celebs should never ever be taken seriously when it comes to any other matter than the one they actually excel at, be it football or acting etc.
No I dont want a fucking actor, raised by actors, isolated from society telling me how to vote or what to think about economics. Same goes for footballers. These people are not normal in any sense of the word nor do they have any understanding of the world they live in so sheltered.
Agree. Fans (peasants) wants celebrities to stand up for them, no matter what the political view is, and when they mess up they get all mad. No shit, theyre celebrities. Not politicians or activists.
This is the problem with pushing sportspeople into being "societal" role models. He's made a decision for his personal gain, it's not really anyone's business regardless of what people think. I think Hendo is a complete hypocrite for going, but whatever. It's his choice. Why should he be held to a higher standard than anyone else going to work in Saudi or other gulf states?
The issue is that he is the one set the higher standard for himself the moment he started advocating for LGBT
No matter what people on Reddit say, this guy’s views are important. He is a gay footballer, he isn’t just a gay fan who can justify it away because they support Liverpool or England. He has experiences on the pitch, he’s heard the vitriol that fans come out with and there stood Henderson. A man who decided to become a face of LGBTQ inclusion in football, who subsequently abandoned it all for a big ol’ bag of cash.
If he’s saying it was disappointing it must be disappointing for so many players who aren’t out yet. I’m a member of the community and it does really fucking suck to see good representation disappear like it never mattered.
Good on Jake for having the guts to talk about it, even when he’s going to get some horrible comments about his identity in return. Henderson has done damage to the progression of inclusion in football full stop, fuck, I’d argue EA managed to do more to raise awareness with including women’s players in FUT who are often queer too and they’re solely motivated by money.
Man could have had both, now nobody will touch him with a bargepole post retirement.
You couldn't have said it any better. There's probably players out there who wanted to come out and the support of players like Henderson would have been encouraging, but now that he's done this what are those players going to think? That their peers supporting them are actually just doing it for money and don't care at all about you or your struggles? I hope it doesn't make those considering coming out to change their minds.
It will impact them 100%. Young gay players have no role models to look up to really, they need allies to communicate that hate is unacceptable. Henderson did that and undid it just as quickly. I don’t think people clock that a gay footballer will have the same role models as a straight one purely because there is nobody else so having that extra bit of support, to say “the England captain supports me and others like me”… is so important to younger kids.
Jake will hopefully have a decent little career and be a role model for others too, but that’s years down the line now. Hope he’s doing okay, lad is only 18. Second year of college age, lot to deal with and speaking to the BBC is very brave.
Yeah to come out at such a young age in the current football environment is insane, hopefully it inspires the next generation.
Right now the harmless choice to simply love someone in Saudi leads to torture and complete loss of human rights.
The UK treated homosexual people the same in the past, but the MASSIVE difference is that people forced their voice to be heard and society changed for the better. Try that in Saudi u get executed.
Fuckers who try to defend Saudi are hypocrites who will without question do a complete 180 and play victim if freedoms or security they believe in are even touched, let alone mutilated by Saudi law. They simply don't care because it doesn't effect them. Heartless bastards.
Henderson's choice is indefensible. The fact he did it for money reveals even more of his character.
This is very problematic, isn't it? -
Henderson already did more for the LGBT community than 99% of all footballers, that's an indisputable fact.
Yes, and now he’s completely destroyed much of that
A huge part of the impact he’s had is just from being such an outspoken ally in the position that he was in. Queer supporters really felt seen, which is hugely important in making them feel understood and not alone. And as Daniels is making clear, queer players also felt the same way with him. And so his decision completely destroys what he did with that, and only makes it worse. Not those same people will feel alone and not understood, but also that their support, or the opposite, can just be bought on a whim.
That 99% of work he did… the vast majority of it is completely gone now, and has been replaced by trust issues.
This again? Wasn't there enough hue and cry when the move happened or should we be talking about it till the next year?
They should get over it
He did the best for himself and his family
So is the lesson to not be an advocate for the whole lbgt thing? Because dozens of footballers joined the saudi league from Europe this summer and as far as i can see the only one getting this kind of negative reaction is the one guy who went out of his way to be an ally for them.