Thomas Hitzlsperger announces he is gay

Raymond Lin said:
p.s. I did see this story on BBC News, and my immediate thought was "who?" and "who cares". Not because what he did isn't brave, it's because it shouldn't matter at all. Also disappointed at the BBC putting this on the front page ! This story doesn't deserve the front page, it barely deserved being a footnote.
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I actually thought, 'Good on the BBC for putting this above the World Cup Qatar story' :).
 
Raymond Lin said:
On one hand, good on him, but one the other hand, so what?

I understand how brave it is to come out but the surely the attitude and reaction would be if someone just declared they breath oxygen. They shouldn't deserve any recognition as recognition means you are seeing them different (whether good or bad) and the last thing I would want if I were in his shoes is people see me differently. That was the reason why he didn't come out during his playing career isn't it? That he was afraid that people see him differently and treat him differently.

News (if I can call it that) like these need to be ignored, the papers will always going to publish them but it should be just ignored. I wouldn't care if any top politician, actor, sportsman or war hero comes out of the closet. It doesn't change what they have done in the past and it's not going to change what they are going to do in the future (unless they are a politician and suddenly give homosexuals more civil liberties, then I would have a problem with that) People need to stop paying attention to these stories.

p.s. I did see this story on BBC News, and my immediate thought was "who?" and "who cares". Not because what he did isn't brave, it's because it shouldn't matter at all. Also disappointed at the BBC putting this on the front page ! This story doesn't deserve the front page, it barely deserved being a footnote.
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When we live in Utopia your view will be valid.

Sadly we are a long way off that so it stands to reason this is news.

It's as people have said, small steps towards a day when it doesn't matter if a footballer is gay or not, what matters is what he does on the pitch and they should be free to be open about their sexuality and not have to be subject to vile abuse whilst carrying out their job.
 
I've never understood the need to "come out". I'm about as far away from homophobic as you can get, people can get up to anything they want in the privacy of their own bedroom, but why do they feel the need to announce it to the world? I don't give a damn whether someone is gay, straight or alien.
 
deko said:
I've never understood the need to "come out". I'm about as far away from homophobic as you can get, people can get up to anything they want in the privacy of their own bedroom, but why do they feel the need to announce it to the world? I don't give a damn whether someone is gay, straight or alien.
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Unfortunately other people do care so this is why it's an issue, I still stick to my point though that coming out after retirement isn't doing much if anything to combat the problem but I can maybe see why he felt the need to announce it.
 
deko said:
I've never understood the need to "come out". I'm about as far away from homophobic as you can get, people can get up to anything they want in the privacy of their own bedroom, but why do they feel the need to announce it to the world? I don't give a damn whether someone is gay, straight or alien.
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If only there existed a magical device people used to write down ideas that could be read by many others almost instantly. If only that magical device were used to explain these ideas in simple words, so that you would understand. If only these explanations existed in this very thread, written minutes or even seconds before your intervention.

If only..
 
Tummy said:
Well done Frightful Boar on being a complete clown in a thread about a positive and hopefully progressive story within a micro society where that sort of thing is a taboo, in fact, you can extrapolate this to a wider society and as a whole shows that we are making the right moves in the right direction for society.

Well done on others for being clowns too.
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Well done to Tummy on his self-righteous and humourless attitude. Discussing an athlete's sexuality is plainly a joke. Lighten up.

malfunkshun said:
Having seen him play.....this is not news.

Other than that, does anyone really care what someones sexual orientation is these days?
'
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Haha and nope, not unless they're a homophobe, openly or secretly.
 
Raymond Lin said:
p.s. I did see this story on BBC News, and my immediate thought was "who?" and "who cares". Not because what he did isn't brave, it's because it shouldn't matter at all. Also disappointed at the BBC putting this on the front page ! This story doesn't deserve the front page, it barely deserved being a footnote.
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It shouldn't matter at all, correct. The issue is that it does matter to some people, and that's what the awareness is attempting to fight.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
It's a shame that we're still in a world where we still need high profile role models to actually come out publicly. But alas homophobia is still rife in humanity.
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I always wonder why they hold on and on and not just say it, especially when they aren't ashamed of it - not sure why you would be? But then again, as you said, homophobia is rife in humanity.
 
Ryan-3 said:
I always wonder why they hold on and on and not just say it, especially when they aren't ashamed of it - not sure why you would be? But then again, as you said, homophobia is rife in humanity.
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Because of the abuse they will get on the pitch and potentially in the dressing room. Easier to just keep it quiet.
 
Ryan-3 said:
I always wonder why they hold on and on and not just say it, especially when they aren't ashamed of it - not sure why you would be? But then again, as you said, homophobia is rife in humanity.
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I always wonder what drives them to want to share details of their sexual orientation with other people.
 
I always wonder why there needs to be an announcement. I mean just live your life, get seen with men. Yeah people will talk but so what...

It makes being gay seen as a massive thing with announcements when really it isn't.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
The fact that you've not heard of him yet he's still the most high profile player says something about the culture in football.
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I care not about football and never watch it or follow any news about it. I couldn't even tell you who the England captain was.

G|mp said:
It's Newsworthy because it's a high profile player who has come out in a very homophobic sport.

The only other player I can think of off the top of my head was Justin Fashnu who later committed suicide due to depression.

It's not like the campest man in the world Tom Daley coming out to cries of "Duh, like we didn't work that out"

That's why it's newsworthy.
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Fair enough, didn't really realise football was so backward (not that it surprises me).

So it's the fact that a culture/game filled with bigots that makes this big news. I guess that's fair enough, but I still don't understand why someone who is gay is a big deal, irrespective of what sport/profession they do. That's just my personal take, but I don't "get" the culture/religious fascination of football that so many people do.

Tunney said:
It's shouldn't be but unfortunately very, very few footballers are openly gay. He's a player who had a long and successful career in the Premier League and for Germany. Hopefully, this will make current players feel more comfortable with being open about their sexuality.

I found it interesting that he said that his sexuality was never a problem in the dressing room. Was it the likely rejection of the fans who put him off announcing it earlier?
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Again I'm afraid I find this a little bit odd - you're playing a game for your country/club, not for fans - ultimately it's people that take interest in the game that make it popular.

I guess oppression from thousands of people would make it daunting, and I cannot imagine what it would be like to be idolised by thousands, and then having the "hate" owing to perception change owing to something as daft as sexuality. I guess I have no concept of what that is like or what the sport is like, so it makes it harder for me to understand.

It just irks me that all this "coming out" and overt homosexuality is seen as a big deal - it's almost as irritating as spending time with homosexual individuals who keep on going on about being gay as much as they can just to make a point - they're as bad as those who condemn it.


Anyway it seems as though this is a big deal, and that coming out is somewhat of a big thing to do in football. I'm still in absolute confusion about that concept, but fair enough - well done to him for being himself.

So the REAL story is, football fans are bigots and someone decides to make a comment that may render him prey to those people??
 
PMKeates said:
Agreed. It'd be much better if there wasn't a default position of heterosexuality and a spew of bigoted hate from certain corners that means it's something that many feel compelled to do.
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So people publicly announce where they prefer to get their jollies because they know they'll be the target of bigoted hatred?

Sounds legit.
 
PMKeates said:
Validation of what?

Agreed. It'd be much better if there wasn't a default position of heterosexuality and a spew of bigoted hate from certain corners that means it's something that many feel compelled to do.
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Validation of their sexuality - clearly they seek it otherwise why make the declaration/announcement.

What would you like to see as the default position of humanity?
 
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