From today, May 17th, the Diversero initiative offers the opportunity for a group coming out in professional sports. The day starts with an error message.
“Service Unavailable” – that’s what anyone who tried to open the Diversero website early Friday morning read. As the morning progressed, accessibility improved, but remained shaky. With the “Sports Free” campaign, the organization led by former youth national soccer player Marcus Urban wants to offer an online platform on which queer people from professional sports can reveal themselves and exchange ideas.
A video went online on Diversero’s social media channels at 8 a.m., which was supposed to be the starting signal for the day on which further messages are expected.
Messages from Urban, Zingler and Wehrle
In the video, initiator Urban says: “May 17th, an exciting date. We asked ourselves what could be a right date for a group coming out in professional football, professional sports. It is the last Bundesliga match day that is running European Championships are just around the corner…” May 17th is also the International Day of Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia.
Dirk Zingler, President of first division club Union Berlin, also has his say: “If the courage of one individual doesn’t make it, then perhaps the courage of a group is needed. All I can say to this group is: Be brave. Whoever loves whom will play 99 percent of the time no role at work.”
The third protagonist is Alexander Wehrle, the openly gay chairman of the board of VfB Stuttgart. “It’s very likely that we only have one life. And we have to enjoy that.”
Expectations dampened
Urban had recently dampened expectations for the coming outs on May 17th. “Active professional footballers are still holding back,” he said in an interview with Stern. Communication with gay professionals takes place via contacts. “The players are extremely careful. Nobody dares to leave cover.” “Extreme caution” applies.
But May 17th is just the starting signal for the campaign. “There should now be an opportunity to position yourself on the platform on the 17th of every month,” said Urban.
This article will be continually updated.
