Opinion – Marina Izidro: Stories like Josh Cavallo’s need to be told

31 years ago, Englishman Justin Fashanu was the first professional football player to admit he was gay. The reaction was the worst possible. Fashanu moved to the United States, was accused of raping a minor, and in 1998 committed suicide. He left a letter saying he was innocent and would not get a fair trial because he was gay.

The tragic story is still used as a reference in England about what can happen if an athlete talks about his homosexuality. But that perception is changing.

This week, a 21-year-old began what could be a definite change in the sport. Josh Cavallo, a midfielder for Australia’s Adelaide United, has become the only active football player in an elite national league to assume he is gay. In the video posted on social media, he took a deep breath, said he was afraid of being treated differently, but that it was exhausting to have a double life. This time, the support was total.

Gerard Piqué wrote: “Thank you for taking this step. The world of football is way behind, and you are teaching us to progress.” Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Rashford, David de Gea, Jordan Henderson, Antoine Griezmann, Liverpool, Juventus, Barcelona and Arsenal also demonstrated.

Cavallo was born a year after Fashanu took his own life. Since then, sport and society have evolved. Same-sex marriage has been allowed by law in England since 2013. British athletes who have made their sexual orientation public have received support, such as Olympic diving champion Tom Daley and former Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas.

In English football, homophobic chants have been banned for almost 15 years. There are fans linked to the LGBT+ community and campaigns such as Rainbow Laces –”rainbow shoelaces”– promote the debate. Even so, there is still no openly gay player in the Premier League.

I spoke with journalist and writer Jon Holmes, founder of Sports Media LGBT+, a London-based group that fights for inclusion in sports and journalism. For Holmes, there is still the fear of negative reactions, coupled with the pressure for results in football. But he is optimistic. He believes that with educational campaigns, homophobic language in the locker room has decreased, that there is an understanding that it is something offensive and that it can reflect on a player’s mental health.

Holmes, who is gay, criticizes the sensationalism of British tabloids on the subject, such as this month’s headline in The Sun about a “mysterious gay player afraid to come out.”

“We don’t have a professional gay or bisexual player in the UK. So that fear is amplified, but in my experience and my understanding, locker rooms are an inclusive place. quickly into narratives of fear and anguish,” said Holmes.

He recalls the importance of journalism in encouraging inclusion. Knowing what happened to Fashanu made Cavallo worried, but the Australian was inspired by another case, with a happy ending: that of English player Thomas Beattie, who assumed homosexuality in 2020 when he retired. There are positive stories of athletes who were accepted and felt welcomed. All you have to do is count them.

The day after teaching the world a lesson in courage, Cavallo gave a smiling interview, saying he was confident, relieved and ready to be a better athlete. You can be sure: he will continue to be a good player and help his team. It will only be happier.