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When Shreeves met Robbie Rogers
- Updated: November 25, 2016
With the Rainbow Laces campaign building towards a weekend of action across the UK, we revisit Geoff Shreeves’ interview with Robbie Rogers in 2013.
“I’m a soccer player, I’m Christian, and I’m gay.”
These words stood out in Rogers’ online blog three years ago when he became the first professional footballer to come out as openly gay since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
Having initially announced his retirement from the game at the time he revealed his sexuality in February 2013, Rogers returned to America to sign for LA Galaxy after a three-month absence.
Rogers went on to win the MLS Cup with the Galaxy in December 2014, and now aged 29, he remains the only out gay player in professional soccer worldwide.
Here, we take a look at Shreeves’ sit-down chat with Rogers from 2013, as the player recalls the fear of coming out, and what inspired him to return to the game he loved…
So what made Rogers decide to come out?
“It was for my sanity, for myself,” he said. “Nothing else was really going through my mind.
“I wasn’t really thinking about the possible reaction, I was thinking I need to do this for myself, to be honest and open with people so I can just carry on with my life, or my new life you could say.
“Of course there was a fear, but I knew it was something I had to do so I could live a real life.”
Rogers came out just weeks after he was released by Leeds United. His time in Europe was brief, but London was his destination when the blog went live. The following day, he ran a half-marathon in Brighton, and nothing in his life appeared to have changed.
However, the …
