RateTheRef

There's a reason there are no openly gay referees (and players) in the top flight - homophobic abuse. I mean this no way disrespectfully & I know no-one would take it as such but it is a lot easier to hide being gay than it is to hide skin colour so a gay referee or player can 'bypass' the abuse by remaining in the closet. That is so wrong. Not that they can make it but that they have to hide it away. Ryan T Atkin was incredibly brave to come out, but he shouldn't have had to be brave to do so. It shouldn't even be an issue in 2020 yet here it is still an issue. How depressing is that?

In the words of an ex professional football who has just come out as being gay

"Being gay and having a career in football never felt like an option. Society told me my masculinity was linked to my sexuality -- something we of course know is a false assumption -- but I felt as if I couldn't be a footballer and accept who I was. Everything around me suggested these two worlds were pure enemies, and I had to sacrifice one in order to survive. It doesn't feel that way in other industries. In music, we love Freddie Mercury and Elton John. It's accepted in film. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is gay, and these things are all OK.

But in football, there's still fear a gay teammate might disrupt the team environment. Sometimes it's brushed away, like homophobia isn't an issue in football anymore. Obviously that's not true if there are so few examples young kids can look to as role models.

I have heard gay slurs fly around in changing rooms and on the pitch. I mean, one of the worst things you can say to someone in a sporting environment is: "You're so gay." These words and these phrases are ingrained in parts of society."

https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-espn-fc-united/story/4116107/my-hidden-journey-a-professional-soccer-player-reveals-he-is-gay?platform=amp