Zander Murray recently opened up about how he feels 1 year after coming out as gay, and how he hopes for it to help other people as well.
The 31-year-old striker is the presenter of the TV documentary ‘Out on the Pitch’, which he accepted to “empower” the younger generation who are experiencing similar struggles as he did.
“When I got the offer of the documentary, I sat down and thought, ‘Why do I want to do this? What do I want out of it?’
I wrote down that I wanted to empower a young Zander Murray and help them to say, ‘I’m not going to give up just because I’m different to everyone else in my changing room,’” Murray told Outsports.
He continued,
“I wanted them to know they should keep doing it. And I wanted them to try to be their true authentic self from the get-go, because I know how instrumental that can be for a fruitful football career.”
The football player then revealed that a friend he used to play with, who is now a coach, texted him about a young boy that he coaches. The boy who watched the documentary came out to his teammates and then his coach.
“I just think it’s amazing. The coach said to me that this boy is so much more confident now. I’m like, ‘Bingo — that’s why I did it.’ It was the most awesome, powerful moment.” Murray further expressed.
He has a screenshot of his friend’s text message pinned on his Twitter account, which you can see here:
This is why ❤️ 🌈⚽️ #proud #beyou pic.twitter.com/yi2p5JRh0C
— Zander Murray (@ZanderMurray) March 15, 2023
According to the outlet, the athlete uses the word “powerful” to reflect on the changes in his life 1 year after coming out as gay. Murray also said that he is “aligned in my own self and I’m happy and content.”
Source: outsports.com
Seeing all these stories of athletes who come out as gay really helped me in my coming out journey. Just seeing how many guys are out and gay and how their teammates accept them etc. encouraged me to come out 2 months ago.