Major League Soccer player Collin Martin has come out as gay to fans just hours before his club’s Pride night.
Martin, 23, shared the news on Twitter, noting he had been openly gay to his friends and family for years, but never on such a large platform.
‘Tonight my team, Minnesota United, is having their Pride night. It’s an important night for me — I’ll be announcing that I am an openly gay player in Major League Soccer,’ he wrote on Twitter.
‘I have been out as a gay man for many years to my family and friends, and this includes my teammates.’
Minnesota United player Collin Martin, 23, has come out as a gay man just hours before his team’s Pride night on Friday
The Major League Soccer player shared the message via social media on Friday, and was met with an overwhelmingly positive response
Martin’s announcement makes him one of only two openly gay active players in Major League Soccer – the other being Robbie Rogers, who retired shortly after his announcement but came back to play again.
David Testo was the first player to come out as a gay man, making the announcement shortly after his retirement in 2011, City Pages reported.
Martin thanked his team and others in MLS for their ‘unconditional support’
Martin said his decision to come out on an international stage was made ‘much easier’ by the ‘kindness and acceptance’ from his fellow players.
‘As we celebrate Pride night, I want to thank my teammates for their unconditional support for who I am,’ he wrote in a statement.
Robbie Rogers told Chelsea Handler he had a similarly positive welcome from Major League Soccer and its fans, but he was left disheartened when years later, it was still only him standing as an openly gay man.
He held out hope though, telling Handler in 2016: ‘It will change eventually, y’know, our world’s changing, the United States is changing.’
Martin also seemed to be gunning for other players, of any sport, to be more open about their sexuality.
He he hoped his overwhelmingly positive experience would influence other people who fear judgement to also come out.
‘In light of my experience as a professional athlete, I want to take this moment to encourage others who play sports professionally or otherwise to have confidence that sport will welcome them wholeheartedly,’ he wrote.
‘June is Pride month, and I am happy to be playing for Pride, and to be playing as an out gay man.’
Martin (left) is one of only two active Major League Soccer players to be openly gay
Pictured: Martin’s full statement, shared on social media on Friday