The Most Important Tweets About the UEFA and Carl Nassib’s Coming Out

Whether you are interested in football (or soccer for our American friends) or not, one topic undoubtedly has made it to your attention in the last few days of the EURO2020: the rainbow flag. Sure, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has been known for their let’s call them «conservative» values all along, but when the city of Munich officially requested to illuminate the Allianz Arena in rainbow colors for today’s match against Hungary, things got a new spin. As a reminder, Hungary is currently ruled by Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party and the government is known for their discriminating and exclusion politics. Also, Viktor Orbán is on very friendly terms with Aleksander Ceferin who happens to be president of the UEFA. It is therefore not really surprising that UEFA denied the request.

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We give you the best reactions on Twitter regarding that matter and show you the interesting course thing have taken meanwhile!

UEFA’s decision has since been publicly criticized for good reason. European football clubs, fans, organizations and companies are currently showing the rainbow colors, demonstrating solidarity to the queer community!

Notably, all of this happened just days after the UEFA started an investigation against Manuel Neuer. The German team captain wore a rainbow armband for the matches against France and Portugal to show his support for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride month. The decision to investigate has been criticized ever since. Meanwhile the UEFA has concluded that there is no case to answer. An official statement from European football’s governing body said, the armband “was promoting a good cause, ie diversity, [and] the team will not face disciplinary proceedings.”

Yesterday then, things got a new dimension when American Football player Carl Paul Nassib publicly announced that he is gay. Not only is Nassib the first active player to come out. He also did it in coordination and with the support of the National Football League (NFL).

Obviously, the outing of a role model is of utter importance for the entire queer community which is why we should shed a light on the probably most important aspect of Nassib’s statement: «Young LGBTQ kids are over 5x more likely than their straight friends to consider suicide. […] Studies have shown that all it takes is one accepting adult to decrease the risk of an LGBTQ kid attempting suicide by 40%. Whether you’re a friend, a parent, a coach, or a teammate – you can be that person.»

Got it, UEFA?

Let us show you a little of the overwhelming support Nassib and the NFL gathered on social media:

We too want to express our full support with everyone in the queer community and thank Carl Nassib for his brave step. Hopefully, other associations will learn from the NFL’s attitude towards inclusion and anti-discrimination.