Dhe network is celebrating Jake Daniels, the 17-year-old footballer from Blackpool FC, who came out as gay this week. Even Boris Johnson praised him. The thing is seen as a breakthrough, he is a trailblazer to freedom.
But is that so? Has professional football for men, otherwise better known as a museum of old rituals, freed itself from its traditional hetero shackles? Well, clubs express themselves liberally, captain’s armbands and corner flags in rainbow colors are no longer conspicuous. And in French football, not wearing a rainbow jersey on anti-homophobia day is even considered misconduct.
But: The courageous Daniels is only the second among the tens of thousands of current football professionals in the world to confess to his homosexuality. He is only the second in English football history – the first being 30 years ago.
The inhibition threshold seems to be huge. Rarely has the gap between beliefs and reality been as wide as on this subject. And in the fall it’s off to the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is forbidden by law.
