then went blind a few weeks after joining.

You forgot an ex manager blowing the team bus up killing all but three players just to avoid prison for murdering the clubs best ever player.

Not to mention the stadium itself going up in flames at the very same time they are about to win the league.

 

[mjstokes85]

This is fantastic news and I hope it makes it a bit easier for other gay footballers to come out in the future.

 

[Lay]

Its incredibly brave, especially at 17.

My Brother in law who is 15, came out as gay last year. Unfortunately he gets bullied for it at school. The support he has gotten from the school has been poor. He hasn't bothered going for awhile now and just home schooled.

 

[mctrials23]

Unfortunately I think that plenty of "fans" will abuse him simply to try and get a reaction and put him off his game. Football fans have a scummy element who will say whatever they think will benefit their team.

I can't remember which clubs fans it was that were accused of racism and their response was basically "we like our black players but we are racist towards other teams black players and thats OK because we are just trying to get an advantage for our team".

Good on him though. Hopefully more players will come out now. Its sad that this sort of thing will help some people accept queer people more but it will. People are idiots and look up to footballers for some reason so every little helps.