Professional football player and openly queer captain of the US national team Megan Rapinoe has said that male footballers “don’t feel safe” enough to come out of the closet.
Only a handful of top flight male footballers have come out throughout the history of the so-called beautiful game – and only two did this while still playing professionally.
Justin Fashanu made history as the first openly gay active professional footballer after he came out in an interview with The Sun in 1990.
He died by suicide in 1998 after being repeatedly hounded by the press and remained the only male footballer to talk openly about his sexuality while playing for professionally for decades until Adelaide United’s Josh Cavallo came out in an emotional and historic video in October 2021.
“Being a gay closeted footballer, I’ve had to learn to mask my feelings in order to fit the mould of a professional footballer,” Cavallo said. “Growing up being gay and playing football were just two worlds that hadn’t crossed paths before.
“I’ve lived my life assuming that this was a topic never to be spoken about. In football, you only have a small window to achieve greatness, and coming out publicly may have a negative impact on a career.”
Josh’s Truth pic.twitter.com/NKSEP2kVWV
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) October 27, 2021
In stark contrast, Megan Rapinoe is one of the most prominent gay sportswomen in the world, having played for the US national team 187 times and winning the World Cup twice over the course of her career thus far. She came out as a lesbian in July 2012 and is engaged to basketball player Sue Bird.
Rapinoe told Sky Sports show The HangOUT that she believes that women’s football provides a more open, safer environment for gay players, as well as stating that there is a responsibility for those involved at all levels of the game to ensure that LGBT+ people are cared for.
“To everyone in the sporting culture, you have a responsibility to think about what you’re saying and ensure that you’re creating an environment that’s welcoming and open.”
“We get asked all the time – why aren’t there more out male athletes in elite sport? It’s because they don’t feel safe,” she explained. “They feel like they’re going to get abuse from fans, they’re going to be kicked off teams, have slurs thrown at them, whatever it is.”
For Josh Cavallo, Megan Rapinoe’s description seems to hold true, with Australian football team Melbourne Victory being fined $5,000 for the homophobic abuse he faced earlier this year from fans, and police investigating death threats he received in the same month.
“It’s safer on the women’s side – we have a lot of camaraderie between ourselves and people coming out, which makes it easier for everyone,” Rapinoe continued. “But I would say from sporting directors to club owners, to fans and players, it’s your responsibility also.”