Thomas Beattie becomes first male English footballer to come out as gay in 30 years

Homosexuality still remains a taboo subject in professional football, especially in top leagues across the globe. Racism and homophobia are the two evils that footballers have been working to eradicate over the last couple of years. While racism is being targeted currently with the Black Lives Matter campaign, homosexuality is yet to be given a platform of its own in the English top flight. Former Hull City player Thomas Beattie, who has also played in Singapore and Canada, recently confessed that he is gay. The former Premier League player added that he had no intention to reveal his sexual orientation during his playing days for fear of public outrage.

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Thomas Beattie homosexual story

Former Hull City player comes out as gay

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Thomas Beattie homosexual revelation

In a recent interview with Advocate, former Hull City player Thomas Beattie was quoted as saying, “I never thought about coming out whilst playing. I literally felt like I had to sacrifice one of the two: who I am, or the sport I loved before I could remember. I used football as a form of escapism and in many ways it saved me, until I reached the point in life where there was some personal growth. I was standing still on that front. Society [told] me masculinity is linked to sexuality and so being an athlete playing a physical sport felt like a huge contradiction.”

Thomas Beattie, who played for Hull City's youth team, was voted as the most eligible bachelor in Singapore last year. Beattie added that the purpose behind him coming out as gay was to embolden other players in the league who might be in a similar situation in their careers right now. Thomas Beattie was further quoted as saying, "It’s still a new and current process for me to be honest. I told close friends and family three months ago, which was when I decided to embark on the journey of speaking openly about it. As an athlete it was something that was unspoken about, which is why I want to share my story in hopes that there will eventually be more support for people in a similar situation. I recently started to tell some of my old team mates who have been amazing and treated me not a single ounce differently.”

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Image Courtesy: Thomas Beattie Twitter