October 28 – Australia’s Josh Cavallo has become one of the world’s first active male professional footballers to publicly come out as gay, saying “he couldn’t be happier with his decision”.
The Adelaide United midfielder made the announcement on Wednesday saying he wanted to create a safe space for other players to come forward.
“It’s been a journey to get to this point in my life, but I couldn’t be happier with my decision to come out,” Cavallo (pictured) said. “I have been fighting my sexuality for over six years now, and I’m glad I can put that to rest.”
Cavallo has chosen to speak out while still an active player which marks him out from the likes of former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger, who only came out publicly after retiring.
Cavallo, 21, wrote on social media that he was “ready to speak about something personal that I’m finally comfortable to talk about in my life”.
“I’m a footballer and I’m gay,” he said in an accompanying video. “All I want to do is play football and be treated equally.”
Cavallo said he was tired of trying to perform at his best “and to live this double life, it’s exhausting. It’s been a journey to get to this point in my life, but I couldn’t be happier with my decision to come out.”
It got to the point, he said, when his mental health was affected and he was “going into dark places”.
“This is bigger than football, it’s my life. I’d go home and I wasn’t happy,” he told the BBC.
“It just slowly eats away at you and it’s not something I wish upon anyone.”
Football Australia tweeted that we “applaud the courage” shown by Josh Cavallo and that “the football community support you all the way”.
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