Josh Cavallo, the first player to come out as gay, receives death threats

Josh Cavallowhich is the first professional football player to admit his homosexuality, convinced that he continues to receive death threats because of his sexual condition. In an interview for BBCspoke on social media about his experience since he decided to come out as gay almost two years ago, in a historic moment for football, being the first player of his level to do so and inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.

“Sometimes I’m at home with the phone and I’m getting an abuse notification. It’s difficult, because almost two years have passed and I get death threats all the time. It’s not acceptable, it’s embarrassing, but at the same time I know that I’ve paved the way for many others and that I have to go through this for that. I know who I’m conveying it for, for people suffering in silence“, admitted Cavallo, who recalled the moment in which he informed his teammates at the Australian club Adelaide about his decision to publicly reveal his sexual status.

“We were all in the locker room and I told them who I was. everyone was crying, which was very nice, because they were like my brothers and I never saw that side of them. Celebrating this together, such an important step in my life, I couldn’t be more proud of them. This made me wonder why he hid it for so long. After that I went to my car, posted my message (in which he introduced himself as gay), put my phone in the glove compartment and went home. My life has completely changed,” he said.

Since Cavallo’s announcement, other players have followed in his footsteps, e.g Jake Daniels, from Blackpool, who was the first footballer in over 30 years to come out as gay while still active.