It was his club Blackpool, which plays in the English second division, which released its statement on Monday: “JI’ve known all my life that I was gay, and today I’m ready to come out and be myself.” Rare words immediately taken up in all the newspapers and which make Jake Daniels the first active professional player to speak publicly about his homosexuality in England for 32 years. Before him, only Justin Fashanu had dared to break the silence in 1990, a player who had ended his life eight years later, exhausted by years of harassment.
A message from Jake Daniels. https://t.co/R2wEsniXKV pic.twitter.com/dcznYKtSaD
— Blackpool FC (@BlackpoolFC) May 16, 2022
Jake Daniels denounces a taboo that is still very strong, even in a country that claims to be at the forefront of the fight for LGBT rights, “but people can yell at me all they want from the standshe said, it won’t change anything, i’ve known i’ve been gay since i was six.” He tells in a long interview with the Sky Sports channel about his feelings of tension, the desire to keep his secret in order to be able to become a professional player, to pretend, to say that, yes, he is dating lots of girls, to laugh at homophobic jokes in the locker room. .
He also recounts the dilemma he faced after being recruited by Blackpool: “JI said to myself, what now? Am I going to wait until I’m retired to be myself? On the pitch, there are no other active players who have come out, so I told my family, then my club, then my teammates, and the stress went away..”
Blackpool forward Jake Daniels speaks exclusively to @SkySportsNews on becoming the UK’s first male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay since Justin Fashanu.
Read more: https://t.co/ZzGEehYrB6 pic.twitter.com/Kk3bTdrfnp
—Sky News (@SkyNews) May 16, 2022
The day he told his parents, he scored four goals: the feeling of being released from an immense weight. “What I hope now is to be a role model, I would like those who are feeling bad to be able to say to themselves, if this kid has the courage to speak, then I can do it too.” Without forgetting the others, the followers of homophobic remarks who will perhaps say to themselves that it is necessary to stop, that it is outdated, and above all to finally understand that there is no link between the ability to score and sexual orientation.
The good news is that all the cream of English football applauded his speech, the reactions are unanimously fraternal. Jake Daniels is not alone, and perhaps there will be other voices, players, or even supporters, to liberate the locker room, field and stands from their prejudices, in short to liberate football.