Anton Hysen ( 1990 – ), Sweden. Footballer

b. December 13, 1990

Swedish football player who plays in the Swedish fourth division for Utsiktens BK, which is coached by his father Glenn Hysén. Anton is a former member of the Swedish national under-17 association football team and was given a trainee contract with BK Häcken from 2007 to 2009, but was hindered by injuries and instead joined Utsiktens BK, for whom he plays in his third season. He was previously a member of Torslanda IK. His older brothers are football players Tobias Hysén and Alexander Hysén.

He came out as gay to the Swedish football magazine Offside in March 2011. Daily Mail has described Anton as the "first high-profile Swedish footballer to announce that he is gay" and as the second active professional football player to come out, after English footballer Justin Fashanu in 1990. The BBC called him "a global one-off". He told the magazine: "It is fucked up that no other Swedish player had come out yet. I am a footballer. And gay. If I perform as a footballer, then I do not think it matters if I like girls or boys. People may call me anything they want, it will just make me even more psyched".

He was named at number 27 on the DS list of the "50 Most Influential Gays", 2011:

Twenty years ago the only openly gay footballer was the late, troubled Justin Fashanu. And then, nothing. Now in 2011, God has answered our prayers with Swedish Anton Hysen. The 20-year-old sportsman with model looks is the son of Liverpool defender and Swedish international Glenn Hysén. In 2007, his dad made a surprise appearance at Stockholm’s Pride march, and spoke with great empathy of ‘A 16-year-old who didn’t want to come out because he feared what his teammates would think.’ No one realised at the time, but he was referring to his son. Anton admits he’s still surprised no other professional footballers have stood up to be counted. “It is completely strange, isn’t it?” he says. “It’s all fucked up. Where the hell are all the others? No one is coming out.”

Out in Sport: Football Adopts Gay-rights Charter

There are at present no openly gay players in the top ranks of British football - unlike rugby and cricket, where things are beginning to change, and some individual sporting codes, where the circumstances are easier. (The last time a British footballer was known to be gay ended tragically in the man's suicide, after intense hostility and gay-baiting from the stands. Some other modern players are not out, but receive similar taunting just on the suspicion).

In a welcome new development, the Football Association has agreed to join other sporting codes in supporting the UK government's charter for action, to stamp out homophobia in sport. Young boys often idolize their sporting heroes, and seek to emulate them. When they see the leading players engaging in homophobic taunting of opponents, this too easily becomes repeated on playing fields and playgrounds of British schools. If the charter can succeed in changing the behaviour of top players, it could potentially help to counter the homophobic bullying that so many young boys encounter.

This, from Politics UK:

Football accepts gay-rights charter

Efforts to wipe out homophobia in sport have received a significant boost as the country's major sports leagues put their weight behind a government campaign.

The organising bodies for football, tennis, cricket, rugby league, rugby union and the Olympics have all signed the government's charter for action.

The charter aims to create a welcoming environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in sport.

Activists welcomed the move as a sign that sport - often considered the last bastion of homophobia in the UK - was pressured to modernise in line with other industries.

(Full report at Politics UK)

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