This is seismic. The effect this will have on the game and young LGBTQ+ kids will be enormous. And I hope it’ll lead to other players feeling comfortable enough to come out.
Football fans: please call out homophobia you hear in the stands, it’ll make a big impact.
All power to the lad, putting yourself out there when no one else has been brave enough to do in close to twice your age is incredibly brave and all credit to Blackpool to being able to foster an atmosphere where he’s not only welcomed by the club but also feels backed and protected enough to come out and say it.
First apart from Justin Fashanu 32 years ago.
Good for him! He’s going to be dealing with a lot of homophobia though, I hope he’ll be alright.
I thought Justin Fashanu was the first?
Good lad. I bet his agent tried stopping him though. Be who you are. Life’s too short not to
It will be interesting to see how this goes when racism and homophobia are so deeply embedded in UK football culture
I’ve been a football fan since I was a kid, 30+ years ago. This has been talked about for years, and years, and years. The last truly homophobic generation has long gone, so it’s been an inevitability.
That absolutely should not detract from the monumental act of bravery it’s taken for this lad to come out. I have no doubt that in the modern era he will be totally supported by his colleagues and coaches, and largely by the fans, but there will still be pockets of abuse and teasing from groups of fans. Even more impressive, he’s done it at 17. He’s a professional, but he’s still a young man and not a fully established player.
He will always be remembered as the first in the modern era, because he certainly won’t be the last now.
EDIT: Last truly homophobic generation being gone refers to active footballers. The oldest of which are in their mid to late 30s. These are millenials, and support for same sex marriage amongst people of this generation is incredibly high.
EDIT EDIT: Honestly thought Fashnau came out after he retired. Have corrected my comment.
Good luck to him, it is brave. He will take a lot of shit from idiots but hopefully will be well supported otherwise.
Crazy how he’s the first though, given the proportion of people who are gay.
Good for him. His name will go down in the history books and hopefully he leads the way for many others to follow.
The headline is a bit weird. It is only when we dig deep into the second paragraph:
>Blackpool forward Jake Daniels speaks exclusively on becoming the UK’s first male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay since Justin Fashanu.
Anyways, it does not take away from him becoming the UK’s first present active professional footballer to come out…
Good lad. He’ll make a difference to thousands of people. Lovely to hear his club have been supportive
Holy shit, 32 years? Brilliant for him of course, but culturally surely that suggests an issue when such a fair % of the population is lgbtq+ and there hasn’t been a *single* male footballer coming out as gay in 32 years. I had no idea it was that bad in football.
It’s mad that it’s taken this long for someone to feel comfortable enough to do this. It’s 2022 and we can fly helicopters on Mars but it’s still difficult for men to come out as gay in the most popular sport in the world.
The media need to not make him the spokesman for all things gay i.e countries with anti gay laws , the world cup making him have to go against it in all interviews , he’s just a footballer who’s gay not a one man machine who can take on the system , let’s see how many interviews meant to be about football will be about him being gay in the near future
I fully expect this to not be the last news story about this poor fella. Took a lot of balls but now he’s going to get backlash because football is stuck in the past. Football fans have tantrums about women refs ffs.
So footballers had to stay in the closet until now? And we consider ourselves a civilised country? Sometimes I do wonder…
I always have to steer clear of the Facebook/Instagram comments section on these types of posts. They make homophobia seem way more prevalent than it is out in the real world and it’s really depressing to read as a gay man.
The most common will be “How is this news, I’m not homophobic but this isn’t relevant…” This will be very relevant to most gay people. Representation matters.
I pray for him, I honestly do. Hopefully he doesn’t get too much abuse from the fans.
First time I’ve ever heard my team mentioned on the news!
Good for him and very good for young gay guys who are into football. Knowing it’s ok to be you is such a battle for some.
Good for him. He’s also gorgeous. I officially support Blackpool.
I actively dislike football, but I truly never thought I’d see this day. This is amazing, and I sincerely hope his team looks after him and quashes any homophobia on and off the pitch
I hope the courage of this young lad encourages some of the more older closeted players to come out.
It saddens me that this is a huge deal in this day and age.
This is absolutely huge and hopefully can have a real knock on effect around the world, hope to see more brave lads coming out soon!
Fair play to him, crumbs it’s depressing that it’s 2022 and he’s the first
Football is 60 years behind the rest of the country. Good luck to the fella…he is going to need it.
Not normally one to get wound up by online comments but as a gay guy who is massively struggling with coming out to people, a lot of the comments I’ve seen online really sting. People are arseholes.
Good man, BRAVE.
I once dated a referee and he was so unhappy with himself and ashamed and it was all in secret. I really hope this has a knock on effect.
Well done that lad! I’m sure he will be an inspiration to many others.
I find it incredible that it’s taken until now, given how many football teams there are and how young footballers are. Parliament’s had openly gay MPs for many years now and that’s smaller than the number of professional footballers!
Not a football fan, but am a gay guy. So much respect to this guy, huge bravery to do this at 17. Hopefully make the sport a bit more friendly to the gay community.
Good man, he will empower a lot of youngsters , in many ways than just their sexuality.
On the bright side, all the other gay players know he’s gay now so he might find his dream man.
On the dark side, football fans are cunts and he will suffer, but all football players do for a millions reasons. Owning your own identity puts you in the position of power.
What. A. Man.
He will go down in history as a trailblazer, and I hope his career glitters so he stay a beacon for a long time to come.
What about Justin Fashnu? Didn’t he come out while he was still playing professional football?
Justin Fashanu
Good for him. I’m impressed with his facial hair. He looks older than 17!
A wise person once said: “You will only have true equality when stories like this aren’t news”.
Good on him, a good friend of mine came out to the dressing room of our Sunday league team, I know it’s not the same level but every lad in that dressing room supported him and were proud to have him on our team
Respect to him for this, football fans can be quite ignorant. Hope this inspires other members of the LGBTQ+ community.
How backwards is football when this is actually news?
It saddens me a lot that people still have to be “Brave enough” to “Come Out”. I totally respect these people, but I so wish we were at that point where it was just normal to be gay and it wasn’t a new story.
My newphew is super young – only 12 years old and he came out as gay. I really loved him for having that trust in our family that he felt comfortable enough to come out to us so young – but I just kept saying to him, dude so what its totally normal. You love who you wanna love.
The haters are the minority and they should be afraid, not anyone who is homosexual.
Good for him. It’s about time professional sports normalised homosexuality. There’s no reason a gay guy can’t be just as good a football player as a straight guy. There’s nothing forcing professional athletes to come out publicly, but they should absolutely feel able and comfortable to do so if they want.
I hope other players follow suit so that the onus of representing *all* gay footballers isn’t placed on him and him alone.
I also hope that one day an athlete’s sexual orientation will be a sidenote rather than a headline. It’s in no way important or relevant, or really anybody’s business but their own.
As someone that doesn’t follow football, why is this such a big deal?
Are football fans horrifically homophobic?
Meanwhile Idrissa Gueye refuses to play wearing rainbow colours because it’s against his religion, but will happily play in a shirt bearing the logos of beer and betting companies.
Homophobia is everywhere.
It’s good news, I just wish it wasn’t so ground breaking and it didn’t matter
Hate football, but apparently I support Blackpool now. I am in awe of this blokes bravery. Football chants, not known for their compassion. X
50 comments
This is seismic. The effect this will have on the game and young LGBTQ+ kids will be enormous. And I hope it’ll lead to other players feeling comfortable enough to come out.
Football fans: please call out homophobia you hear in the stands, it’ll make a big impact.
All power to the lad, putting yourself out there when no one else has been brave enough to do in close to twice your age is incredibly brave and all credit to Blackpool to being able to foster an atmosphere where he’s not only welcomed by the club but also feels backed and protected enough to come out and say it.
First apart from Justin Fashanu 32 years ago.
Good for him! He’s going to be dealing with a lot of homophobia though, I hope he’ll be alright.
I thought Justin Fashanu was the first?
Good lad. I bet his agent tried stopping him though. Be who you are. Life’s too short not to
It will be interesting to see how this goes when racism and homophobia are so deeply embedded in UK football culture
I’ve been a football fan since I was a kid, 30+ years ago. This has been talked about for years, and years, and years. The last truly homophobic generation has long gone, so it’s been an inevitability.
That absolutely should not detract from the monumental act of bravery it’s taken for this lad to come out. I have no doubt that in the modern era he will be totally supported by his colleagues and coaches, and largely by the fans, but there will still be pockets of abuse and teasing from groups of fans. Even more impressive, he’s done it at 17. He’s a professional, but he’s still a young man and not a fully established player.
He will always be remembered as the first in the modern era, because he certainly won’t be the last now.
EDIT: Last truly homophobic generation being gone refers to active footballers. The oldest of which are in their mid to late 30s. These are millenials, and support for same sex marriage amongst people of this generation is incredibly high.
EDIT EDIT: Honestly thought Fashnau came out after he retired. Have corrected my comment.
Good luck to him, it is brave. He will take a lot of shit from idiots but hopefully will be well supported otherwise.
Crazy how he’s the first though, given the proportion of people who are gay.
Good for him. His name will go down in the history books and hopefully he leads the way for many others to follow.
The headline is a bit weird. It is only when we dig deep into the second paragraph:
>Blackpool forward Jake Daniels speaks exclusively on becoming the UK’s first male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay since Justin Fashanu.
Anyways, it does not take away from him becoming the UK’s first present active professional footballer to come out…
Good lad. He’ll make a difference to thousands of people. Lovely to hear his club have been supportive
Holy shit, 32 years? Brilliant for him of course, but culturally surely that suggests an issue when such a fair % of the population is lgbtq+ and there hasn’t been a *single* male footballer coming out as gay in 32 years. I had no idea it was that bad in football.
I’m proud for Jake and I hope this happens with such frequency that it’s no longer newsworthy [[The Guardian]](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/may/16/jake-daniels-becomes-first-uk-male-footballer-to-come-out-as-gay-since-1990?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) .
It’s mad that it’s taken this long for someone to feel comfortable enough to do this. It’s 2022 and we can fly helicopters on Mars but it’s still difficult for men to come out as gay in the most popular sport in the world.
The media need to not make him the spokesman for all things gay i.e countries with anti gay laws , the world cup making him have to go against it in all interviews , he’s just a footballer who’s gay not a one man machine who can take on the system , let’s see how many interviews meant to be about football will be about him being gay in the near future
I fully expect this to not be the last news story about this poor fella. Took a lot of balls but now he’s going to get backlash because football is stuck in the past. Football fans have tantrums about women refs ffs.
So footballers had to stay in the closet until now? And we consider ourselves a civilised country? Sometimes I do wonder…
I always have to steer clear of the Facebook/Instagram comments section on these types of posts. They make homophobia seem way more prevalent than it is out in the real world and it’s really depressing to read as a gay man.
The most common will be “How is this news, I’m not homophobic but this isn’t relevant…” This will be very relevant to most gay people. Representation matters.
I pray for him, I honestly do. Hopefully he doesn’t get too much abuse from the fans.
First time I’ve ever heard my team mentioned on the news!
Good for him and very good for young gay guys who are into football. Knowing it’s ok to be you is such a battle for some.
Good for him. He’s also gorgeous. I officially support Blackpool.
I actively dislike football, but I truly never thought I’d see this day. This is amazing, and I sincerely hope his team looks after him and quashes any homophobia on and off the pitch
I hope the courage of this young lad encourages some of the more older closeted players to come out.
It saddens me that this is a huge deal in this day and age.
This is absolutely huge and hopefully can have a real knock on effect around the world, hope to see more brave lads coming out soon!
Fair play to him, crumbs it’s depressing that it’s 2022 and he’s the first
Football is 60 years behind the rest of the country. Good luck to the fella…he is going to need it.
Not normally one to get wound up by online comments but as a gay guy who is massively struggling with coming out to people, a lot of the comments I’ve seen online really sting. People are arseholes.
Good man, BRAVE.
I once dated a referee and he was so unhappy with himself and ashamed and it was all in secret. I really hope this has a knock on effect.
Well done that lad! I’m sure he will be an inspiration to many others.
I find it incredible that it’s taken until now, given how many football teams there are and how young footballers are. Parliament’s had openly gay MPs for many years now and that’s smaller than the number of professional footballers!
Not a football fan, but am a gay guy. So much respect to this guy, huge bravery to do this at 17. Hopefully make the sport a bit more friendly to the gay community.
Good man, he will empower a lot of youngsters , in many ways than just their sexuality.
On the bright side, all the other gay players know he’s gay now so he might find his dream man.
On the dark side, football fans are cunts and he will suffer, but all football players do for a millions reasons. Owning your own identity puts you in the position of power.
What. A. Man.
He will go down in history as a trailblazer, and I hope his career glitters so he stay a beacon for a long time to come.
What about Justin Fashnu? Didn’t he come out while he was still playing professional football?
Justin Fashanu
Good for him. I’m impressed with his facial hair. He looks older than 17!
A wise person once said: “You will only have true equality when stories like this aren’t news”.
Good on him, a good friend of mine came out to the dressing room of our Sunday league team, I know it’s not the same level but every lad in that dressing room supported him and were proud to have him on our team
Respect to him for this, football fans can be quite ignorant. Hope this inspires other members of the LGBTQ+ community.
How backwards is football when this is actually news?
It saddens me a lot that people still have to be “Brave enough” to “Come Out”. I totally respect these people, but I so wish we were at that point where it was just normal to be gay and it wasn’t a new story.
My newphew is super young – only 12 years old and he came out as gay. I really loved him for having that trust in our family that he felt comfortable enough to come out to us so young – but I just kept saying to him, dude so what its totally normal. You love who you wanna love.
The haters are the minority and they should be afraid, not anyone who is homosexual.
Good for him. It’s about time professional sports normalised homosexuality. There’s no reason a gay guy can’t be just as good a football player as a straight guy. There’s nothing forcing professional athletes to come out publicly, but they should absolutely feel able and comfortable to do so if they want.
I hope other players follow suit so that the onus of representing *all* gay footballers isn’t placed on him and him alone.
I also hope that one day an athlete’s sexual orientation will be a sidenote rather than a headline. It’s in no way important or relevant, or really anybody’s business but their own.
As someone that doesn’t follow football, why is this such a big deal?
Are football fans horrifically homophobic?
Meanwhile Idrissa Gueye refuses to play wearing rainbow colours because it’s against his religion, but will happily play in a shirt bearing the logos of beer and betting companies.
Homophobia is everywhere.
It’s good news, I just wish it wasn’t so ground breaking and it didn’t matter
Hate football, but apparently I support Blackpool now. I am in awe of this blokes bravery. Football chants, not known for their compassion. X