Several Bundesliga footballers will come out of the closet on May 17, International Day against Homophobia
The German footballer Marcus Urban declared openly homosexual years after ending his professional career. He has acknowledged that he hid it in his active sporting life for fear of uncontrollable consequences. «Nobody knew how they were going to react, from protests and insults from fans to the withdrawal of sponsors.», he remembers his calculations, «but today it should be very different».
Urban launched a few months ago 'Sports Free', an initiative designed to support athletes who want to come out of the closet. And now he has managed to get the attention of the Bundesliga by announcing that Several footballers will make their condition public on May 17, the International Day against Homophobia. «There are more gay footballers than we thought» explains Urban in the campaign video, in which he promises surprises and liberation.
The support for this idea by the teams has surprised Urban. Addition St. Pauli, among the followers of the campaign are clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, SC Freiburg and VfB Stuttgart. "Sports Free is a great initiative that VfB Stuttgart is delighted to support», greeted the president Alexander Wehrle in statements to Tagesspiegel, in which he has recognized a five-figure donation to the project, «VfB represents a value proposition with respect, tolerance and appreciation and this proposition further destigmatizes the issue and is a great step in the process of establishing normality».
Positive reaction among players
Some footballers have already contacted Urban, showing his support for the purpose of eliminating taboos on the matter in football, «not only in the professional sector, but also in amateur sports», and the activist confesses that previously «There have been several considerations by players about going out, but they always collapsed because someone got scared and then everyone canceled", says. «I know they really wanted it, but they lacked courage and coherence, guidance and encouragement. And there was no one to say: come on, let's finish this».
Now, however, he recognizes that "I was surprised by the amount there is. And they are interconnected with each other. Some people are exchanging ideas, which was not even the case ten or fifteen years ago. But they meet in secret, in hidden places where you can't find them. They are undergoing psychological treatment. Some are at the limit of their strength, they can't take it anymore. And the clubs don't know anything about it».
«Repressing my homosexuality 24 hours a day»
Urban He knows what he's talking about. The former national player made his homosexuality public in 2007, the second footballer in the world to do so, after years of enormous pressure to hide and fear of discrimination. «I was already in danger of falling apart, repressing my homosexuality 24 hours a day», he then justified in an interview with Der Spiegel, «andThe topic made me aggressive, I intentionally played even harder, wanting to appear more masculine: homosexual footballers are not allowed to be who they are, otherwise they will be bullied». Its goal is to prevent other players from similar experiences.
