The Sun is under fire after publishing an alleged interview with the secret male lover of a closeted bisexual Premier League soccer star.
Reporter Rachel Dale claims the the soccer player, who she doesn’t actually identify by name, has a child with a longterm female partner, but that he also has a secret gay lover on the side, who he met at a nightclub and regularly sees for sex.
“The Sun knows the identity of the footballer but has chosen not to reveal his name,” Dale writes in the homophobic hit piece, which includes no shortage of salacious quotes from the man’s alleged male lover.
Many have called the story “sensationalist” and “insidious” and are calling for people to boycott the tabloid:
"He tells friends he's bisexual, we'll say he's GAY on the front cover…
… and then wonder why he doesn't want to come out to everyone."
Don't buy the Sun. pic.twitter.com/bETFknvIo2
— Bi Furiosa (@BiFuriosa) May 12, 2018
Liverpool’s gay football team, the Mersey Marauders Football Club, expressed its disappointment over the story, accusing the newspaper of “peddling their homophobic agenda again” and “trying to make headlines about ‘closeted; gay football players having ‘affairs'”.
The Sun and Daily Mail peddling their homophobic agenda again. Trying to make headlines about “closeted” gay football players having “affairs” :- the tabloids want to make you feel like it’s headline news to be gay, or that it is somewhat associated with shame and scandal. 1/2
— Mersey Marauders FC (@merseymfc) May 12, 2018
Just with their treatment of Steven Gately, they are using sensationalist reporting to reinforce their own agenda and stereotyping. #dailyhate #thescum Luckily, you can’t find the Sun in Liverpool! #homophobic #tabloids #gutterpress #totaleclipseofthesun
— Mersey Marauders FC (@merseymfc) May 12, 2018
And Pride in Football tweeted: “Shame on The Sun and on Football that in 2018, a player being LGBT is a ‘juicy story’ Footballers should be able to be as open about who they love as anyone else.”
Shame on the Sun and on #Football that in #2018 a player being #LGBT is a ‘juicy story’ – Footballers should be able to be as open about who they love as anyone else. #DontbuytheSun
— PrideinFootball?????? (@prideinfootball) May 12, 2018
Premier League soccer referee Ryan Atkin, who came out as gay last year, is also not pleased with the story.
“Publishing the story with the underlying theme of a potential sex scandal is just another low blow, whether they print the name or not,” he tells Indy100. “It’s that typical ‘we know who you are’ statement, which is insidious.”
Atkin continues, “The more people that come out, the easier it becomes for others. But speculation around the sexual orientation of professional footballers is one thing we really need to stop.”
Vince
I agree. They print stories about straight affairs all the time and no one bats an eye. Make no mistake. This is about the shame of being gay more then anything.
Donston
It seems like they look for any excuse to delete comments now. And I’ll be damned if I re-type that messy, long post. But I have noticed that sometimes comments return.
No one should be outed (unless they’re unabashed homophobes and/or generally horrible people). But getting up in arms about some silly tabloid talking about a supposedly closeted athelete that they don’t even name- it definitely seems more triggered by internalized homophobia and gay shame than anything else or just a desire to feel like a victim and find something to get upset about.
Cylest Brooks
FWIW, I didn’t delete your initial comment. I don’t know why it’s not here… I didn’t see it. It’s possible that another staffer deleted it (I’m not the only one with the ability to do so).
dash_board1
I find it really annoying when newspapers/web sites use ‘gay’ as some form of catch-all term. The subject of the article is a bisexual, who may or may not be engaging in a sexual same-sex (not gay) relationship with another man.
People who disagree with the reporting of the Sun should be addressing their supposed biphobia (not homophobia) as homosexuality does not even factor into this story. Homosexuality and bisexuality are two different sexual orientations, and bisexual does not equal ‘gay’. I see tweets like that above by @Bifuriosa pointing out the distinction.
Donston
“Gay” is not some technical breakdown of orientation. It’s about preference, desire, passion and general romantic, sexual and emotional satisfaction. The inherent orientation of gay-identifying people is all over the place: homo, bi, pan, oak tree sexual and hell, even hetero. It’s all over the spectrum. Being gay just means that you can only be genuinely satisfied, content and fulfilled with someone of your gender. I would guess that almost half of gay-identifying people are not inherently, completely homo (including about half of the people who post here regularly). Gay simply doesn’t mean homo in many people’s eyes. That’s something you and quite a few of the bi pride people are gonna need to get okay with.
However, only the individual themselves knows who they are, knows their nuances and what drives them. Therefore, speculating about someone’s orientation doesn’t serve a ton of purpose and should be left to these types of basic tabloids. But getting dramatic and self-righteous about a dumb tabloid “outing” an unnamed soccer player doesn’t serve much purpose either.
surreal33
Stories of this nature would instantly cease if the gay and straight communities STOPPED clamoring for details of public figures sex lives.
chris33133
No matter how you slice it, the fact that a publically-recognizable man is having an extra-marital affair IS newsworthy, especially for a paper that trades in gossip like The Sun (or even People magazine for that matter).
It probably won’t take place during my life time; but eventually, that the “other man” is gay should not be considered newsworthy.
daniel_garza
Seems like The Sun ? isn’t as bright as they think they are.
But, the Sun will come out tomorrow and then they won’t be so obsessed with other folk’s sexuality.
ait10101
The story doesn’t seem particularly homophobic to me, except that it appeared in the Sun.
robert_moore
The Sun is only good for lining the bottom of a bird cage. It’s just another product of the News Corp crime syndicate.