With the rise of acceptance for LGBT people in the U.S., there has been more coming out stories. On October 27th, the 21 year old soccer player Josh Cavallo came out as gay. He plays for the Australian team Adelaide United. He is a midfielder and is a pro level soccer player.

Callvalo said, “I’m a footballer, and I’m gay,”. During an interview with Samuel Jonathan, Cavallo became emotional when speaking about his story. With the lack of gay representation when it comes to sports, he felt ashamed. He thought he couldn’t pursue his dream because he was gay.

Cavallo stated, “Growing up, I always felt the need to hide myself, because I was ashamed. Ashamed I would never be able to do what I love and be gay, hiding who I really am to pursue a dream I always wished for as a kid. All I want to do is play football and be treated equally,”.

One of the biggest obstacles that he faced were the people he loves. He was worried his loved ones would see him different once he came out. He was pleasantly surprised when his friends, family, team, and coaches showed him nothing but love and support. He spoke about how he wanted to show people that it’s okay to be yourself. “Be yourself. You were meant to be yourself, not someone else,” he spoke.

People think the teams performance will improve after Cavallo has come out. A fellow footballer that plays for the national woman’s football team in England, Fara Williams stated, “He is obviously in a great place with himself to be able to come out.”

Being more comfortable in himself and no longer having to hide who he is has helped him in all aspects in not only being a person, but a player as well.