20 Inspiring Gay And Lesbian Football (Soccer) Players (2024)

Football is a sport that the vast majority of people around the world enjoy. Football, like any other professional sport, must accept the way people live. We have both straight and LGBTQ players. There are some players who have publicly stated that they are Gays or Lesbians. The Football Federation rules have been updated to include gay and lesbian players on the field alongside straight players. However, this situation has sparked a long-running debate about the acceptance and condoning of gays and lesbians in football. Because of the mixed reaction, some straight players, both men and women have refused to share the same dressing room with them. Furthermore, Arab countries have been at the forefront of the fight against such incidents in football. Nonetheless, the focus of our context is on 20 Inspiring Gay And Lesbian Football (Soccer) Players. Let’s get started.

1. Megan Anna

We begin our list with Megan Anna, the most well-known and popular lesbian in football. She is a professional soccer player from the United States who plays as a winger and captains the OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. Rapinoe was named the Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2019 after winning the Ballon d’Or Féminin.

Rapinoe is one of the world’s most well-known hom*osexual soccer players. She co-captains the national team with Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd and captains the Seattle Reign.

She became the first player, male or female, to score an Olympic goal in London in 2012. (a goal directly from a corner kick). She is an outspoken supporter of LGBT organizations and a political activist.

2. Justin Fashanu

We move on to the second item on our list. It takes a lot of courage to publicly declare that you are a lesbian or gay. Nonetheless, it was not a difficult task for Justin Fashanu.

He made history by being the first active gay soccer player to come out. He began his professional career in 1978 with Norwich City and has since played as a forward for a number of Premier League clubs.

Fashanu made headlines in October 1990 when he came out as gay to the public, becoming the first professional soccer player to do so. Unfortunately, his coming out did more harm than good to his career.

His professional reputation was ruined, with fans and teammates abandoning him, and England’s big clubs refusing to sign him. Justin Fashanu tragically committed suicide in 1998. In 2020, he was inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame.

3. Robbie Rogers

There are some players on the list who a reader would expect to see because they are well-known in the world of lesbianism and gays.

When it comes to which US soccer players are gay, Robbie Rogers is frequently the first name on the list. Rogers was only the second Premier League player to come out as gay while still actively playing.

He was the first openly gay man to play in an American professional soccer league. He came out while playing for Leeds United in 2013, 23 years after Justin Fashanu took the first step for gay soccer players around the world.

Rogers spent his career as a winger and fullback, representing the United States on the national team from 2004 to 2011.

4. Sam Kerr

Let us deviate to the women’s side, as they are also on our list. Sam Kerr is regarded as one of the greatest female soccer players of all time. She is the captain of the Australian women’s soccer team and a forward for the Chelsea women’s team. Kerr is widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest athletes, and in 2022 she will be awarded the Order of Australia Medal.

She is the all-time leading goal scorer in both the Australian W-League and the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States. Sam is the only woman to have won the Golden Boot award in three different leagues in three different countries.
She was previously in a long-term relationship with former teammate Nikki Stanton. However, the couple split up in 2021, and Kerr is now rumored to be dating American soccer player Kristie Mewis.

5. Pernille Harder

The list continues, and we now consider a female soccer player who came out publicly as a lesbian. Pernille Harder is one of Europe’s best female gay soccer players.

She plays for Chelsea and the Danish women’s national soccer team as a striker or attacking midfielder. In 2018, Harder was named Europe’s Best Female Footballer. She has seven times been named Danish Football Player of the Year.

Harder made headlines in 2019 after kissing long-term girlfriend Magdalena Eriksson at the 2019 World Cup.

Read40 Best Female Soccer Players of All Time

6. Thomas Hitzlsperger

The community appeared to have accepted gays and lesbians from the beginning, or at least for many decades. Let us now take a look at the great German players who made our list.

Thomas Hitzlsperger is the most well-known gay male soccer player. During his career, he played as a left winger and central midfielder, and he represented Germany at the 2006 World Cup. Hitzlsperger stunned fans when he announced his retirement in 2013 at the age of 31, citing medical and travel reasons. Even more shocking was his coming out as gay a year later, in 2014.

After retiring, he took on more executive roles in soccer, eventually becoming Head of Sport for VfB Stuttgart in 2019. He was quickly promoted to the position of CEO of the organization but stepped down in March of 2022.

7. Jake Daniels

The big question among people all over the world is whether people are attracted to people of the same gender because of culture, education, or an inborn sense. Let us now consider Jake Daniels.

Jake Daniels, a forward for Blackpool DC, has been with the club since he was seven years old. Daniels made headlines in May 2022 when he became the second professional English soccer player to publicly come out as gay, 32 years after Justin Fashanu boldly claimed the title.

Many high-profile English people praised him after he came out as gay, including Prince Harry, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and England national team captain Harry Kane.

8. Ashlyn Harris

We continue by looking at women who have come out publicly as lesbian soccer players. Ashlyn Harris is one of the best female goalkeepers in the United States right now.

She is a member of the US national women’s team as well as Gotham FC. Her outstanding goalie abilities were instrumental in the United States bids for the 2015 and 2019 FIFA World Cups.

In 2014, she and her longtime girlfriend Ali Krieger came out as gay. She married Krieger in 2019 and the couple has two children.

9. Josh Cavallo

Josh Cavallo is the modern face of gay soccer players all over the world. Not only is this Australian pro the only openly gay player in the 2022 World Cup, but he’s also GQ’s 2022 Sportsman of the Year. In 2021, he was also named “Man of the Year” by Attitude Magazine.

Cavallo is a left-back and central midfielder for Adelaide United. His coming out in 2021 inspired other gay soccer players, such as Jake Daniels, to do the same. He is still a vocal LGBTQ activist in soccer, advocating for greater acceptance of gay soccer players. During the World Cup 2022, he used his platform to criticize the host country’s “draconian” measures against LGBTQ soccer players.

10. Ali Krieger

Ali Krieger is more commonly known as the Warrior Princess. She plays midfield and defense for NJ/NY Gotham FC and the US national soccer team. Her strong defense helped the United States women’s team win two FIFA World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019.

Krieger announced his hom*osexuality in 2014 and married teammate Ashlyn Harris in 2019. In February 2021, the couple adopted a daughter, and in August 2022, they adopted a son.

11. Matt Pacific

Some players used their social media platforms to make their identities public. This is where Matt Pacifici became known through his Instagram announcement, a former Major League Soccer player who has come out publicly as gay in an Instagram post introducing the world to his boyfriend.

Pacific, a goalkeeper, spent one season at Wake Forest before transferring to Davidson. He was an All-American at Davidson and finished his career as the school’s all-time saves leader.

Pacific was a third-stringer looking for a spot on a team. He simply didn’t believe that coming out would help his career, and he was afraid it might harm it. When he came out on Instagram in January 2019, he became the fifth openly gay current or former Major League Soccer player.

12. Adrianna Nichole

Lesbians appear to have grown in popularity in football, possibly as a result of long-term interactions with other women (Suggestion). Adrianna Nichole is yet another inspiring lesbian in football.

She is a goalkeeper for the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women’s national soccer team. Nicholeis an openly gay footballer. She is currently dating Emily Boscacci.

The couple dated for several years in order to get to know each other. Furthermore, the couple got engaged in 2018. The couple keeps their marriage private from the public eye. They are said to have two children together.

13. Magdalena Eriksson

She is a defender for Chelsea Women in the English Women’s Super League and for Sweden’s national team. Magdalena Eriksson is a lesbian who is currently in a relationship with Pernille Harder.

Pernille, her partner, is also a Danish footballer.
Magdalena and Pernille met for the first time when they were both playing for Linkopings FC. Despite being a competitor in their professional lives, Magdalena and her girlfriend appear to be content with each other and are currently enjoying their love life.
The couple is planning to marry, but the specifics of their wedding are being withheld from the media. Eriksson and her girlfriend Pernille don’t seem to mind people asking about their personal lives or sexual orientation.

14. Eudy Simelane

She was a South African footballer who represented the country’s women’s national team. She was also an LGBT rights activist. Unfortunately, she was murdered and raped in her hometown of KwaThema, Springs, Gauteng.

Simelane was a midfielder for Springs Home Sweepers FC and the South African women’s national team. She also coached four teams and was pursuing a career as a referee. She was one of the first women in KwaThema to live openly as a lesbian.

According to a report by the international NGO ActionAid, which was supported by the South African Human Rights Commission, her murder was a hate crime committed against her because of her sexual orientation.

15. Martin Collin

He is a professional soccer player from the United States who currently plays for San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship. He has played in Major League Soccer for D.C. United and Minnesota United FC, as well as the United Football League for the Richmond Kickers and Hartford Athletic.

In June 2018, he came out as gay, making him the only openly gay player in any of the big five American sports leagues or any top-tier professional men’s national soccer league.

Martin, 26, announced the news on Twitter, stating that he had been openly gay to his friends and family for years, but never on such a large scale. Martin stated that the ‘kindness and acceptance’ of his fellow players made his decision to come out on an international stage much easier.’

16. Anton Hysén

He is one of the most famous hom*osexual male football players in history. He is a Swedish footballer who most recently played as a defender for Torslanda IK in the Swedish Football Division 2.

Anton has been dubbed the “first high-profile Swedish footballer to announce that he is gay,” as well as the “second active professional football player to come out,” following English footballer Justin Fashanu in 1990. He was described as a “global one-off” by the BBC.

Tobias Hysén (half-brother) and Alexander Hysén are his older brothers. He won the seventh season of Let’s Dance, making him the first openly gay person to do so.

Look also at 30 Famous Gay People Who Changed the World

17. Liam Davis

He is a semi-professional English footballer who most recently played for Cleethorpes Town. Davis became the UK’s most visible openly gay footballer in January 2014.

In December 2017, Davis publicly criticized comments made by FA chairman Greg Clarke that “professional players who out themselves as hom*osexual would be taking a risk.” Davis urged other hom*osexual soccer players to come out publicly without fear of repercussions.

The 32-year-old has spoken out to encourage male gay footballers to not be afraid of coming out, sharing his own experiences as part of Uefa’s Equal Game campaign, which aims to promote greater inclusion and diversity in the sport.

The midfielder admitted to receiving abuse from opponents, but he believes football’s attitudes toward hom*osexuality are evolving.

18. David Testo

He is a retired American soccer player who, after his career ended in 2011, became the first male American professional soccer player to come out as gay.
Testo played professionally from 2003 to 2011, including two years with the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer from 2004 to 2005.

Testo made his first public appearance in 2011 during a radio interview broadcast in Canada. The midfielder, who has been playing professional football in the United States since 2003, stated that all of his clubs and teammates were informed of his sexuality, though he had decided not to come out until that point.

Testo is widely regarded as the first gay American professional soccer player. He now serves on the board of You Can Play, an organization dedicated to combating hom*ophobia in sports.

19. Eudy Simelane

She was a South African footballer who represented the country’s women’s national team. She was also an LGBT rights activist. Unfortunately, she was murdered and raped in her hometown of KwaThema, Springs, Gauteng.

Simelane was a midfielder for Springs Home Sweepers FC and the South African women’s national team. She also coached four teams and was pursuing a career as a referee.

Simelane’s partially clothed body was discovered in a KwaThema creek. She’d been kidnapped, raped, beaten, and stabbed 25 times. She was one of the first women in KwaThema to live openly as a lesbian. According to a report by the international NGO ActionAid, which was supported by the South African Human Rights Commission, her murder was a hate crime committed against her because of her sexual orientation.

20. Aslie Pitter

Pitter M.B.E. is a British footballer who joined Stonewall F.C., Britain’s first and most successful gay football club, in 1991. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his work combating hom*ophobia.

Pitter discovered he was gay at the age of ten and faced hom*ophobic bullying from his classmates. He has played football for a number of amateur clubs since he was a child. Pitter experienced hom*ophobia from other players while playing for his local club and was demoted from the first to the fourth team after one of his teammates discovered he was gay.

He joined a group of LGBT soccer players in Regent’s Park in 1991 after seeing a listing in Capital Gay and Time Out. Stonewall F.C. was the first gay football club in the United Kingdom.

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