Matt Morton
Matt Morton...
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Why did you decide to speak publicly about coming out?
Really, it was a sense of duty and I felt like it was a responsibility to do so. I think that everyone kept saying how brave you are, how brave you are, how brave you are, and to me, it didn't feel like I was being brave myself at the time. But then it sank in that actually the fact that nobody's done this for 30 years shows that there is a real significant problem, but also a reason why they haven't. And I saw it as my responsibility to take that on my shoulders really, and show that anyone going next had some kind of story to relate to or somebody that they could speak to. I didn't quite expect to have so many messages and have to speak to so many people who have gone through this or are going through this, but there was literally hundreds. And I think that everything that's happened in the last few years since that has shown me that I did the right thing because I've helped people come out since and stay in the game. Whereas a lot of people that have messaged me over the last few years, but particularly at the time when I did come out publicly, there was a lot of heartbreaking stories about people that almost saw this as too late for them because they'd already quit football. They didn't think that football was an environment that was safe for them to be in. And because of that, they decided to leave football, leave their local community, walk away from their family in some cases because they didn't think that they'd be accepted. And until that, there are case studies, if you want to call me a case study where people see that the two things can coexist. You can be an athlete and do what you love, but also be gay. And those things can work in the same environment as long as you're in the right environment. And if you're not, there will be one for you.
Have you ever felt suicidal?
I haven't, no.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to come out?
My advice is someone that wants to come out is to come out. If you want to do that, do it equally. My advice is someone that doesn't want to come out. If you're not ready, you're not ready. I think everyone has to go on their own journey, at their own pace. But in either of those situations, what I would definitely recommend is that you talk to somebody. So whether that's a family member or a friend, reach out to them and confide in them. Give them the benefit of the doubt to be able to show you that support that you no doubt need. Also, there are plenty of places that you can go to talk to people that know how you're feeling, have walked in your shoes, and know exactly where you are in that process, and they can tell you how they dealt with that situation. They can advise you on maybe how to come out, certainly if it's going to be a public thing, but even if it's a private thing or a local thing, how to do that and the potential ramifications and consequences and the learnings from other people's situations could be really valuable and you haven't lost anything if it isn't.