Five famous sports personalities who have come out

When Thomas Hitzlsperger announced yesterday that he was gay, he joined an elite band of high-profile sport stars who have come out and openly admitted their homosexuality. Here are the five famous sports personalities who have come out as gay.

Martina Navratilova (Tennis)

Few fans of tennis, would ever forget the name Navratilova. For, not only was she one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, but also became the first openly homosexual tennis player when she announced it in 1981, after gaining US citizenship. Her record of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women’s doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 major mixed doubles titles speak for itself. She is also one of just three women to have accomplished a career Grand Slam in singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles (called the Grand Slam “boxed set”). After her playing career, she became active in politics and in 2000, she was the recipient of the National Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay and lesbian activist/lobbying group.

Justin Fashanu (Football)

Justin Fashanu will forever be remembered as the man who went into the record books for being Britain’s first £1million black footballer when he transferred to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in August 1981. He played for a whole host of clubs in England and in USA including Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham United and his breakout club Norwich, where he made his name. He is also the first footballer to have come out openly as being “gay”. Unfortunately for him, when he declared his sexuality in 1990, the crowd and the general footballing landscape weren’t too forthcoming in accepting that fact. He ended up taking his own life in 1998 after fears of facing a lengthy jail sentence.

Gareth Thomas (Rugby)

One of the best rugby players to have come out of Wales, Gareth Thomas represented Wales at both rugby union and rugby league and made quite a name for himself. On the field, he is the third most capped Welsh rugby union player, with 100 Test caps. Off it though, he was the first openly gay rugby union player, when he announced it publicly in 2009. Later that year, he was voted top of the Pink List in 2010 of the 101 most influential gay people in the UK. He also received Stonewall’s Hero of the Year award in October 2010.

Steven Davies (Cricket)

The 27-year-old Englishman Steven Davies became the first and till date the only cricketer to come out as openly gay, when he announced it an interview with the The Daily Telegraph in February 2011. In the aforementioned interview, he admitted that his teammates already knew and there wasn’t any hoopla surrounding his announcement. The England wicketkeeper has made quite a name for himself in the domestic cricketing circuit, which earned him an England call up in October 2009. Although he couldn’t stake his claim for a place in the national side, he has continued to have a successful first class career.

Robbie Rogers (Football)

On a more recent note, American footballer Robbie Rodgers came out of the closet in February 2013 and winger immediately called time on his playing career. The 26-year-old had a fairly successful playing career winning a MLS Cup title in 2008 and two Supporters’ Shield wins in 2008 and 2009 with Columbus Crew. Following which he left for Leeds, where he didn’t enjoy as much success and after leaving Leeds he quit football and made the announcement. However, upon seeing the air of positivity around him, he decided to return to football three months later when he joined LA Galaxy. After signing with LA Galaxy, he become the first openly gay male athlete to join MLS or any of the five major North American sports leagues.