‘Homosexuality can be accepted better with top male player coming out’: Vivianne Miedema

‘Homosexuality can be accepted better with top male player coming out’: Vivianne Miedema

"We are all the same so why can't we just accept how we are and who we are and go from there?" said Vivianne Miedema, who plays for Arsenal and represents Netherlands.

By: Sports Desk | Updated: February 6, 2020 7:47:21 pm
Vivianne Miedema is in a relationship with her club teammate Lisa Evans. (Source: Twitter)

Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema has come out and let her voice known about homophobia in football, and she believes that to combat the evils of the social practice, help will be required from the men’s game.

The Netherlands striker, who has scored a record 69 goals for her nation, is in a relationship with her club teammate Lisa Evans for a while now. While several top female players are openly gay, there is a lack of high-profile equivalent among their male counterparts.

“Obviously I like to think so,” said the 23-year-old to PA news agency when asked whether an elite men’s player was the way to help homosexuality getting accepted in football.

Among high-profile male players, only Thomas Hitzlsperger, the former Aston Villa and Germany midfielder, pops up to anyone’s mind who came out as gay after his retirement from the game.

“If someone was to come out and that player is fully respected, it would be easy for a lot of other boys to come out as well,” Miedema, the all-time leading goalscorer for Netherlands, said. “I think you should do what you want and let people do whatever they feel good with.”

With homophobic-related activities on the rise inside the stadiums recently, tackling it has been a headache for the Football Association (FA). But, the FA has both a 21-page document and a 10-point plan laying out their support to homosexuality, while campaigns such as Rainbow Laces have increased wider awareness of the issue.

But, Miedema believes that social media has only made things worse for people to be inclusive where people can engage in hate speech much more easily. She believes that everybody should focus on themselves to accelerate the process of being more inclusive.

“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?” she said.

“Just enjoy football and enjoy life, that is how easy it is for me anyway.”