A Kansas State football player has come
out gay, saying that he wants to help other young LGBT people who are
struggling with their sexuality.
Offensive tackle Scott Frantz told ESPN
that he revealed his sexuality to his teammates during a team-building
exercise last year that involved divulging a personal secret.
“I came out to my teammates, and I've
never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life than when I did
that,” Frantz said. “And ever since then it's been great. I've
grown so much closer to my teammates since. So it's been an amazing
experience.”
“So the very first time I said those
words were in front of, you know, 110, 120 football guys,"
Frantz
said. "So you can imagine how scared I was, how nervous I
was. ... This could go either really bad or could go really good. And
thankfully my teammates embraced me with open arms, and it was
great."
A week after the announcement, Frantz
came out to his family. He said that he had known that he was gay
since the fifth grade.
“I ultimately am sharing this story
because I want to reach out to all the other kids who are just like
me who feel like they can't be accepted, they can't be loved, because
of who they are,” he said. “I spent my whole childhood hating
myself because of who I was. I was angry. I was mad. I was
depressed, at times.”
According to ESPN, Frantz, a sophomore,
and incoming Arizona freshman defensive end My-King Johnson will be
the first two openly gay active FBS players this upcoming season.