no looking back

German soccer great Thomas Hitzlsperger reflects on coming out publicly 10 years later

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Thomas Hitzlsperger remains the most prominent male soccer player to ever come out. A decade following his big announcement, there still isn’t an out player in England’s Premier League, the most-watched sports league in the world.

Overall, the number of male pro soccer players to have come out during or after their playing careers is barely into the double digits.

But Hitzlsperger doesn’t feel like there’s been no progress. The German soccer great says the sport is far more welcoming today, even with the dearth of out players.

“Often people say to me, ‘Nothing has changed since I’ve come out. No other players or very few players have come out.’ I said, ‘That’s correct.’ But in terms of the fans and the awareness, so much has changed,” he said in a recent interview. “Clubs really take it seriously now when they talk about diversity and inclusion, and that’s mainly to the fan clubs who have had a really huge voice.”

There are multiple LGBTQ+ fan groups throughout the Premier League, supporting a variety of clubs. A couple of years ago, Premier League stars met with specific fan groups to commemorate the annual “Rainbow Laces” campaign.

For one week each season, players are encouraged to rainbow regalia, including captain’s armbands and laces. Stadiums are also lit up in rainbow colors.

The first “Rainbow Laces” campaign launched in September 2013, just months after Hitzlsperger had retired. He publicly came out the following January in an interview with a German newspaper, Die Zeit.

In the interview, Hitzlsperger, who says he didn’t realize he was gay until adulthood, spoke to the homophobic attitudes he encountered as a player:

He had always resented the contradictions that were set up in the football world in dealing with homosexuality. Professional sport is a hard, competitive sport where “struggle, passion and will to win are inextricably linked.” This does not fit the stereotype that many people hold of gay men, namely that “gays are sissies.”

Hitzlsperger says: “I’ve never been ashamed of it.” Nevertheless, the language of his teammates was not always easy to bear.

Many LGBTQ+ athletes talk about the freedom they feel after coming out, and credit their personal liberation with improved performance. NHL prospect Luke Prokop, for example, directly links his championship-level play with being his true self.

Unfortunately, Hitzlsperger never received that chance. But he still enjoyed an incredible career. He excelled on the German National Team, and was part of teams that finished third in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and second in the 2008 European Championship.

He receives bonus points for his dirty blonde locks…

Hitzlsperger, 41, played a total of seven seasons in the Premier League on three clubs, along with stints in Germany’s and Italy’s top pro leagues. When he came out, he says he didn’t know what to expect.

But 10 years later, he remembers knowing it was the right decision, regardless of the reaction.

“It’s been 10 long and absolutely exciting years,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “The 8th of January was a particularly eventful day for me. I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew it was the right decision for me… for a life in more freedom and without pressure to have to hide a side of me.”

With nearly 248,000 followers across social media, Hitzlsperger enjoys a large platform. He’s currently a sports exec, previously working as CEO of VfB Stuttgart, his former German club.

His autobiography, Tests of Courage, is slated to be released next month.

The fact that Hitzlsperger can work in high-profile roles in sports is a testament to progress, even if there’s still a long ways to go.

“I started a discussion about homosexuality in professional sports, because it had been taboo in my view until then,” he said. “The past 10 years have been marked by positive experiences, successes and setbacks. However, I can say with full conviction that I would do it all again in exactly the same way.”

The few active out male pro soccer players–Josh Cavallo, Jakub Jankto, Jake Daniels–express similar sentiments. While coming out may have been bumpy, they all arrived at their destinations.

With a successful sports and TV career, Hitzlsperger appears to be right where he needs to be, too.

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