Former footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger has revealed in an interview that he is gay, and that he wants to bring a discussion about homosexuality to the forefront of professional sport.
The former Germany international played 52 times for his country, and also had spells at West Ham United and Everton in the Premier League.
In an interview with German magazine Zeit, the 31-year-old broached the subject of his homosexuality publicly for the first time and spoke about the issues facing gay sportsmen and women.
In the interview, conducted in German, Thomas Hitzlsperger, said:
“I want to talk about my homosexuality.
“By doing this I am hoping to move the discussion on homosexuality in professional sport forward.
“Homosexuality isn’t a serious topic for discussion in England, Germany or Italy – at least not in the dressing room.”
The German international claimed that the issue of homosexuality had been “simply ignored” in football, but admitted that his homosexuality is only something that he has only recently been aware of:
“It has only recently been obvious to me what I would rather live with a man.”
The interview with Zeit is the first given by Thomas Hitzlsperger as an openly gay man, although in a Q&A with Zeit magazine in 2012, the footballer did broach the subject of homosexuality in the dressing room:
“In the changing room gay footballers are talked about from time to time. Various names go round and the question is always: Who’s with who?”
Hitzlsperger is one of only a handful of footballers to come out as being gay, in addition to American footballer Robbie Rogers, who retired after announcing his homosexuality, but has since signed a contract with LA Galaxy, and former Notts County player Justin Fashanu, brother of John Fashanu.
The former German international said he was hoping for a positive reaction from football fans:
“Fans are very complex – you have all ages from all walks of life in stadium. That’s why you can’t rule any reaction out. But I think for the vast majority it probably wouldn’t be a problem”
Source: mirror.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment