Sportsmen Come Out

In the latest issue of Swedish gay magazine QX, Olympic athlete Peter Häggström comes out. Today, I read in The Times that British rugby star Gareth Thomas do the same. If this openness is a new trend in sports, it’s a welcome one.

Since I came out in the early 1990s, it has bothered me that gay sportsmen feel they have to hide and lie about their private life. I remember one case the most. It was in 1994 and Sweden’s national football team was at its top. One of the top players was bisexual, and quite a few people knew he had a long-term relationship with a man. But in interviews he went on about this imaginary girlfriend of his. It was embarrassing to watch him humiliate himself in the media when we knew his “girlfriend” was a man.

Anyhow, I welcome the brave decision by Häggström and Thomas and hope it’s a new trend. Keeping one’s private life private is one thing, but lying about what is perhaps the most important thing in life is not good for anyone.