Josh Cavallo, the first openly homosexual footballer to come out, has proposed to his partner at the stadium of his club Adelaide United. Cavallo, who revealed in 2021 that he is gay, proposed to his partner, Leighton Morrell, on one knee at an empty Hindmarsh Stadium. Taking to social media, Cavallo uploaded the pictures of the same. “Starting this year with my fiance. Mr and Mr coming soon. Thank you Adelaide United for helping set up this surprise,” Cavallo captioned the post on X.
“You have provided a safe space in football, one that I never in my dreams thought could ever be possible. To share this special moment on the pitch, where it all started,” he further captioned the post.
For the unversed, Cavallo’s finacee Morreell is an electrician.
In 2021, Cavallo received immense support on social media after coming out as the only known gay men’s footballer playing in a top-flight league.
On his decision to come out as gay, the 21-year-old revealed that he no longer wanted to keep his sexuality a secret.
“All I want to do is play football and be treated equally,” he said.
“Trying to perform at the best of your ability and to live this double life, it’s exhausting, it’s something I don’t want anyone to experience.”
Major clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan all applauded Cavallo, as did world governing body FIFA, while Spanish giants Barcelona thanked him for “taking a huge step forward”.
“Your courage contributes to normalising diversity in the world of sports,” Barcelona said.
Cavallo even caught the attention of prominent US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who tweeted to her 77 million followers: “I’m sending him a whole lot of love today.”
Cavallo had revealed that he was stunned by the response.
Despite football’s immense popularity worldwide only a few footballers have ever come out as gay, mostly after they retired to avoid the prospect of taunts from the terraces.
The first professional player to come out while still playing was Britain’s Justin Fashanu in 1990, but he never found acceptance in the game and hanged himself in 1998.
A charity set up by Fashanu’s family last year released a letter from an unnamed gay player in the English Premier League which highlighted how little football’s culture had changed.
Cavallo, whose emotional video announcing he was gay has been viewed nearly seven million times in less than 24 hours, said he hoped his decision would inspire others.
Czech international Jakub Jankto -– who plays for Serie A side Cagliari –- is the highest-profile current male gay footballer, making the announcement last year.
