Thursday, November 10, 2011

First Openly Gay American Soccer Player Comes Out


Via Think Progress - it seriously should not even be news that a gay man plays professional soccer. And it sucks that he could win an MVP and not acknowledge his partner (at the time) - the man he loved and who no doubt has supported him in his career as an athlete.

When I lived in Seattle, I played on a men's league soccer team that was mostly gay men - in all of my experience in soccer (4 years varsity in high school, 3 years in college), I have never played on a team with men who were tougher, more aggressive, and more competitive than those guys. Being gay has nothing to do with sports skill.
First Openly Gay American Soccer Player Comes Out 

David Testo has become the first openly gay professional soccer player in the United States. He told the CBC: “I really regret not have coming out publicly earlier… Living the life of a professional athlete and being gay is incredibly hard. It’s like carrying around a secret and never actually being allowed to be yourself.” He admitted he has thought about quitting athletics before and described how uncomfortable he felt receiving an MVP award and not being able to recognize his partner. Watch the full interview, in which Testo gets choked up talking about his struggles:





(HT: Towleroad.)

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