Jakub Jankto

You can probably count on 1 hand (ok, maybe 2) the number of footballers who've come out in the last 30 or 40 years, sad indictment of the state of the game really.

 

I don't really understand the need to 'come out' rather than just getting on with their lives in the chosen way, but I suspect a big part of why they don't relates to the likely media frenzy pushing them as an icon, rather than anything to do with the public or the game.

I reckon most people couldn't care less.

 

Not sure about that bit. It must be stressful trying to keep secret something you don't think will go down well with friends and colleagues, and that's before the media get hold of it.
This is a good read.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/64484125

 

Totally agree with you DMD.
I couldn’t care less if someone is gay or not, black or white (are you allowed to say that even still?) so long as they are a good human being and respect each other’s views and values.
If he is a good footballer what does it matter? Unfortunately some may use it against him and that is sad.
UTT

 

You must know some strange people. I don't know anyone that could care less about an adults sexuality.

 

I think it’s probably worth remembering that whilst progressive for the area of Europe it’s in, attitudes towards gay people in the Czech Republic are behind the U.K. Adoption is illegal because only married couples are able to adopt, whereas the only option for gay people is a civil union.

So this is a big deal for the country. Hopefully it will progress attitudes, as according to surveys there is a large enough section of society who don’t approve of same sex couples.

Luckily I came out a long time ago, but it’s hard as society expects you will be straight.
I appreciate that’s because that’s what the majority are, but it can cause some inner issues when you go against the norm and some (thankfully a minority) people are hostile to that.

The process is never really over though. I would estimate I come out to new people at least once a week. Even just before I drop the term ‘my husband’ to someone new, my head checks it’s safe, so it’s more about being able to just live how you want then making a big noise about it.

 

Me neither, everybody I know has the same attitude, who they choose to spend their life with, it's up to them IMO. I guess the reason it is such a big issue is that they fear the abuse they might well get from away fans, which may well affect their performance on the pitch..

 

I don't care either but I've never been a professional sportsman who has to go into a testosterone-filled dressing room week in week out not knowing what other peoples attitudes are towards sexuality. And I just don't believe that none of them care.
And I don't know any particularly strange people.

 

I agree in spirit but do you ever wonder why men’s football is like 20-30 years behind in this regard, despite all the rainbow armbands and laces? Nearly every other high-profile industry has lots of openly-LGBT people but football so few. Musicians, actors, politicians, comedians and now even hip-hop artists and rappers are more likely to be openly LGBT but male footballers, for whatever reason, don’t feel comfortable being ‘out’.

 

It's only a big deal at the moment because there appears to be this massive closet and I would guess that gay footballers still do not feel comfortable being publicly "out". It makes no odds to me either, but I would wonder why someone would feel unable to share with me that they had a same sex partner. If it's one gay person, well they could just be private and regard it as none of my business. If it's a hundred gay people then I may start to think whether it's something about me that stops them sharing.

Seems obvious to me that they would be concerned about the threats and trolls that still sadly dwell amongst us.

 

I can’t ever remember publicly declaring I’m straight. I can’t recall ever being put under any pressure to do so. When it was apparent I have no memories of being abused because I’m straight or made to feel isolated from colleagues because of it. I fail to think of a time that I didn’t get a job because I was openly straight or even failed to secure an interview because I “sounded straight”.

Pride exists for a reason.

 

Whilst most of us couldn't care less about the sexuality of a player, there are still thousands upon thousands of Neanderthals who attend matches week in and week out who'll happily abuse players for their race, sexuality etc. before you get to the keyboard warrior's who'll lay in on all forms of social media. That there have only ever been a handful of players globally to have come out speaks volumes about the stigma around being LGBTQ+ in men's football. I mean, only a few months ago there was a world cup in a country where it is illegal to be gay, not to mention the other 70 or so countries world wide where it is illegal to be gay as well. So I think this is a pretty big deal, and would hope that he gets an overwhelmingly positive reception and that other footballers who are gay feel comfortable coming out in the future too.

 

Also, we needed a replacement for David Beckham’s gay icon role.

 

No one cares about anyones sexuality
Its great we live in homophobic free world

Dmds solved it

Oh wait.

 

And therein lies the problem.

 

I had mixed experiences of LGBT acceptance when I played footballer. At uni, my team mates were generally okay with it, some cringey jokes but never any nastiness and over time it was absolutely lovely. When I played at another non-league side in Leicestershire, there was a lot of queer-bashing from a couple of the players and I didn’t feel like I could be myself, which was a nightmare because I felt like I had to choose whether to be me and risk or keep doing what I loved and just lie. I had a girlfriend at the time, so it was like being a double agent. In the end I left and moved home a few months later. I never hid who I was again, but that didn’t come without certain issues.

The lad culture in football teams is both amazingly warm and depressingly backward and immature, so for Jakob to take that step forward in a country that’s known for it’s discomfort with non-cis people is huge. When you start out as a young footballer around 12 or 13, you’re still coming to terms with things like sexuality and are constantly surrounded by other lads who are talking about women. So you feel obliged to be part of that culture and, perhaps wrongly, assume that anything that is counter to said culture would result in a negative experience. That’s a natural feeling and completely understandable.

DMD is right, it really shouldn’t be a big deal in this day and age, but I think contextually it sort of is given what happened to Justin Fashanu because that tragedy set an unwanted precedent. Times are changing, society is, for the most part, progressing.

 

Great post. I have had similar experiences.

It’s definitely improved. When I play 5 a side it’s never a problem now.

 

Having been around dressing rooms in Rugby League for the best part of 15 years I would suggest the issue is not with coming out to team mates but it is more down to the worry of what will happen on social media and from the mouths of opposition supporters. There isn't a bond like it in a dressing room, I would be very surprised if Football players dont have the same bond and aside from some casual banter in house being gay would not make a difference to how they treat a team mate.

Having said that it is of course impossible to know how someone feels in that situation and how they expect their mates to receive the news. Unless you're living it you can never understand properly.

 

Shouldn’t even be an issue.