• Former
Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton player comes out
• I have
never been ashamed of it, says former midfielder
theguardian.com,
Marcus Christenson, Wednesday 8 January 2014
Thomas Hitzlsperger, the former Germany international and Premier League star, has become the highest profile footballer to come out as gay. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images |
Thomas
Hitzlsperger has become the most high-profile footballer to come out,
announcing on Wednesday that he is gay. The former Aston Villa, West Ham and
Everton player has given a long interview to the German paper Die Zeit, in
which he says that he is talking about his sexuality because he wants "to
further the debate about homosexuality among sports professionals".
Hitzlsperger
represented Germany 52 times, played in a World Cup and a European Championship
and won the Bundesliga with Stuttgart. He retired in September last year,
having also played for Lazio in Italy and Wolfsburg. "It's been a long and
difficult process" [of becoming aware of being gay]. Only in the last few
years have I realised that I preferred living together with a man,"
Hitzlsperger added.
"In
England, Italy and Germany being a homosexual is no big thing, at least not in
the dressing room," he said, before adding: "I was never ashamed of
being who I am but it was not always easy to sit on a table with 20 young men
and listen to jokes about gays. You let them get on with it as long as the
jokes are somewhat funny and not too insulting.
"Being
gay is topic that is 'ignored' in football and not 'a serious topic in the
changing room'. Fighting spirit, passion and winning mentality are
intrinsically linked, that doesn't fit the cliché: 'Gays are soft'".
Last year,
the former Leeds United player Robbie Rogers came out, telling the world about
his sexuality in a statement on his website. Last month the British diver TomDaley also announced that he has a boyfriend.
The Dutch football boat during last weekend's Gay Pride. Photo: Novum |
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