Few people in America know that Justin Fashanu was the first openly gay professional soccer player, playing for various British clubs and becoming Britain’s first £1 million soccer player. He committed suicide in 1998 after being charged with assaulting an American teenage boy (the charges were dropped). Now, a group called The Justin Campaign has put together a team called The Justin Fashanu All-Stars, blessed by The Football Association, to promote the inclusion of openly gay players in soccer. Jason Hall from The Justin Campaign told the BBC:
We decided that the best thing to do was to have a campaigning football team so the football does the talking. Hopefully [we'll] change people's opinions of gay people on the pitch.
Few people in America know that Justin Fashanu was the first openly gay professional soccer player, playing for various British clubs and becoming Britain’s first £1 million soccer player. He committed suicide in 1998 after being charged with assaulting an American teenage boy (the charges were dropped). Now, a group called The Justin Campaign has put together a team called The Justin Fashanu All-Stars, blessed by The Football Association, to promote the inclusion of openly gay players in soccer. Jason Hall from The Justin Campaign told the BBC:
We decided that the best thing to do was to have a campaigning football team so the football does the talking. Hopefully [we'll] change people's opinions of gay people on the pitch.
