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barnes116 t1_j8dqu35 wrote

Good for him. Braver than most 👍

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NumberOneCombosFan t1_j8dylrb wrote

Replying to OmgOgan (#1,797,633)

Jakub Jankto (born 19 January 1996) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Czech First League club Sparta Prague, on loan from La Liga club Getafe, and the Czech Republic national team.

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dodge5788 t1_j8dzjt7 wrote

Good, a brave step and I hope it can be the catalyst for more professional football players to be able to follow his example!

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MisterHappySpanky t1_j8e1u2l wrote

Statement put out by the club was really nice as well. Short, sweet, to the point. Kudos to this young man.

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Campaign-Gloomy t1_j8e5xsl wrote

Not that your sexual orientation matters and having the need to come out. But well done to him 👏 a brave move in this crazy world.

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shoesclues03 t1_j8eb67p wrote

What’s really encouraging is that his team and coach are all acting like it’s normal and are being supportive, like it should be.

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-Gramsci- t1_j8ec5ch wrote

Good for you Jankto. If you can be yourself even when the spotlight is hot… that shows great strength of character.

Will be rooting for you.

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Danalmour t1_j8eedcj wrote

So what. He plays well. That is all that counts

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BaronTatersworth t1_j8ehg8c wrote

May we someday live in a world where this isn’t news, where that headline sounds as strange as ‘man considers making sandwich’.

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Blundell1992 t1_j8el0j7 wrote

Well he does play soccer lol.

For real though, kudos to him.

−39

TheSaltyBarista t1_j8em0vv wrote

> Jakub spoke openly about his sexual orientation with the club some time ago. Everything else concerns his personal life. No further comments. No more questions. You have our support. Live your life, Jacob. Nothing else matters.

I think that might be the best response the club could release. They support him and it’s a personal matter that has nothing to do with the club so there’s nothing else for them to speak on.

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AgentIndiana t1_j8epyuo wrote

Replying to Danalmour (#1,798,898)

While I understand the sentiment and it should not be a newsworthy issue in an ideal world, we still live in a world where a lot of people face stigma for being lgbtq. Having roll models who are out can make a world of difference to young lgbtq people as well as help break down stereotypes and normalize out gay people to people who may still hold prejudices.

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Spare-Chest7695 t1_j8f240i wrote

Why should anyone care about sexual orientation?You’re either good at your sport or not. That’s it. Go bang who ya want in your off time, no one cares. 2023 and somehow this is a newsworthy article.

−31

notafool t1_j8f672z wrote

They missed that Robbie Rogers came back and played post retirement and coming out

−2

agingdebutante t1_j8f8hn6 wrote

In the most enlightened way possible… who gives a shit

−25

brlivin2die t1_j8ff6v7 wrote

Replying to Paerrin (#1,799,066)

“They’re acting like it’s normal because it is.”

That was the first thought I had after reading the comment too, but we, or maybe just I, forget that not everyone thinks logically or rationally

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brlivin2die t1_j8fg1mw wrote

Replying to banzzai13 (#1,800,819)

The existence of homophobia is extremely prevalent internationally, significantly less so in western countries, but I’ll go out on a limb and say way more countries are homophobic than are not.

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MonsterRider80 t1_j8fntwb wrote

Replying to fakeitilyamakeit (#1,801,681)

It’s news because it’s pro sports. Statistically, there should be at the very least 2-3 gay players on any team in any sport. But the number of openly gay pro athletes is nowhere near that, and in many sports you don’t hear of any gay athletes. So when one decides to be open about their sexuality, it’s a big deal and should be underlined and celebrated.

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ukexpat t1_j8fp8y7 wrote

I hope I live long enough to see the day when announcements like this are no longer necessary and no one will care about anyone else’s sexuality. I hope, but I fear I won’t.

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ManBearPigRoar t1_j8frhin wrote

Who cares? Anyone who lives in fear of revealing their sexual orientation and anyone who has a shred of empathy for people in that situation. That's who cares.

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UTRAnoPunchline t1_j8ft5ne wrote

Replying to fakeitilyamakeit (#1,801,681)

There aren't openly gay men in major pro sports...

I believe there isn't a single openly gay male in any of the 4 major Sports League in the States.

So this news is actually a big deal to some people. Particularly LGBT sports fans or young LGBT athletes.

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AgentIndiana t1_j8fui84 wrote

To all those saying this isn't news or "who cares," I'm sincerely happy you're okay with lgbtq people and that you've never had to face the kinds of fear and stigma lgbtq people face. However, while this may be a non-event to you, for plenty of lgbtq people, happy outings like this are momentous. It provides young lgbtq kids role models and, in sports especially, shows them that they can excel at anything and be accepted despite what stereotypes might say. It's also positive for the lgbtq community because representation like this helps normalize the existence of out lgbtq people in all realms of life and media when a large segment of people are still homophobic to some degree. I hope one day outings like this aren't newsworthy, but we still live in a world where lgbtq people are marginalized and discriminated against and the more high-profile outings like this occur, the better off the lgbtq community is.

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Paerrin t1_j8fusd3 wrote

Replying to brlivin2die (#1,801,284)

This is why we're seeing such a huge pushback from the political right wing across the world against the LGBTQIA community. They know they're losing. We're normalizing it and it terrifies them.

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Canvas083 t1_j8g841p wrote

Replying to AgentIndiana (#1,802,279)

What’s interesting is that the people not caring are as important as people that do, for it’s the path to normality about this type of news.

Ultimately, normality and integration is what this will achieve and will eventually be no different than the news of someone announcing their cheese preference on a sandwhich!

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Whammydiver t1_j8ge4vo wrote

Replying to TheSaltyBarista (#1,799,359)

100%.

Club: “you’re awesome and doing the job you’re paid to do. This is a non-newsworthy event in our estimation but we’re publicly supporting your decision to call the media about it. Keep turning into work and we’ll keep paying you. Today isn’t any different from yesterday. Everyone loves you.”

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Harry_Saturn t1_j8gf6mw wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,803,161)

Gay people aren’t a monolith, and professional sports might not be the most welcoming place for someone who isn’t straight. Maybe lots of bi and gay athletes that don’t want to be our publicly for plenty of reasons. I feel like those are more realistic assumptions than just thinking gay people don’t have an affinity for sports.

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everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8ggncu wrote

Replying to Harry_Saturn (#1,803,587)

I find it more likely gay men generally just aren't as interested in playing as much sport and therefore don't have the same representation at the top levels as they do in general society. Just as it's been proven that gay women are massively overrepresented in women's sport (especially soccer), this is usually attributed to sport generally being perceived as a masculine endeavour.

The statistical distribution of gay men in sport doesn't have to match with the general population, the reason there are not as many "out" men in sport isn't necessarily because they're all closeted, it's just as likely they don't exist.

−9

lucpet t1_j8ghtjp wrote

In this day and age I'm amazed anyone cares. Good on him for saying so but so what. He can play can't he? What's his sexuality got to do with it?

−8

Lambily t1_j8gijg0 wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,803,161)

That's like suggesting Black Americans don't have much of an affinity for college because they are underrepresented. Have you considered that the barrier to entry, societal treatment, and bullying are massive obstacles for openly gay athletes? These aren't stressors straight athletes ever have to concern themselves with.

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Lambily t1_j8gj8ic wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,803,716)

When it becomes the norm, you can make that argument. We're nowhere near that time, at this moment.

Gay athletes are massively underrepresented and visibility like this inspires young gay people — who might love sports but might feel like they aren't welcome in that space.

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Harry_Saturn t1_j8gj9hl wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,803,669)

You kinda made my point. If sport is generally perceived as a masculine activity, you don’t think the non straight guys would be hesitant to be out publicly because they might think others will perceive them as less “masculine” in a profession where that’s the expectation. Until extremely recently, being openly gay wasn’t celebrated, it was just maybe tolerated. There’s been a good bit of NFL players who came out as gay only after retiring, who all seem to have similar fears of hurting their professional careers over fears of biased treatment. Shit, the Vikings had a kicker or punter (Something Kluwe? Maybe?) who was straight and married but just advocated for equal treatment of gay people, and he feels like there was subtle unfair treatment towards him at times just because of his stance on equality. Like he wasn’t even gay himself but was supportive, and he was given a plausible shitty deal because of it. Maybe you can say why actual gay dudes would rather not be out and draw unfavorable biases in an already extremely cutthroat profession. That makes more sense than thinking gay people aren’t physically gifted or can’t play sports professionally. Gay guys are just like any other segment of the population, very diverse. Some might like show tunes, but I bet tons of gay/bi dudes love metal, or country, or hip hop. Some may enjoy things and clothing that are more feminine, but it’s kinda wild to think there aren’t super “manly” not straight guys who enjoy lifting heavy and dirt bikes or classic cars or bourbon or other “manly” things. Same with women. Sure some gay women might enjoy more masculine things, but plenty of feminine gay women. I’m just saying it makes more sense to think that people from a group that wasn’t welcomed in a particular field might just choose to not out themselves, than thinking an entire subset of humans just don’t have an affinity or ability to compete professionally at sports. Again, gay athletes have come out after retiring and said pretty much what I am trying to relay to you, and they actually lived those lives and made those choices based on what they felt was likely to happen.

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everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8gl9yb wrote

Replying to Harry_Saturn (#1,803,830)

None of that explains the overrepresentation in women's sport. You either think the demographics are the same as gen pop or you don't. If you do (and all the gay men are just hiding) why don't the demographics of women's sport represent society at large?

−3

everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8govsu wrote

Replying to Lambily (#1,803,787)

>Black students made up 12% of the student population at 4-year public institutions, 13% of the student population at 4-year private nonprofit institutions, and 29% of the student population at 4-year private for-profit institutions.

They're not underrepresented.

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lRhanonl t1_j8gq8my wrote

Of course there are prople saying, why is this even a news?! Are you really that stupid?

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gravitas-deficiency t1_j8gqo01 wrote

Hey, good for him. Anytime someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place.

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Lambily t1_j8grxc6 wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,804,168)

>Black students made up 12% of the student population at 4-year public institutions,

So underrepresented?

Interesting that you cut this part out:

"...and only 8% of Black students attended an elite research institution."

Regardless, you didn't actually address my argument at all. Being gay doesn't make you predisposed to liking or not liking sports any more than being straight does. That's why we look at external factors.

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everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8gst3d wrote

Replying to Lambily (#1,804,376)

>So underrepresented?

No. 12 is greater than 11.6. Total all institutions together and they are overrepresented. The fact you jumped to the opposite conclusion is pretty racist.

>Regardless, you didn't actually address my argument at all. Being gay doesn't make you predisposed to liking or not liking sports any more than being straight does. That's why we look at external factors.

Then explain the massive overrepresentation of gay women in women's sport.

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Lambily t1_j8gwh1h wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,804,422)

Women are less likely to be bigoted, exclusionary, and to bully other female athletes. It's a societal feature. The same reason heterosexual women can hold hands and complement each other, whereas men are seen as gay for anything remotely affectionate. Macho culture. Toxic masculinity. Call it whatever you want. It acts as a massive deterrent and a stressor to potential gay male athletes.

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everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8gxebb wrote

Replying to Lambily (#1,804,664)

That would be a reasonable explanation were there a similar proportion of gay women in sport as there are in the general population. This isn't the case though, there is a far higher percentage of gay women in sport than there are in society. The only way your theory would make any sense is if they were also less accepting of straight women.

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Harry_Saturn t1_j8gy6pe wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,803,954)

You said gay people maybe don’t have an affinity for sports, and I responded that gay people are just like straight people. Now you’re trying to prove to me that gay people don’t have an affinity for sports by telling me about how many gay women are playing professional sports. I was gonna respond to that, but I saw that you’re just being kind of antagonistic so I’m not even gonna bother. But, it is weird that you want to be so right about gay people somehow not being a very diverse group just like any other random group of people wouldn’t be diverse in their own. Like, they just can’t be good at or into sports? They all gotta be a certain way? That’s just such a weirdly off way to think. Do you think other groups are only a certain way instead of people of those groups being wildly different from each other? You think all Latinos are this way or that way? Or all women this or that? Or all old people? Is it just a sexuality thing? Gender? Do you see ethnicities/races/nationalities as monoliths?

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everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8gyuys wrote

Replying to Harry_Saturn (#1,804,778)

I'm saying the assumption that the demographics of gay people in sport has to be identical to the demographics of gay people in society and all the gay men are just hiding is erroneous and the fact the demographics of women's sport don't line up with society is proof. You seem to be taking this rather personally 🤣.

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Harry_Saturn t1_j8h204j wrote

Replying to everygoodnamehasgone (#1,804,821)

You’re moving the goal posts, that’s not what you said at first and what I replied to. You’re arguing with everyone in here and lost track of your points. I made a point about you saying “maybe gay people don’t have an affinity for sports”, that they’re not a monolith and it’s kinda shitty to just make that assumption, and now you’re trying to frame it like I said gay people must make the exact same proportional % of athletes in relation to their % of the general population. You’re definitely coming off as having some negative bias or weird agenda. Its getting harder to not just see you as someone who handpicks this or that stat when there is clear first hand accounts proving you wrong. It’s like you want a certain conclusion and now you just hyper focus and fixate on a single point so you just work backwards to reinforce what you want to believe. It’s not working bro, there’s literally gay athletes who have been clear that they didn’t come out until retirement because they didn’t want to have unfair biases against them in an already extremely competitive career. I’m done here, you can reply if you want, but at best you’re ignorant and at worst you’re dishonest, but I’m done arguing about it.

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everygoodnamehasgone t1_j8h2h5q wrote

Replying to Harry_Saturn (#1,805,001)

I'm not moving the goalposts at all, this is what I replied to;

>It’s news because it’s pro sports. Statistically, there should be at the very least 2-3 gay players on any team in any sport. But the number of openly gay pro athletes is nowhere near that, and in many sports you don’t hear of any gay athletes. So when one decides to be open about their sexuality, it’s a big deal and should be underlined and celebrated.

I am refuting that with facts and you started getting defensive for some bizarre reason. You're the one with the agenda.

1

maxxie10 t1_j8hdbvc wrote

Replying to shoesclues03 (#1,798,691)

Football fans have been waiting some time for players being out to be normalised. I think alot of these players just didn't want to be known for their sexuality, they want to be known for their football.

The way the club responded is probably the most encouraging to other gay players.

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count_montescu t1_j8hdr1n wrote

Yes yes yes, ok - but the burning question is really this - WHAT BRAND OF SHAMPOO DOES HE USE ?

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MickIAC t1_j8hh18p wrote

Replying to Theonator100 (#1,804,695)

Literally go into a football changing room 10 years ago when I was playing as a kid and you were called a "poof", "bent", "gay", even when you weren't.

There was targeted homophobia towards people who weren't gay, but people suspected you were.

Since then, it's more not feeling comfortable to come out particular when people speak about gay people as if they are not around. There's definitely less homophobia than before hence why a prominent player has come out.

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Durka09 t1_j8hj06f wrote

Wait, all soccer players aren’t?

−5

MysticcMoon t1_j8hs368 wrote

Why does there need to be an announcement? Is he looking for a partner? If so,a world wide announcement may work.

−3

Coyote_406 t1_j8ibhju wrote

Replying to ManBearPigRoar (#1,802,104)

People are seemingly ignoring that this is an Eastern European player. Eastern Europe is not the most gay friendly place. This could be a really big deal for a lot of closeted Slavs who wanted a role model

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Krakshotz t1_j8jc6wq wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,806,959)

As mentioned elsewhere: LGBT fans, as well as other players that are still in the closet all care about this.

In an ideal world, no one should care if a player is gay or not (in Women’s football it’s already quite normalised). All it takes is a few to help others to follow

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madmushlove t1_j8jqa9e wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,804,234)

Coming out as sheltered? Well, someday, you'll have big kid experiences, little sport, and even people who have it easy can make a difference! Make sure you watch out for people who might cater to you less than other people cater to you 😂🫡

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onyxi28 t1_j8kuckw wrote

Absolutely massive, the first active player in Europe who's also got so many national team caps. And the Czech Republic isn't some super liberal paradise, so even more noteworthy.

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Paerrin t1_j8wsga1 wrote

Replying to GothicGolem29 (#1,842,119)

Normal that someone you encounter in your everyday life is gay and it's totally not relevant to the encounter whatsoever.

Normal in this context means that the person's sexuality isn't important.

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