Thomas Hitzlsperger: Active Or Passive?

Thomas Hitzlsperger’s principal concern for any gay footballer sitting at home wondering if he should come out is not the potential abuse from fans or team-mates. It is the responsibility, the burden, of being a crusader. “What this week has taught me,” he says, “is that it’s intense.”

He knew that his homosexuality would be a story. He just did not expect this much of a story, and it has been as big in England as anywhere, a phenomenon that cannot simply be explained by the German’s three spells in the Premier League.

We seem fascinated by a gay footballer, an old obsession with sex lives mixed, perhaps, with an eagerness to extol our own tolerance.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, yet, according to Hitzlsperger, the level of interest also highlights the challenge for any player thinking of following him out of the closet.

“If you make a statement, you are never done with it,” he told The Times yesterday. “I didn’t know how big it would be, but everyone wants to talk about it. Hopefully, with what I am doing, it will eventually become normality. Hopefully, in a few years, it’s not a big issue, but the fact is it’s caused a bit of a sensation. When you look at the last few days, you can see we have some way to go before it is just a regular thing.”

The Times.

Fagburn feels he may now be close to the time when he can spell 'Hitzlsperger' without checking...

PS The Guardian perpetuates the myth Justin Fashanu committed suicide because of a history of homophobia - though this may have been a contributory factor, in his suicide note he said he killed himself because he had been charged with a sexual assault on a teenager.