Thomas Hitzlsperger

[Syteanric 1]

very bravely come out as gay today, he retired in September after a knee injury put paid to his career, he is following Nicola Adams and Tom Daley who have both come out in recent months.

good to see that the football world has shown lots of support for him, There will always be a small amount of brain dead thugs in the stands but perhaps there is a little bit of hope for the game and Gay and Lesbian players going forwards now too.

[Norwich Fer Me 0]

To be honest, I''m not sure I agree with all this players that are gay need to come out rubbish.I don''t care who a player is bedding as long as he can score on the pitch too! Whilst the support for Mr Hitzlsperger has been mostly positive they all seem to be messages of support and how the fans are right behind him. He isn''t dying, he is just gay.I honestly believe that whilst people apply pressure for players to come out as gay, there will always be a backdrop of homophobia in football.Maybe some of the heterosexual players should let us know they are so that we can rally around them.

[GenerationA47 750]

^^ And here endeth the lesson on how to miss the point on a grand scale

[Syteanric 1]

[quote user="Norwich Fer Me"]To be honest, I''m not sure I agree with all this players that are gay need to come out rubbish.

I don''t care who a player is bedding as long as he can score on the pitch too! Whilst the support for Mr Hitzlsperger has been mostly positive they all seem to be messages of support and how the fans are right behind him. He isn''t dying, he is just gay.

I honestly believe that whilst people apply pressure for players to come out as gay, there will always be a backdrop of homophobia in football.

Maybe some of the heterosexual players should let us know they are so that we can rally around them.
[/quote]

 

palm planted on face about now...

[crabbycanary 2]

WHAAATTT?

Tom Daleys GAY?

[morty 0]

[quote user="jas the barclay king"]

[quote user="Norwich Fer Me"]To be honest, I''m not sure I agree with all this players that are gay need to come out rubbish.I don''t care who a player is bedding as long as he can score on the pitch too! Whilst the support for Mr Hitzlsperger has been mostly positive they all seem to be messages of support and how the fans are right behind him. He isn''t dying, he is just gay.I honestly believe that whilst people apply pressure for players to come out as gay, there will always be a backdrop of homophobia in football.Maybe some of the heterosexual players should let us know they are so that we can rally around them.[/quote]

 

palm planted on face about now...

[/quote]Palm planted here too.

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

I agree with the OP.Here ends my visits to this thread, as I can see this thread descending only one way.

[ZLF 271]

I agree that there should not be a need for gay players to come out,   but nor should there be the need to hide that they are.   So while players feel a pressure to hide their sexuality there remains a problem both in and out of football that needs addressing.

 

When a footballer comes out and its not news then we know we dont need to discuss it.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

The problem is "Norwich Fer Me", that''s how it SHOULD be. The fact is, it''s not.

Imagine next to them tweets of "Ashley Coles new squeeze" etc there was "Hitz''s new Stud" it would look out of place with the ''macho'' culture the game has conjured up. There''s also different cultures to consider, some will ''tolerate'' drinkers and smokers and adulterers, but they won''t even tolerate gays. Imagine Hitz signing up for PSG on the back of what Alex said yesterday about it being adam and eve not Yves?

Like it or not, there is the celebrity culture of football and while we don''t care who some league 2 footballer is bedding, the public do care who Ronaldo and even say RVW are. Not saying they judge them, but there is definate interest in this side of things.

There is a boundary to cross as there still is with most race issues. I''d personally love to see the day where racism isn''t even thought of and any racial/ sexuality jokes are just jokes and taken as you would a joke about gingers or people from Norfolk. I.e. nobody would be considered second place in society, so they''re just taken as funny stereyotype generalisations and not taken seriously, any derogatory undertone wouldn''t even exist.

[Indy_Bones 441]

Very fair play to the guy for coming out publicly, but it also strikes me as a horribly missed opportunity to challenge some of the ingrained issues within the sport itself.If he''d done this whilst at the top of his game and actively playing, it would have had a much bigger impact that after he''s retired.I can understand why he didn''t do it then to some extent, but it does kind of smack of hypocrisy very slightly that he''s happy to reveal this information AFTER his footballing career is over, especially when he freely admits to simply ignoring gay jokes etc from teammates at some of his clubs rather than challenging them...Don''t get me wrong, I''m not slating the guy at all, simply pointing out the good he might have been able to achieve if he''d done this before retirement rather than now (when it''s far less relevant tbh).

[morty 0]

Indy Seriously? No one wants to be that player who comes out while they are still playing, who would want to attract that much media attention to himself, look how it destroyed Justin[:(]The point here is that it shouldn''t be an issue in the first place, I work offshore, which is ridiculously macho, and there are openly gay guys working there (two of whom I count as good friends) and no one bats an eyelid.Attitudes in the dressing room seriously need to change, though it doesn''t help when a fair few footballers aren''t exactly the cleverest.

[daz 70]

[quote user="Norwich Fer Me"]To be honest, I''m not sure I agree with all this players that are gay need to come out rubbish.I don''t care who a player is bedding as long as he can score on the pitch too! Whilst the support for Mr Hitzlsperger has been mostly positive they all seem to be messages of support and how the fans are right behind him. He isn''t dying, he is just gay.I honestly believe that whilst people apply pressure for players to come out as gay, there will always be a backdrop of homophobia in football.Maybe some of the heterosexual players should let us know they are so that we can rally around them.[/quote]

everyone right behind him ? im sure he would LOVE that !

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Quite surprised the guys in your industry have it so easy tbh. Maybe there''s enough protection from managers so co workers don''t bully them. I think the football thing is a lot to do with it being in the public eye.

A few people would probably see an openly gay footballer as a Freddie Mercury type sex addict who went to sex parties etc rather than just a run of the mill guy. The tabloids would be all over it trying to build them up only to knock them down.

Maybe if a group of footballers all came out together, or if people knew they were gay at the start of their careers before all the fame then it would help, but sadly i think it will take one very brave soul to jump over that first barrier.

Once one current top level player jumps over it, i think it will open it out for the rest to follow without all the hoo hah.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

I think it WILL happen in time. Over the last 30 years or so people in various walks of life have become to feel comfortable about their homosexuality. And I''m not just talking about actors and pop stars like Dusty Springfield, George Michael, Elton John and Ricky Martin. Not that long ago the idea of an openly gay politician or business leader would have been unthinkable, but even high profile ones like Mandelson, Duncan,  Sir Michael Bishop and Lord Brown have "come out".So, sport is still a little behind the times, but, I''ve no doubt that in 20 yrs we''ll all be wondering what all the fuss was about.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

My carefully worded arguement about racism above leads to one of my favourite moments in inbetweeners when they go to a gig looking for some drugs so they can fit in and think, let''s chat to this black guy, he looks like a dealer. After ranting at the boys for stereotyping, he finally admits and sells them the gear, great how they did it though.

Doc Brown who plays the dealer is great at bridging the gap between racism and genuinely funny comedy material, another example of which is his work with Ricky Gervais. Plus he isn''t a one trick pony like some similar comedians can be. Sadly for him he supports Palace!

[Norwich Fer Me 0]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

I agree that there should not be a need for gay players to come out,   but nor should there be the need to hide that they are.   So while players feel a pressure to hide their sexuality there remains a problem both in and out of football that needs addressing.

 

When a footballer comes out and its not news then we know we dont need to discuss it.

[/quote]Agree, would it be such an issue if the media didn''t make it front page headlines?

[morty 0]

[quote user="Norwich Fer Me"][quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]

I agree that there should not be a need for gay players to come out,   but nor should there be the need to hide that they are.   So while players feel a pressure to hide their sexuality there remains a problem both in and out of football that needs addressing.

 

When a footballer comes out and its not news then we know we dont need to discuss it.

[/quote]Agree, would it be such an issue if the media didn''t make it front page headlines?

[/quote]The issue needs to be front page headlines so it can be confronted and dealt with initially. Once that has happened then we can all accept it, and less fuss will be made.Unfortunately someone needs to be the first, still playing footballer to come out.

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="morty"]Unfortunately someone needs to be the first, still playing footballer to come out.[/quote]Exactly the point I was making Morty - Hitzlsperger is a missed opportunity.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

There are already several footballers who are ''out'' and well known amoungst other professionals, they just don''t feel the need to tell the media and open themselves up to the attention, not just for themselves but for their partner. As soon as Tom Daley came out papers were offering thousands of pounds for the identity of his boyfriend.

 

With each generation comes a greater tolerance and Robbie Rodgers speaks very positively of his experience of being a gay, top flight footballer in the MLS.

 

It''s only a matter of time and once it does happen it will probably all be forgotten about fairly quickly - I''m sure whoever it is will get random abuse during games, but it will be the minority rather than majority - like racist abuse is currently.

[morty 0]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="morty"]Unfortunately someone needs to be the first, still playing footballer to come out.[/quote]Exactly the point I was making Morty - Hitzlsperger is a missed opportunity.[/quote]Sounded more like you were berating him, to be honest.And like I said in the rest of my post, whoever does it, will be subject to intense scrutiny, and probably abuse.Can you imagine the stick a player will get from opposition fans?Sorry but if I was in the position, I don''t think I''d choose to be the first one out.

[morty 0]

Wait, Freddie Mercury was gay?But he had a moustache, thats practically as good as having a wedding ring.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

, they just don''t feel the need to tell the media and open themselves up to the attention, not just for themselves but for their partner. As soon as Tom Daley came out papers were offering thousands of pounds for the identity of his boyfriend.

 

[/quote]But isn''t that the case whether hetero- or homo- sexual, BYG ? If there are some sordid tabloid revelations about a top footballer in sex romps with models/pop stars/actresses/prossies (delete as appropriate) usually there follows a witchunt to discover their identity.It''s all part of the ridiculous feeding frenzy that is "celeb culture" these days.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

[quote user="Reggie Strayshun"][quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

, they just don''t feel the need to tell the media and open themselves up to the attention, not just for themselves but for their partner. As soon as Tom Daley came out papers were offering thousands of pounds for the identity of his boyfriend.

 

[/quote]

But isn''t that the case whether hetero- or homo- sexual, BYG ? If there are some sordid tabloid revelations about a top footballer in sex romps with models/pop stars/actresses/prossies (delete as appropriate) usually there follows a witchunt to discover their identity.

It''s all part of the ridiculous feeding frenzy that is "celeb culture" these days.
[/quote]

 

I think homosexual players wouldn''t regard being in a commited relationship the same as a ''sex romp''.

 

Players who get caught out because they are cheating on their wives or getting involved with prostitutes really only have themselves to blame. Most footballers manage to have very personal, personal lives. A few of the biggest players have their information splashed across the front pages through no fault of their own - but the majority enjoy a decent level of privacy. Any player who comes out as gay is going to lose that privacy, certainly for a short while, through no fault of their own.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

Of course your core point is absolutely correct, BYG. But my point was more a general observation...that the media seem to latch on to stories involving high profile sportsmen/women, whether it''s a new relationship or a sordid sex romp, irrespective of whoever''s "fault" it is .And, of course some people seem to court publicity, whereas others shun the limelight, again irrespective of sexuality . I''m sure you are right that there are plenty of gay footballers . Maybe they are more circumspect than others, because I cannot believe that the tabloid press is keeping schtumm on them !

[havemyhowsonit 0]

Why has this made news???

There''s no issue there. It''s in the holy bible.

[Madison 0]

Put 22 gays on a pitch and see how quickly interest in football demises.

[iron_stan 0]

no one gives a shite, actually making it into a massive deal only makes it worse and makes it seem like its 1934, i cant think of anyone that gives two fucks about whether a footballer is gay or notthe press are making it into a bigger issue than what it is, what makes it worse is the way there seems to be this campaign to get a playing professional to ''come out'', like it will make some sort of difference. The truth is its no one elses business and maybe they just want to be judged on their ability not where they chose to put their genitals

[morty 0]

[quote user="iron_stan"]no one gives a shite, actually making it into a massive deal only makes it worse and makes it seem like its 1934, i cant think of anyone that gives two fucks about whether a footballer is gay or notthe press are making it into a bigger issue than what it is, what makes it worse is the way there seems to be this campaign to get a playing professional to ''come out'', like it will make some sort of difference. The truth is its no one elses business and maybe they just want to be judged on their ability not where they chose to put their genitals [/quote]So you don''t think that openly gay players would take abuse from some fans?

[im spartacus canary 0]

imagine the headlines if svenn bender came out [:D]

[iron_stan 0]

morty - players get abuse for all sorts of things anywaybecause we make such a big deal of homosexuality and sportsmen it just makes it worse, the guy you bought your milk off today might have been gay, you didnt care, didnt cross your mind did it, he went about his day being a massive massive gay and he didnt feel the to tell the world about it, and no one cared. It just gets turned into a massive deal where in reality its not, we dont go out and plaster it across the back pages when a player says "IVE GOT A GIRLFRIEND, IM A HETRO EVERYONE LOOK LOOK"its fucking archaic