Justin Fashanu: Outing The Facts

Steven Davies' coming out this week inevitably leads many to remember the sad story of Justin Fashanu.
It's often held up as a morality tale, or parable - this is what happens when a footballer comes out...
Alan Duffy of The Justin Campaign writes on Goal.com; "Fashanu’s career never went on to reach the heights it should have, with his sexuality and the reaction to it no doubt playing a major part in his very sad downfall.
"His public declaration of his sexuality in 1990 and his death in 1998 could and should have been moments when football started to confront the issue of homophobia in the game, but nothing happened."
A few points are often gloosed over in the Justin Fashanu story, some of the facts are outed in a surprisingly good piece in The Daily Mail today by Martin Samuel;
"It is commonly stated that football failed him, that homophobia and years of living a lie contributed to the fragile mental state that took his life. And perhaps it did.
"Yet, equally, Fashanu's decision to embrace the evangelical Christian faith, which disapproved of his sexual orientation, was also harmful to his well-being, as was the generally negative reaction of the black community and members of his family to his announcement in 1990.
"People remember Fashanu coming out after his retirement, yet his career continued for several years as a gay man, albeit one who often seemed to be in denial."
Indeed Fashanu once announced he was dating Coronation Street actress Julie Goodyear, a lesbian.
He was also out as a Tory.
Allan Hall who wrote his coming out interview in The Sun said Fashanu had no noble motivation; "He was only interested in the money".
This was "a five-figure sum". Many wondered why he decided to come out in a paper as homophobic as The Sun. Fashanu explained it was because it was the paper most football fans read.
(I've wondered if he came out as he'd been threatened with being outed, as has often happened with the UK tabloids. This seems unlikely as they paid him).
In 1994 Fashanu went to both The People and The News Of The World claiming to have slept with two Tory cabinet ministers, and asking for £300,000 for the story. Both thought he was lying (Profile, The Independent, February 12th 1994).
And his tragic suicide was spurred by a factor unrelated to football;
"At the time of his death, Fashanu believed he was to be charged with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old male in Maryland, USA. His suicide note protested his innocence but said he did not want further embarrassment for his family and friends."
Martin Samuel concludes; "So it is far too glib to say attitudes within football alone killed him. There were all manner of wrong turns along the way."
However Samuel, like so many journalists, omits one important part of the Justin Fashanu story - the media's own role in his breakdown, downfall and untimely demise.