While sports like basketball and soccer have seen a number of their pro athletes come out of the closet this year, little to no movement has been made in the way of LGBT representation in the world of pro wrestling. However, that all changed last night when WWE superstar Darren Young publicly came out as gay.
While retrieving his luggage at LAX, Young, born Fredrick Douglas Rosser, spoke with a TMZ reporter about the possibility of a wrestler coming out and finding success in pro wrestling and Young shockingly revealed that he is gay and happy with his success.
“Look at me. I’m a WWE superstar and to be honest with you, I’ll tell you right now, I’m gay. And I’m happy. I’m very happy,” Young revealed.
Although shocked, the reporter seized the opportunity to talk in more detail with Young about his sexuality.
“Does it matter?” he asked. “Does it matter to you? Does it change what you think about me? I guess if you want to call it coming out; I really don’t know what to say it is but I’m just letting you know. I’m happy with who I am, I’m comfortable with myself, and I’m happy to be living the dream. I’m in L.A. for ‘SummerSlam’ with WWE. You know, to be honest with you, I’m happy with myself. Some people might not like it, some people will like it but I’m here to please myself. I’m here to be happy and it’s very important that I’m happy with myself. I’m hoping to be able to make a difference, you know? It’s very important to me that people understand that someone’s sexual preference shouldn’t really matter. It should be about the person.”
We completely agree with Young and applaud him for having the courage to open up about his sexuality and become the WWE’s first openly gay superstar. We hope that Young’s decision will help to pave an easier path for other athletes to come out and convince sports teams to stand in full support of their LGBT athletes.
Check out a list of other athletes who recently came out below. –nicholas robinson
