First Swedish gay soccer player

Today I learned that Anton Hysén a regular Swedish soccer player took a leap and came out. Doing so he became the first Swedish soccer player to be open with his homosexuality and the first pro soccer player in 20 years to come out. It's so brave and he deserves so much respect for what he just did, I am amazed of his courage and how he thinks about it all, he is also in the clear what it could mean for his career being an out gay guy. I listened to parts of the interview which is going to be televised later tonight on a debate program and Anton seems to be a smart guy with lots of insight and believes. He says that sexuality should not be an issue if you do you best and it should not matter if you like boys or girls in your private life. Anton has a family that really supports him and that is great and important. Anton's dad is a former pro soccer player and he held the opening speech for Pride 2007 in Stockholm and a phrase from that speech goes "How easy is it really for a 16-year-old football guy to come out as gay to his team-mates?" What we didn't know was that he was talking about his own son that just came out a couple of months earlier. I hope that Anton Hysén really makes it and that he gets the chance to play in the best leagues in Europe and that he could be a good example for other gay athletes to come out.

For the sport community I think this is a good thing, it raises an issue that have been overlooked and shoved aside to deal with issues like hooligans for example. Being gay in a athletic environment is not the easiest thing. I did not play professional but when I was around 17, I stopped playing sports because  that I felt that I didn't belong any more. When I was sixteen I always felt out of place just not socially but also mentally which made me leave handball behind. I could not find any positive while playing and I struggle with my motivation the entire last season and then I decided not to join the club's first team after that season and with that I put my handball shoes in the closet. I don't think it had anything with the talk/jokes etc. in the locker/changing room, but more with where my head where at the time, I was generally confused and didn't know where I belonged.

It was not until five years later that I resumed playing handball again and then I felt it was fun so I continued that season but had to stop again because I got a job in Oslo, Norway. I didn't cut my ties to handball during my five year retirement, I continued with coaching children teams and I did that for six years. It was a fun, good, and a learning experience to coach but I don't miss it today.

So why is it important that gay athletes comes out of the closet, I believe it is important to have someone you could look up to, to get inspired by and to see a gay athlete succeed in any sport is positive for the gay community. Also too show the world that being gay is not a handicap when it comes to sports. It also shows people that gays are tough and strong and as good as any other player or athlete. Hopefully all goes well for Anton and I'm ending this text by saying that he got my respect not only because he came out but how he deals with it. That is so impressing and he is just 20 years old.

Articles about Anton Hysén
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=4391917
http://www.google.com/translate?hl=sv&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffotboll.expressen.se%2Fnyheter%2F1.2359382%2Forrenius-tack-vare-anton-har-vi-tagit-ett-stort-steg-framat
http://www.google.com/translate?hl=sv&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffotboll.expressen.se%2Fnyheter%2F1.2359382%2Forrenius-tack-vare-anton-har-vi-tagit-ett-stort-steg-framat
http://www.google.com/translate?hl=sv&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.qx.se%2Fsamhalle%2Fsport%2F16977%2Fanton-hyllas-som-en-hjalte-av-gayvarlden

This is the magazine where the article about Anton is being published in.