In what appears to be a growing trend in the world of soccer, another star has come out. But this time, the player announcing his sexuality is an American player and a member of the Major League Soccer organization.
David Testo, who recently played for the Montreal Impact and who was formerly of the Columbus Crew, shared his secret during an interview with the French Canadian Division of Radio Canada.
Testo is the first American Soccer player to come out of the closet and, while he is not affiliated with a professional team now, he is not retired, which is also a new milestone in the world of athletics.
“I really do regret not coming out publicly earlier,” the 30-year-old midfielder, who also played with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Richmond Kickers of the USL and Columbus Crew of the MLS, told Radio-Canada. “It's like carrying around a secret, you know, and carrying around luggage and just never being allowed to be yourself.”
The North Carolina native said he now feels more confident and mature and is ready to speak publicly about his sexual orientation. He said his teammates and team owners and management all knew he was gay. The team has voiced its full support of their former player.
In the interview, Testo talked about the difficulty of being a gay athlete, both for himself and his teammates.
“On a daily basis I had to constantly be aware of the things I said, who I said it to,” he said. “I think players around me had to, too. That sucks, as a human being. It would have been a lot easier to get into a field where everything is accepted.”
