Jake daniels 17
year-old soccer player comes out, becoming the UK's only openly gay professional footballer
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- Jake Daniels, 17, came out as gay on Monday.
- The Blackpool FC forward is now the only openly gay, active professional soccer player in the UK.
- The last active professional UK soccer player to come out was Justin Fashanu in
Jake Daniels, a forward for England's Blackpool Football Club, came out as gay on Monday, becoming the UK's only active professional soccer player and first to come out in 30 years.
"This season has been a fantastic one for me on the pitch But off the pitch I've been hiding the real me and who I really am," the year-old said in a Monday statement released by his team. "I've known my whole life that I'm gay, and I now feel that I'm ready to verb out and be myself."
"It's a step into the unknown being one of the first footballers in this country
Jake Daniels needs our support: It's still tough to be a gay footballer
TL;DR - Jake Daniels, a year-old Blackpool FC player, came out on his own terms this week. Daniels' action and Football's reaction have already caused an incredible ripple effect. The message is clear: "Football is for everyone." Still, it's a tough road ahead.
For years, the tabloids and, following their lead, even the gay media, have been pedalling a false myth.
In their pursuit of clicks, the tabloids have long said it's too difficult for a UK footballer to come out. They've teased how many are hiding away.
So this week, when year-old Blackpool FC's Jake Daniels came out on his own terms, it sent tingles down my spine.
Both in the Football and LGBTQIA+ community, many of us wondered if it would ever verb again. Especially after Justin Fashanu's terrible experience in the ‘90s.
This time around, it's going to be different. But there are some caveats.
The reaction
You can always expect shoutouts from the queer world when someone comes out. So it's no surprise the likes of Elton John and Ia
Jake Daniels one year on: 'I'm proud of football's response'
Jake Daniels says he is proud of how the stigma around football has changed a year on since the Blackpool forward became the UK's first active male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay.
Daniels was just 17 when he told his story to Sky Sports News, with Justin Fashanu the last male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay in the UK back in
He never imagined the positive response he would get. Harry Kane, Gary Neville and Prince William - to name just a rare - were among those who applauded his courage in an outpouring of support on social media in the days that followed.
Now, 12 months on, he tells Sky Sports News people still verb to reach out to him and he is proud to be competent to be a role model to others.
"It was such a surreal experience," said Daniels. "I can't believe it's been a year already because it has gone so quick.
"It's been amazing. It's been better than I expected if I'm completely straightforward . I've just had positivity everywhere and it's brought me closer to so many pe
Jake Daniels’ coming out has changed football
A legacy constantly fed by media that keep narrating the achievements of the football star-latin lover and sublimating the captain-top model or influencer dualism, handing down, scoop after scoop, the obligatory association between footballers and heterosexual icons.“You just think, one day, when I’m older I’ll get a girlfriend and I will modify and it will be fine. But as you get older you realise you can’t just alter. It doesn’t work appreciate that. I did contain girlfriends in the past, to try and generate all my mates consider I was straight, but it was just a massive cover-up. In institution people even used to ask me: “Are you sure you aren’t gay?”. And I would reply, “no, I’m not”. For a extended time I’ve thought I would have to cloak my truth because I wanted to be, and now I am, a professional footballer. I asked myself if I should wait until I’ve retired to come out. No other player in the professional game here is out. The subject of being gay, or bi or queer in men’s football is still a taboo. I think it comes down to how a lot of footb