Corrie story can help top footie stars come out
CORRIE has been roundly praised for footballer storyline.
Cobbles character James Bailey recently came out to his family and is set to be questioned by his club over gossip surrounding his sexual orientation.
And actor Nathan Graham, who plays James, hopes the plot will help LGBT footballers finally come out.
Asked how it might help Nathan said: “I think as long as it helps somebody that might be going through the struggle of telling their family, or if they are a young footballer who watches the show.
“They might see it and think ‘Okay, you know, I can do this. Maybe I could be the first player to come out in this era.”
Justin Fashanu was the first footballer in the UK to come out as gay in 1990 but he tragically took his own life in 1998.
Nathan added: “That was a completely different era and time and everything was so different.
“The world has moved on quite a lot in since then, but it still hasn’t moved on enough in this area.”
LGBT charity Stonewall praised the soap for
“moving national conversations on”.
Stonewall’s Robbie De
Santos, said: “Much of it comes down to stereotypes in society.
“Stereotypes about what gay and bi men are like and what they could be good at. Football is seen as its gay something that isn’t really for gay or bi men.”
Nathan, 28, met rugby league player Keegan Hirst, who came out in 2015, as part of his research into the storyline.
He said: “I’ve learned it’s still a big issue.
“If it wasn’t an issue, then I’d like to think there would be some openly gay footballers out there in the world right now.
“The story team and the writers, they’ve got nothing to go from in that sense, because this situation hasn’t happened - at least for 30 years.”