He came out in an interview with a Montreal radio program: http://www.radio-canada.ca/sports/soccer/2011/11/10/001-testo-sortie-jeudi.shtml It's in French but you can run it through Google translate: "I really regret not having said publicly earlier. I fought with it all my life, my whole career. Living the life of a professional athlete and being gay is incredibly difficult. It is like wearing a secret in his bags but never yourself. It saps all your energy to you, in addition to having to perform, having to play. " I can't imagine how difficult it must be to wear a secret in your bags. But seriously - good for Testo, and here's hoping we're closer to the day when it won't be a FORMER player who comes out but a CURRENT one.
Soccer player coming out of the closet? News? Analysis? You expected me to do something with "Analysis", didn't you? Pervs, the lot of you.
I think it's pretty cook. He'd be what, the 2nd soccer player in the whole world to come out while still playing. I'd always figured it would happen in the US or Sweden/Norway, . Fans would be a bit more open minded than say....the boys at Red Star Belgrade or whatever.
Hilarious that being gay is looked down upon in soccer, yet it is okay for straight players to fake injuries and act like a crybabies on the field. I could careless if someone is gay or not. What matters to me is character and dignity. Something which most soccer players fully control.....and lack.
Wow that's some weird connections and analysis. Let me summarize what I read into that. Gay is perceived as bad in soccer and we know only straight players fake injuries so I don't care if people are gay I only like players with character and dignity. Even though I don't know who's straight or who's gay. Huh?
Good on him for coming out. I didn't come out until my mid 30s. Living in the closet is absolute hell.
It says his teammates "knew and accepted him." That's the best part of the story. Might have played differently in the bigger leagues, but it's a good note for MLS.
Testo's Columbus Crew are just as cool. They are the only professional soccer team to host a gay and lesbian tournament. MLS itself seems to be more open to these issues than other sports leagues around the world. I believe Chivas USA hosted an Equality Night. The sad thing about Testo is that he is not the same player he was in 2009. That's why the Impact cut him before their MLS move.
The Quakes had a gay choir sing the national anthem this year. Yep, they had no problem hitting the high notes.
Lighten up. It wasn't offensive and anyone who has watched Wiil & Grace or Modern Family has heard gay characters - often portrayed by gay actors speaking words penned by gay writers - make similar jokes. May not have been funny but it wasn't offensive or in poor taste. As for Testo, I say good for him. I'm happy he's happy. It's his life and he should live it as he sees fit. It's not like he's the only gay pro athlete, just one of the few to have the courage to come out, especially while playing. Also proud of his teammates who knew and didn't make a big deal of it. It will be interesting to see if this impacts his chances to sign a new pro contract somewhere.
In MLS, perhaps. But he's been a very good player in the second division. A-League rookie of the year, starter on two teams that won A-League/USL-1 championships and a couple of Voyagers' (Canadian) Cups, played in the Concacaf Champions' League, he was MVP of Montreal when they won the league title a couple of years ago, had a pair of assists when Vancouver beat Rochester to win the A-League title. This is a guy who can play, and play well, at the second division level or be a fringe player in MLS. He's only 30 so there's no reason a guy with his resume can't still be playing second division ball IF he wants to and IF a team is willing to sign him.
Yup. He's more than capable of playing in the 2nd division for years to come. As has been said, the Impact front office knew David was gay when they signed him previously. He's teammates have known. So this public announcement shouldn't change how the soccer community treats him. There will be drunk dumbasses in the stands, etc. that might treat him poorly. We'll have to keep an eye out for that, and let it be known as soccer fans that we won't tolerate it.
How is this news? I ask that not in the "who gives a shit" way, but more in the "didn't he already come out?" way. I thought he was out for a while. I'm an Impact fan and I have known it for several years now. I'm not sure how I found out... I guess I just heard it from another fan. But still... not news. also, who cares.