Adelaide United
Emotional Twitter video: Australian professional footballer Joshua Cavallo comes out as gay
The Australian youth international Joshua Cavallo (right) struggled for six years with the decision to come out publicly
© David Woodley / Picture Alliance
The Australian first division professional Joshua Cavallo has publicly admitted his homosexuality in a Twitter video. In several posts, the 21-year-old also encourages other professionals to stand by their “authentic selves”.
Joshua Cavallo, a 21-year-old professional footballer for the Australian first division club Adelaide United, has publicly come out as gay. In an emotional video that the former youth international posted on Twitter, he encouraged others to take this courageous step.
Cavallo encourages others
“There is something personal that I have to share with everyone. I’m a footballer and I’m gay,” says Cavallo at the beginning of the almost three-minute video. In his youth he always felt the need to hide because he was ashamed. But now he is tired of always having to do his best and at the same time lead a double life. “All I want is to play football and be treated equally,” said Cavallo.
His club Adelaide United shared the video on Twitter under the heading “Josh’s Truth”. Contrary to his fears, he received “immense” support from his family, friends and teammates. The consistently positive reactions would have made him think: “Why did I hide this burden for so long?”
“Many footballers keep silent about their homosexuality”
In a number of other Twitter posts, he also encouraged other football professionals to come out publicly – even if this could still have a negative impact on their careers in professional sport. As a gay footballer, however, he knows that many other players continue to remain silent about their sexuality.
The Australian Football Association also congratulated the 21-year-old on his coming out: “His courage to be open with himself and to share this step with others is inspiring and will hopefully inspire more footballers to do the same in the future.” the association said on Twitter.
sources: Joshua Cavallo Twitter account; “Sky News Australia”