Out and proud: Jake Daniels kick-starts normalisation of male LGBTQ+ footballers in UK by coming out as gay, but there’s a long way to go
There aren’t enough superlatives to articulate the extent of bravery it must have taken for Daniels to make this decision, that too at the very beginning of his career. After all, there’s a reason there haven’t been any openly gay male footballers in the UK in over three decades; there are very few of them across the world at all.
Unlike its female counterpart, men’s football is plagued by homophobia to its very core. Troubled by the prospect of having to endure abuses and vile chants their entire lives, players have for long chosen to live closeted, lead a life of lies and refrain from simply being who they truly are. Even in retirement, very few footballers have chosen to come out and try to foster an environment that would encourage people of the LGBTQ+ community to live openly.
It hasn’t been easy, however. Societal discriminations percolate into sporting communities, as is their wont. Matters of abuse on racial, communal and religious grounds have only recently become subjects of import, and even slower is the rate at which changes take effect. It is no surprise, therefore, that having openly gay male footballers in the game is almost unheard of, let alone being something that should have long been normalised.
