Zander Murray came out to make a difference.
The out Scottish soccer star publicly came out as gay last September in a Facebook post originally meant for family and close friends, though word spread pretty quickly.
Now, nearly one year later, Murray says he came out to show strength for closeted young athletes searching for role models. He’s been incredibly visible over the last year, making numerous speeches and serving as the presenter of a TV documentary, Out on the Pitch, which explores homophobic attitudes in Scottish soccer.
“When I got the offer of the documentary, I sat down and thought, ‘Why do I want to do this? What do I want out of it?,'” he told Outsports in a recent interview. “I wrote down that I wanted to empower a young Zander Murray and help them to say, ‘I’m not going to give up just because I‘m different to everyone else in my changing room.’”
Shortly after the doc premiered in the U.K., Murray received a text message from a youth soccer coach, who said his story inspired one of his own players to come out and live his truth.
That text remains pinned to the top of Murray’s Twitter to this day.
“I just think it’s amazing,” said Murray. “The coach said to me that this boy is so much more confident now. I’m like, ‘Bingo — that’s why I did it.’ It was the most awesome, powerful moment.”
Murray, 31, has made a habit of sharing notes he receives–both good and bad. A few months before he shared the aforementioned text message, he posted a handwritten note from a young fan.
As far as the negative notes, Murray shares some of those, too, swatting down homophobes in real time. In a photo posted to Twitter last year, he displayed hate mail across his lap. One pamphlet cover reads “Atheism Annihilated,” while another offers insights on “Homosexuality in Light of the Bible.”
He denounced the hate, garnering over 1,500 “likes” in the process.
Playing for Bonnyrigg Rose F.C, a club based near Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, Murray is one of only six out gay male pro soccer players in the world.
Given the dearth of representation, Murray takes his platform seriously. He led the Edinburgh Pride Parade this summer, becoming the first ever British soccer player to lead a Pride march.
“I can’t fathom people who go against Pride events,” he told The Mirror. “People were just having a joyous, great time. Surely these draconian views of these religious groups, surely they look at that and go ‘wait a minute here, maybe it is real.’”
Murray went on to extol his experience.
“What an incredible day & [honor] to lead the Pride Edinburgh march. Absolutely blown away, you were amazing!,” he posted on Instagram. “Promise you, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Celebrating Pride played a vital role in Murray’s coming out story, making his presence at the Edinburgh parade even more significant. In an interview with ESPN, he said he decided to come out after participating in his first Pride event at age 30.
“Something happened, something just hit me, and I went, ‘What am I doing?,’” he said. “I could die tomorrow, and I’ve literally just lived a lie.”
Now the attacker is living his truth, and being celebrated for it. He was also honored this summer at the Scottish Football Museum, where the shirt he wore when he scored his 100th goal was on full display.
It’s the same jersey that Murray wore when he played his first match as an out gay man as well.
Murray has continued to tell his story as the summer has worn on, even traveling to Hong Kong to speak at a Gay Games conference ahead of the landmark event in November.
“I almost quit [soccer],” Murray says about his dark days in the closet. “But then I realized words don’t matter. I do.”
Murray knows how important it is for young gay soccer players to hear that message, because he was one of them.
With teenager Jake Daniels being the only other out player in Great Britain, Murray’s words carry a lot of weight.
“I feel the passion in my veins about this type of work because I know how much it helps others,” he told Outsports. “It’s not just to inspire other guys like me but to change minds and perceptions in football.”
Murray is accomplishing that, one speech and post at a time.
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