The date in question makes sense – it’s the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia And Transphobia. This would also be during the German domestic season.
Former footballer Marcus Urban says he hopes the plan of a mass coming-out comes to fruition.
“There is controversy there. Do I still want to wait until the world of football becomes the way I want it to be? Why should I wait? An interesting dynamic has come into play,” he tells Editorial Network Germany. “You can see that people's minds are starting to move and are thinking about whether it really makes sense to continue to hide and deny themselves.”
“That would be so liberating. What's wrong with it?”
There are currently no male professional footballers in Germany who are openly gay. Here in Australia, Adelaide United midfielder Josh Cavallo became – at the time – the only known current top-flight male footballer in the world to come out as gay.
Since this, three other footballers have come out as gay.
The first professional footballer to come out while still playing, was Britain’s Justin Fashanu in 1990. Sadly, Justin never found acceptance in the game, tragically taking his own life eight years later.
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia And Transphobia takes place on 17 May.
