Francisco Jiménez Tejada, the Spanish soccer player known to fans as Xisco, has become the first openly gay soccer player in England’s Premier League. Whether he likes it or not.
As far as we know — and our foreign sports knowledge is certainly limited — Xisco isn’t completely out, at least not to fans.
But just like a certain American Idol contestant, photos of him smooching other dudes have surfaced, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone in the stadium knows his status.
This, on the heels of respected Italian coach Marcello Lippi saying there were no gay football players and European leagues launching a campaign against homophobia.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Photos: Football Boners
Gayalltheway
“But just like a certain American Idol contestant, photos of her smooching other dudes have surfaced, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone in the stadium knows his status.”
I think you meant ‘photos of him’ and not ‘photos of her’.. =D
Sorry but I am a grammar police!
hardmannyc
Leave him alone in a bedroom with me for 1/2 hour and i’ll let you know if he’s gay or not. Dude is smokin’!
Nick
I’m having a really hard time believing he wasn’t out.
Jason
how can someone not be out yet be so public with his male/male actions when photos are being taken?
julian
Yay! Tejada’s a good footballer. Nice to know that there actually are gay men in premier league. Now we can all continue to wonder about Ronaldo…
Mark
” … and our foreign sports knowledge is certainly limited …”. It certainly is! How about Justin Fashinu, who came out and then later committed suicide. And England doesn’t have a “Premier League”, that is Scotland – it’s the Premiership in England. Suggest you damned Americans leave Europe alone in tackling gay football players “coming out” amid serious homophobia (not to mention racism) in the sport. There is a totally different culture in Europe – and we don’t like Americans imposing their standards on us. Let the guy “come out” when he wants to and with the hlep of the Professional Fottballers Association (the professional footballers’ ‘trade union’), the Football Association and his club (which the author of this piece of scandal does not even appear to know), Newcastle United.
Mr. Info
I love being a gay man! I love the fun gay men have. I’m rooting for Xisco!
dan
David David David…Oh David-
Come on now….the story may be true or it may not be true-but first off he’s European-and some of the guys there aren’t hung up on kissing or being affectionate with other men-and it’s not a big deal-maybe Americans should take a page from that playbook and not act all high school about it.
Also, just because you have a few photos of him kissing other guys and other pics of him hanging with other guys doesn’t prove anything. Can’t a guy have a little fun without someone pointing the finger at him? If you really want sports players etc to come “out” and be supportive this isn’t the way to do it. If he is gay let it be and have him do it on his on time. What happened to your journalistic integrity?
Just wondering.
Jack
@dan: ‘Journalistic integrity’? Now THERE’S a contradiction in terms…
tropos
Hot! .. would *love* to bang him. 🙂
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@dan:
Erm as a European….
This IS something…
jim
sorry guys, but I’m not seeing anything conclusive in the photos. they all have that “straight frat boys on spring break” look to them. Show me a photo of him kissing a man without a goofy/mugging grin, a drink in his hand, and somewhere other than a public beach and maybe i’ll believe it.
SouLKid
Ok, maybe i’m slow on picking up stuff but, is anyone seriously thinking this guy is not gay? Now i know some straight guys are very comfortable with gay men, my brother being one.He’s so comfortable it gets kinda creapy but Xisco isn’t straight.It’s like saying Adam(frm AI) just likes kissing guys but he aint gay.
That 3rd picture clears things up if u thought he was just ‘hanging’ with the guys.i gotta say the other pictures, yes they didn’t say much but the 3rd says a lot.Boy is gay.
afrolito
He sure likes to kiss a lot, and I love a guy who can kiss.
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@jim:
Right, you are obv not European..!
I played Rugby and the stuff…well….no comment..it’s too long an essay..
I wonder when this will be shut down!!??
Maharajah
Ok, first and foremost – XISCO IS NOT GAY!!!
I know that I am going to pick up alot of flak for saying this but:
A GAY man is homosexual man that is out and open about his sexuality. Simply put – all gay men are homosexual, but not all homosexuals are gay.
Anyway, I think that we further need to address the facts that:
-He has not admitted to being in a relationship with other men.
-He has not commented that he has had, enjoys, or wishes to have sexual contact with other men.
-He is not openly embracing his sexuality in any realm of his personal life.
Something else to consider. I have many straight friends. Many many many times when drinking is involved, and cameras come out – we peck each other on the cheek, and sometimes more. There is a homosexual tinge to the situations, but in each occasion – I leave understanding that they are straight men – not ones that are ‘experimenting’ – not ones that are ‘fooling around’ and the like…
My last word is to us, as a Gay community. Why are we so closed minded at times? We are members of perhaps one of the most diverse group/community of peoples in the world. We oftentimes share little more than sexuality – divided by the barriers of language, wealth, understandings, and cultures. In this case, I can say – European attitudes toward sexuality are much more liberal, and in many cases much more enlightened. Simply put – what we in the ‘States see as “gay”, many in Europe may look at this as “Aww…cute and funny as all hell,”. Unless he comes out to the world and says “I Xisco am a gay man, living my life proudly,” he is not a gay man.
Maharajah
Let me clarify something before others get to it:
“I have many straight friends. Many many many times when drinking is involved, and cameras come out – we peck each other on the cheek, and sometimes more,”
The “sometimes more” here refers to a greater degree of kissing – nothing else is involved.
The Gay Numbers
@Maharajah: Whatever.
The Gay Numbers
I really need a dictionary for all the possible variants of being “out” and “gay.” This like when Chenney’s daughter was “outted” although she’d been out to the public for years. Or, the guy who designed Michelle Obama’s dress being “outted” although he was out forever too. I guess out means whatever you want to mean at the moment you are saying it, which can change 20 seconds later, because we must “respect” “individuality.”
Adam
@Maharajah: Your distinction between homosexuals and gays is without merit.
hardmannyc
Mark – where’s the “scandal” here? That he might – gasp – be gay? Maybe you Europeans could learn a thing or two from us “damned Americans.” We gave the world Stonewall, for starters.
n1spirit
I really don’t think the issue is so much whether Xisco is gay or not (from the pics I’m inclined to think he is but since I’m not sleeping with him I really couldn’t care less). No, I think the bigger issue is how others are reacting here. Maharajah and Mark both have their panties tied up in knots, one taking issue with the comments of “Americans” while the other professes to know for a fact that Xisco isn’t gay (do I smell a rebuff here?) The truth of the matter is it’s up to Xisco to choose when or if he wishes to come out and officially lay claim to his sexuality. Meanwhile, pics such as those posted here (which are probably just the tip of the iceberg) will continue to stir some interest and sell some news. That’s what it is, fellas. News or gossip or whatever you wish to call it — but when a person enters into the public arena as a professional their life DOES become fodder for speculation, be it good or bad. People will talk and develop opinions along one side or the other but it doesn’t mean we have to get all bitchy and judgmental about it. Take off the Lee press-on’s and put your gloves back on gals; you’re staring to sound an awful lot like Joan Crawford. —Michael (out and queer for more than a quarter century)
Erick
Seriously?
Are you guys so unaccustomed to straight PDA in the States that this is the equivalent of coming out?
Apparently you havent spent time in Baleares in the height of summer with the alcohol flowing. Believe me, this happens all the time.
In any case, you should be covering this when he actually comes out, in case he is gay, not when maybe there is the possibility that probably he is gay.
With a post like this, you are going down to the catacombs of journalism with the likes of Perez Hilton.
The Gay Numbers
@Erick: Okay. Whatever.
TBSJR
Straight or Gay? Who cares. He looks like he is fun to hang with.
James
Yeah, it doesn’t look like it to me. Just typical drunk straight guys at the beach. Those lips are pressed too tight together to make sure there is no tongue contact. And the Euro-factor does count, meaning they are not as hung up on touching each other as Americans, and it doesn’t mean they’re gay.
sal
@dan: i agree,it looks like drunk fun
The Gay Numbers
are the people posting the euro affection stuff assuming that they are the only ones who know european mean?
The Gay Numbers
by the way- i don’t claim to know if he’s gay or not. just fascinated by the number of people so quick to say they don’t believe it for this or that reason. as if his being gay would be accusatory or something.
Paulo Nunes
:snickers:
This is *genuine* masculine friendship. That’s a lot of it here in Italy. You should check my gym steamroom. 🙂
Adam
I’m getting absolutely no gay vibe here at all. Just looks like a bunch of straight guys who are drunk or on something else.
sioraiocht
@Gayalltheway: Then you ought know that the error was semantic, some grammatical.
sioraiocht
Oops, I mean’t “semantic, NOT grammatical”…the irony.
Darrien
If he is gay – and those photos are proof of nothing (straight Mediterranean men are highly tactile when having a good time) – then it’ll probably be easier for him to come out in the UK than many other places in Europe.
Having said that, in the UK the Professional Footballers Association, the gay equality organisation Stonewall and the Football Association have all been working on strategies to handle the next openly gay professional footballer to ensure there’s not another Justin Fashanu situation. That being said, I’m pretty sure all those organisations would prefer a player to out himself in controlled cirucumstances where they can manage the media and try to ensure a positive football fan response. If they can do that, then they can create a safer environment in which other professional sportsmen can come out.
I think some Europeans are rightly concerned that while an American publication would understandably just look on an openly gay soccer player as being a vaguely interesting story, they don’t understand the global importance of the game and the ways it feeds into concepts of masculinity in so many different countries.
The last time tabloid sensibilities led to the outing of a professional soccer player it led to that player committing suicide and put back the cause of gay equality in sport for at least two generations. Again, most Americans can’t fully understand the depth and sheer viciousness of European (specifically UK) tabloids – the National Enquirer is a pussycat by comparison. And it’s because of the threats represented by a tabloid feeding frenzy, that the gay equality and football associations are desperate to get it right next time.
Eddie
Both Mark and Darrien make good points.
But as has been stated, there seems to be an American ‘obsession’ for outing gay men and women who are well-known. It amazes me that in a country where football is a minority interest sport that there is any interest in Tejada. This is just ‘tabloid’ stuff. Who cares if the guy is straight, gay or bi?
The fact that he is a rather good professional football player does not mean that anyone has a right to speculate on his sexuality. This sort of ‘reporting’ is a disgrace – and the British tabloids can access this story, just as anyone else can. This could affect his career – especially bearing in mind that there is rampant homophobia in English football from the so-called fans.
As Darrien has pointed out, the PFA, the FA and UEFA are all committed to tackling homophobia in football and have even recruited Peter Tatchell to help.
Yes, let any gay football player ‘come out’ in the manner that he wants to, and let him set the timing. He will have the support of the PFA and the FA when that time comes. It is not the business of any website to ‘out’ a sportsman one the basis of a few photos. At the end of the day, a career could be on the line.
Did those photos a few years ago by The Associated Press of former President George W. Bush holding hands with, and kissing, a Saudi prince result in Queerty suggesting that their then President was ‘gay’? Of course not.
The Gay Numbers
Yeah- it’s an “American obsession” for outting gay men. Right. Okay. If you say so. Lost me there. Buh-bye.
Darrien
@The Gay Numbers: Agreed. I doubt outing gay men is a particularly American obsession – it seems to go on all over the world and Americans are no more guilty of it than anyone else.
My only view on it would be that if an American site outed a high-powered soccer player in another country, it’d be more likely to be because that site didn’t understand the strategic importance and potential danger of that outing globally rather than because it was being malicious in some kind of specifically ‘American’ fashion.
As stupid as it sounds, countries have actually gone to war over the results of football matches, so if you’re going to introduce gay-equality concepts into the most popular team sport on earth, it’s got to be done properly. At the very least, a gay player’s career is going to be at stake and it’s not overstating the case to say if he’s playing in an international match, his life could be at stake, too, in various countries in the world.
Add to that the massive importance of a player in providing a positive role model to both other gay players and the millions of gay fans and you can understand why football associations and gay rights organisations are taking the situation seriously.
alan brickman
In spain guys hug and kiss each other all the time!!! This doesn’t automacially make people gay you know?? stop hating real men who know how to express their feelings with masc confidence…..
alan brickman
So if he kisses a woman afterwards does this make him straight again?? LOL!!
alan brickman
The war against straight guys continues….
PearlsBeforeSwine
@alan brickman:
“So if he kisses a woman afterwards does this make him straight again?? LOL!!”
That would make him bisexual. Seriously.
I write from a US perspective, where I had a friend in college who wouldn’t sit in the seat next to me at the movies because people might think we were gay. (Which I was, but still in the closet.)
So from a European objective, most of these could easily be dismissed as drunk, straight boy partying. Except xisco-4. That is not a straight-boy kiss, drunk or not. Bisexual, questioning, etc. could apply, but not straight.
Tony
“So if he kisses a woman afterwards does this make him straight again?? LOL!!”
That would make him bisexual. Seriously.”
No, it wouldn’t make him bisexual.
CHIP
European men are very affectionate to their male friends. When I have been to clubs/beach parties on the coast, I always get screwed up when applying my American puritanical macho objectivity on sexuality based on a guy’s behavior. That’s why there are so many “gay or European” games on shows and the internet.
Dawster
honestly, had this been an American footballer and the pics were taken on American soil… then yes… this confirms that he is gay (inclined).
but we are not talking about an American, we are talking about a Spaniard (some of the most affectionate men on the planet) in Europe. so there is nothing in ANY of these pictures that says he’s gay.
this entire ‘upheaval’ is purely fabricated and steamed by cultural differences and not based off an actual admission or acceptance. there are a variety of ways to interpret a kiss – but by placing an American standard on a European footballer is not the best way to do that…
bobspice
@Dawster: I agree wholeheartedly. To infer the man’s sexuality from these snaps is really rather shallow.
It sits unhappily with Queerty’s more serious analytical articles on the failure of the anti-Prop 8 campaign etc.
Now more than ever, we need a campaigning but lively queer news site, with solid journalism underpinning the articles.
Andrew W
This is a very weird thread. I especially enjoyed the bogus attempt to define ‘gay’ and ‘homosexual’ as different concepts.
I don’t know if Xisco is gay or not – though I very much hope he is, because an openly gay player in the Premiership is something we need – but sorry to say that these photos really don’t prove it one way or the other, and it does seem irresponsible to frame this as a definite ‘he is’. There’s nothing sexual about those kisses. Even in the third one, which someone said ‘clears it up’, does nothing of the sort. He’s not macking, he’s smirking!
Even the Adam Lambert pics don’t prove that Adam is gay, but it’s not like we needed pictures to prove that.
If we’re going to start witch-hunting every straight or negotiable guy who likes kissing other guys when he’s drunk, you’re completely going to ruin my weekends.
alan brickman
Hey Pearlbefore swine>>..It wouldn’t make him bisexual….it would just make him drunk!! LOL!! Gays always trying to gaysex or bisex starights are sad….
babe
“how can someone not be out yet be so public with his male/male actions when photos are being taken?”
alcohol.
J.C.
I have lots of pictures like these, and absolutely none whatsoever of me kissing other men. Does this mean I’m not really gay? Exactly. Also, how many people here have kissed your own mother? My guess would be 100% of you. As for these pictures… If you look at the pictures closely, you’ll see all are closed-mouth kisses. Bottom line: These pictures don’t say shit.
bever
she’s gay , get over it.
Mrs Patrick Campbell
Most pro athletes – the hot ones at least – even if they fuck fish, are basically homosexuals who also ride the Fudge Freeway.
Mrs Patrick Campbell
We have noticed two very disturbing things about Obama:
1) He has those thin fingers that say ‘thinmeat’ or even ‘tinymeat’.
2) He has that small nose that says ‘tinymeat’.
Homosexual tinymeat Brad Pitt also has ‘tinymeat nose’.
Discuss!
Krysan
He isn’t that hot, to tell you the truth. At least, compared to the average football player.
jason
I don’t think that kissing a guy necessarily equates to “gay”. He might be bisexual or he might even be a straight dude who’s comfortable enough to kiss guys.
Perhaps we gays are so obsessed with labels, we forget the subtleties of life. By all means, let’s be happy about Xisco but, at the same time, let’s not be Nazis when it comes to labels.
jason
I couldn’t help but laugh at the blonde dude with the dark glasses having a good gawp.
jason
I was at a venue once where there was a bunch of footballers, most of them married to women or with girlfriends. After a few drinks, the guys had their hands all over each other, running their hands through each other’s hair, holding each other intimately etc etc. Later that evening, when I went to a gay bar, there was hardly any male-male contact save for the odd couple.
There was more male-male contact between the straight guys than between the gay guys.
tomerie
My money is on cristiano ronaldo coming out real soon
HotlantaBama
@Mark: What the hell are you talking about? Firstly, calm the hell down. Secondly who the fuck is telling you Europeans how to handle LGBT issues. Thirdly, stop being so fucking irrational, you nuttty bastard.
alan brickman
PearlbeforeSwine sounds jealous and fat….hit a gym already….
Marcus
Weren’t the rumors about him before?
david
How can you “out” someone who is CLEARLY not hiding it?
Jake
He’s a Spaniard. Kissing other guys doesn’t mean much in southern European culture.
If he is gay or bisexual, good luck to him cause he’ll need it come August. I find it amazing that some people seem to think that someone stealing another dude’s Facebook or other such social networking pictures and posting them for the world to see in an act that could ruin a guy’s career is a good thing.
If he does get hell, it will be no breakthrough. He’ll sit on the bench at Newcastle for half the season, and be back in Spain come the winter. You think he’s gonna stay in a cold foreign country to get shtick from the fans?
TampaZeke
What I find most offensive here is how many people act as if being gay, or being suspected of being gay, or being “ACCUSED” of being gay is the worst kind of insult, slander and defamation.
Jesus, who needs to worry about the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family or NARTH when we have raging homophobes in our own camp.
Fat Queer
Based solely on picture 3 = GAY. Look at the body language and the hands, that is more than a straight dude “peck.”
Billy
MORNING GOODS, we have our next hottie 🙂
Ricky
@Adam: agreed… it’s called a stretch 😉
boredwell
Gay guys play soccer?!
Jessica
Leave him alone as a happy gay soccer guy. We are proud and happy seeing him get his life real and goaling. Fuck off, you moron homophobia~~~~Xisco~~~we are your girls~~~love you~~~stay cool~~~~!!!!
nikko
I have three words for him: DE-LI-CIOUS!!!! Sweet.
Robert
Xisco’s as “straight” as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
shlong
@jim: Why do you think they all look like “straight fratboys” because they don’t conform to typical image of what gay guys are expected to be? Just because they don’t look like flamers from Glee, it doesn’t mean there are no gay guys who enjoy sports, laid back and are “hetero looking.”
shlong
@jason: This is the thing about European straight males that non traveling Americans don’t understand. The first time Americans see European guys like Spaniards or French kiss or hug, they automatically pull out their labels “Gay”?, “Bisexual”?, “Bicurous”? You can’t blame them because American society is much more reserved and any acts of 2 guys hugging or kissing is assumed to be homosexual related.
I have American friends who thought every 2nd guy in Italy and Greece was gay because, unlike American guys who wear board shorts that cover their knees at the beach, most European guys are very comfortable wearing speedos at the beach because it’s a norm in Europe.
(I’m not saying that this football player is not gay.)
prohomo
@alan brickman: ALAN, I’m not getting your comments. Are you homphobic, cause lines like “real mean know how to express themselves with masculine confidence”? And gay guys don’t?
ManPuppyDotCom
Yup. Doesn’t look out to us at all. Closer inspection is necessary… oh, Xisco…? Linger on over here a minute…
BlogShag
@Gayalltheway: Have you ever heard of typographical errors? Get a life.
RobtheElder
I look forward to the day that however we act or react together it will be no one’s business but ours, and that no one’s interest will be aroused because no one’s interested in those actions, nor are they able to profit from an issue that’s not of anyone’s concern. Cheating couples will always be of interest. Salacious activities will always titillate. We all know how to avoid attention directed at those activities. Our attraction to other unattached humans who don’t object to the attention, shouldn’t be a cause celebre all by itself. When can such blissful days begin? Robert Visconti
danimal
If he is gay you are probably fuelling a load of (unwarranted) abuse on the terraces just to print a few vaguely titillating images. Of course it would be great if everyone was Out but forcing people from the closet for Clickbait is pretty low.
If he’s straight, and the images suggest he is just fooling around with mates and taking fan pictures, then he’s probably secure enough in himself not to care.
danimal
Oh and you are publishing articles from 2009! If you took the trouble to ask him you’d see he doesn’t sound at all closeted OR gay.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=447642755266167&id=182242745139504