Gay&Night-ZiZo Februari 2014

Interview / Thomas Hitzlsperger
me to see that other professional
sports people were acknowledging
their sexuality. I read about John
Amaechi, Gareth Thomas and Tom
Daley. They weren’t footballers but
the fact that they went public gave
me the feeling that I was not alone.
I began to think that I could help
other footballers who might be in the
same shoes, so that they could see
that here’s someone who was even an
international. I wanted to encourage
them, the way that those guys and
Robbie Rogers encouraged me.”
He closely studied the fall-out of
their coming outs, too, he says, and
felt empowered. “They all said it
was good for them.” Hitzlsperger
is unwilling to make wide-scale
recommendations – “everyone has
to decide for themselves” – and is
unwilling to predict when the first
active footballer in a European top
league will follow his lead.
“But the important thing for me
is to show that being homosexual
and professional football player
is something that is normal. The
perceived contradiction between
playing football, the man’s game,
and being homosexual is nonsense.
I don’t think anyone has ever come
away from watching a game with me
thinking there’s something wrong or
‘too soft’ with my game,” he adds,
with a chuckle.
Known as “the Hammer” among
supporters because of his fierce shot
with his left foot, Hitzlsperger always
enjoyed a robust challenge.
“You hear the word courage a lot,”
he says, when the talk returns to
the reactions he has experienced so
far. “That’s nice to hear, but it’s part
of the problem, of course. That’s
something that should change. I
sincerely hope that we’ll see the when
nobody mentions courage in these
circumstances anymore, because it
will be seen as totally normal that a
sports person will speak about his
homosexuality, the way others talk
about their wives and girlfriends. It
won’t be easy for the next person to
be the truly the first in that regard
but maybe I’ve been able to help
them a tiny bit.”
Hitzlsperger, who has addressed
issues such as racism and antisemitism
in German football before, is acutely
aware that there is a political
dimension to his move, with the
Olympic Games in Sochi about to
begin. “It’s important to face up to
nations that discriminate against
minorities, sexual or otherwise”, he
says. “I’m fine with the fact that my
story will be mentioned in relation
to the Games, because the situation
in Russia is something that needs to
be talked about. I’m curious to see
what will happen. I’m sure that some
athletes will make a stand”.
Hitzlsperger is under no illusion
that football’s attitudes will change
overnight. On the day of his interview
with the Guardian, the Paris St-
Germain defender Alex, a former
Chelsea player, insisted that “god
created Adam and Eve, not Adam and
Yves”.
Hitzlsperger says: “You’ll always have
those guys, but it’s sad that they
don’t think a little deeper about what
they’re saying. I feel sorry for them,
really”.
Still, the emphatically positive
response by politicians, footballers
and fans have left him in an optimistic
mood and at ease with himself.
“It’s good to know, not just for me
but for others who are still playing
now, that those at the top have no
problem, that they support you.
When the chancellor comes out in
your favour, you know that it’s safe
being homosexual in this country, that
you won’t be discriminated. There
will always be a small minority who
think otherwise but hopefully, their
numbers become fewer and fewer
over the next years”.
‘I began to think
that I could help
other footballers
who might be in
the same shoes’
36
TEXT: Raphael Honigstein/ The Guardian / The Interview People | PHOTO: REUTERS / MORRIS MAC MATZEN/ The Interview People