Coming Out to Play by Robbie Rogers
When Robbie Rogers stepped onto the field for the LA Galaxy in 2013, he made history as the first openly gay man to play in a major US professional sport. Coming Out to Play tells Rogers's harrowing story as a closeted gay man in the ultra-heterosexual world of professional football, his decision to come out and leave behind his beloved sport, and his subsequent return to football - signing for the LA Galaxy. Rogers knew he wanted to be a professional football player from the age of four, and knew he was gay from the age of thirteen. He kept the latter hidden until he was twenty-five, believing the two realities to be totally irreconcilable. For twelve years he mastered the art of deception, both inwardly to himself and outwardly to teammates, friends, and family. In a February 2013 blog post that received global attention, he finally came out to the world. Rogers's memoir is a moving account of love overcoming prejudice, and a clarion call to other gay sports people around the world to openly embrace their sexuality.