"You should do what you want and let people do whatever they feel good with," says Women's Super League top scorer Miedema
Thursday 6 February 2020 12:20, UK
Having an out gay or bisexual male footballer in the professional game who is "fully respected" would help others, says Arsenal star Vivianne Miedema.
While several current top women players who are lesbian or bisexual are out, there has still yet to be a high-profile gay or bi equivalent among their male counterparts.
Megan Rapinoe, a World Cup winner with the United States who was named Ballon d'Or Feminin winner in 2019, has used her voice and platform to help advance the fight for LGBT+ rights in sport and society.
Miedema - the current PFA Women's Player of the Year, and top scorer in the Women's Super League - is in a relationship with her Arsenal team-mate Lisa Evans.
Former Aston Villa and Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger first spoke publicly of being a gay man in football in 2014 following his retirement, but men's professional football in the UK is yet to see an active player do so. The late Justin Fashanu came out in 1990 while between clubs, and went on to play league football in both England and Scotland.
With a number of reports of homophobic abuse incidents at football stadiums recently, tackling the issue of LGBT-phobia remains a challenge for the Football Association and Miedema feels having a prominent out gay male footballer would help change perceptions.
"Obviously, I like to think so," said the Netherlands international, when asked if a top men's player coming out would help others and make homosexuality less of a stigma within the game.
"If someone was to come out and that player is fully respected, from there on it would be easy for a lot of other boys to come out as well.
"I think you should do what you want and let people do whatever they feel good with."
The FA has both a 21-page document and a 10-point plan laying out how they are challenging homophobia and supporting gay players, while campaigns such as Rainbow Laces have increased wider awareness of the issue.
Miedema believes having more LGBT+ allies in football is important in order to help create an environment in which everyone can be their authentic self and feel truly valued.
"At the time right now, I think we are too busy thinking about everybody else but ourselves and I think we need to focus on ourselves," added Miedema.
"Why does it change the player if he is gay or not? Why does it change the player if he or she is from Holland, from Africa, from Australia? We are all the same so why can't we just accept how we are and who we are and go from there?
"Just enjoy football and enjoy life - that is how easy it is for me anyway."
