Stars who came out as gay - Facts December 28, 2009
Gareth Thomas may be the first high-profile rugby union player to declare he is a homosexual but the former Wales captain is not the first leading sports star to announce that they are gay.
The following sporting personalties paved the way for Thomas's announcement:
Justin Fashanu (football): The first black British player to command a one million pounds transfer fee, he remains the only English top-flight footballer to come out as gay. When he took that step in 1990, there was much less public sympathy for sportsmen in his position.
The brother of fellow striker John Fashanu, Justin's career was already in decline at this stage and in 1998 he committed suicide aged just 37.
Billie-Jean King (tennis): One of the most successful female players in tennis history, King - who was married to husband Larry at the time - was 'outed' in 1981 when her then secretary, who was her lover, filed a 'palimony' suit. King had wanted to retire that year but had to play on because of legal costs.
"Within 24 hours (of the lawsuit being filed), I lost all my endorsements; I lost everything," King recalled. "I lost two million dollars at least, because I had longtime contracts. I had to play just to pay for the lawyers.
"It was very hard on me because I was outed and I think you have to do it in your own time. Fifty percent of gay people know who they are by the age of 13. I was in the other 50 percent.
"I would never have married Larry if I'd known. I would never have done that to him. I was totally in love with Larry when I was 21."
Donal Og Cusack (hurling): Cusack, in a country where the Catholic church still has a major public role, became the first top-class Irish sportsman to reveal he was gay in an autobiography, 'Come What May', published earlier this year.
"Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I've always been at peace with it," he wrote.
Nigel Owens (rugby union): The Welsh referee, who survived a suicide attempt, came out in 2007.
Owen recounted his experiences in an autobiography, 'Half Time', published this year, where he recalled what it was like to discover as a teenager he was gay while growing up in the Welsh village of Mynyddcerrig.
"I didn't want to be gay," he said. "It was frightening. Coming from this old-fashioned, close-knit community, I didn't really know what a gay person was or looked like."
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