Editing Coming out (section)

==== Athletes ====
{{Further|Homosexuality in sports}}
The first US professional team-sport athlete to come out was [[David Kopay]], a former [[NFL]] [[running back]] who had played for five teams ([[San Francisco 49ers|San Francisco]], [[Detroit Lions|Detroit]], [[Washington Redskins|Washington]], [[New Orleans Saints|New Orleans]] and [[Green Bay Packers|Green Bay]]) between 1964 and 1972. He came out in 1975 in an interview in the ''[[Washington Star]]''.<ref name=ESPN>{{cite news |title=The Brief History of Gay Athletes |publisher=[[ESPN]] |url=https://www.espn.com/otl/world/timeline.html |date=18 December 1998 |access-date=19 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710214050/http://espn.go.com/otl/world/timeline.html |archive-date=10 July 2009}}</ref>

The first professional athlete to come out while still playing was Czech-American tennis player [[Martina Navratilova]], who came out as a lesbian during an interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1981.<ref name="ESPN" /> English footballer [[Justin Fashanu]] came out in 1990 and was subject to homophobic taunts from spectators, opponents and teammates for the rest of his career.

In 1995 while at the peak of his playing career, [[Ian Roberts (rugby league)|Ian Roberts]] became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out as gay.<ref>{{cite web |last=Peter |first=O'Shea |title=Out of the field |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 |work=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]] |publisher=Here Publishing |access-date=10 October 2011 |date=3 October 1995}}</ref> [[John Amaechi]], who played in the [[NBA]] with the [[Utah Jazz]], [[Orlando Magic]] and [[Cleveland Cavaliers]] (as well as internationally with [[Panathinaikos BC]] of the [[ESAKE A1 Ethniki|Greek Basketball League]] and [[Virtus Bologna|Kinder Bologna]] of the [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian Basketball League]]), came out in February 2007 on [[ESPN]]'s ''[[Outside the Lines]]'' program. He also wrote a memoir, ''Man in the Middle'', published by [[ESPN Books]], which explores his professional and personal life as a closeted basketball player. He was the first NBA player (former or current) to come out.

In 2008, Australian diver [[Matthew Mitcham]] became the first openly gay athlete to win an [[Olympic gold medal]]. He achieved this at the [[2008 Summer Olympics|Beijing Olympics]] in the men's 10-meter platform event.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-28/macklemore-singing-at-gf-like-seeping-sewage-into-debutante-ball/8998442 |title=Macklemore singing at grand final like 'seeping sewage into debutante ball' |date=28 September 2017 |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=7 May 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930031714/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-28/macklemore-singing-at-gf-like-seeping-sewage-into-debutante-ball/8998442 |archive-date=30 September 2017}}</ref>

The first Irish county [[Gaelic Athletic Association|GAA]] player to come out while still playing was [[hurling|hurler]] [[Dónal Óg Cusack]] in October 2009, in previews of his autobiography.<ref>{{cite news |title=I'm gay, reveals GAA star Donal Og Cusack in new autobiography |periodical=[[Belfast Telegraph]] |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/irsquom-gay-reveals-gaa-star-in-new-autobiography-14535587.html |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=28 February 2011}}</ref> [[Gareth Thomas (rugby, born 1974)|Gareth Thomas]], who played international rugby union and rugby league for Wales, came out in a ''Daily Mail'' interview in December 2009 near the end of his career.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Gary |date=3 May 2010 |title=Gareth Thomas&nbsp;... The Only Openly Gay Male Athlete |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1168953/9/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502020103/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1168953/9/index.htm |archive-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

In 2013, American basketball player [[Jason Collins]] (a member of the [[Washington Wizards]]) came out as gay, becoming the first active male professional athlete in a [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|major North American team sport]] to publicly come out as gay.

On 15 August 2013, WWE wrestler [[Darren Young (wrestler)|Darren Young]] came out, making him the first openly gay active professional wrestler.

On 9 February 2014, former Missouri defensive lineman [[Michael Sam]] came out as gay. He was drafted by the [[St. Louis Rams]] on 10 May 2014, with the 249th overall pick in the seventh round, making him the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL franchise. He was released by St. Louis and waived by the Dallas Cowboys practice squad. Sam was on the roster for the [[Montreal Alouettes]], but has since retired from football.

On 21 June 2021, [[Las Vegas Raiders]] [[defensive end]] [[Carl Nassib]] announced on his Instagram account that he is gay, becoming the first active NFL player to come out publicly.<ref>{{cite news |author=Price, Christopher |title=Raiders' Carl Nassib comes out as gay; is first active NFL player to do so |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/21/sports/raiders-carl-nassib-becomes-first-active-nfl-player-come-out-gay/ |work=The Boston Globe |date=21 June 2021 |access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ken |last=Belson |title=Raiders' Carl Nassib Announces He's Gay, an N.F.L. First |date=21 June 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/21/sports/football/carl-nassib-gay-nfl.html?smid=tw-share |access-date=22 June 2021}}</ref>

In October 2021, professional soccer player [[Josh Cavallo]] came out as gay via videos posted to his team's social media accounts, becoming the only openly gay top-level professional soccer player in the world.<ref>{{cite tweet |number=1453173351396958208 |user=AdelaideUnited |title=Josh's Truth |date=27 October 2021}}</ref>

In May 2022, [[Blackpool F.C.]] [[Forward (association football)|forward]] [[Jake Daniels]] came out as gay, becoming the first active male British footballer to do so since Justin Fashanu in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jake Daniels: Blackpool forward becomes UK's first active male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay |url=https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12614531/jake-daniels-blackpool-forward-becomes-uks-first-active-male-professional-footballer-to-come-out-publicly-as-gay |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Sky Sports |language=en}}</ref>

In February 2023, Czech footballer [[Jakub Jankto]], then a [[AC Sparta Prague]] midfielder on loan from Spanish side [[Getafe CF]] announced he was gay on [[Twitter]], becoming the first male footballer to come out while an active international player.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Czech midfielder Jankto comes out as gay |language=en-GB |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64622199 |access-date=2023-10-13}}</ref>