Varadkar: Jake is in a league of his own for coming out gay
LEO Varadkar has praised the ‘role model’ footballer Jake Daniels after he came out as gay on Monday.
The Blackpool star is the first active male British footballer to come out as gay and the first to do since Nottingham Forest’s Justin Fashanu in 1990.
Daniels, 17, has been showered with praise over the announcement for breaking down boundaries, with the support of his team-mates, club and the footballing world as whole.
Mr Varadkar — the only gay man to hold the role of Taoiseach — has been the latest to share his plaudits for the teenager, hailing Daniels’s announcement as a ‘big moment’.
The Tánaiste wrote on Twitter: ‘This is a big moment. First English professional footballer to say he’s gay in 32 years & he’s done it at the start of his career.
‘He’s tackling head on the risk of homophobic abuse from some “fans” in the stands, online and on the streets.
‘He will be role a model for tens of thousands of young men.
‘Fair play and hats off.’
There has been an outpouring of support for Daniels amid widespread praise over the announcement on Monday.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Daniels, pictured above, said: ‘Now is the right time to do it. I feel like I am ready to tell people my story. I want people to know the real me.
‘I have been thinking for a long time about how I want to do it, when I want to do it. I know now is the time. I am ready to be myself, be free and confident with it.
‘For a long time I’ve thought I would have to hide my truth because I wanted to be, and now I am, a professional footballer. I asked myself if I should wait until I’ve retired to come out.
‘No other player in the professional game here is out.
‘However, I knew that would lead to a long time of lying and not being able to be myself or lead the life that I want to.
‘Since I’ve come out to my family, my club and my team-mates, that period of overthinking everything and the stress it created has gone.
‘It was impacting my mental heath. Now I am just confident and happy to be myself finally.’