Robbie Rogers: A History in the Making

Robbie Rogers is a former midfielder for the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer and Leeds United in England. He represented the United States at the U18 and U20 levels, and made several appearances for the United States Men’s National Team in World Cup qualifying, CONCACAF Gold Cups, and in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He recently signed a 4-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Why is this significant? Because in his personal blog this past February, at the age of 25, Rogers publicly came out as a gay man and said he was retiring from professional soccer.

This story is not a new one—obviously American journalists have been covering Roger’s story since…well…February. And at the time, like many other Americans engrossed in soccer culture, I was greatly disappointed that he was calling it quits. He may not be the best American soccer player ever to play the beautiful game professionally, but all of us agreed that at his age with the level of talent he did have for him to retire because he was gay was simply a crime to international football.

My Coming-Out Q&A (Part 1)

I was recently inspired by a Youtube video I watched several months ago called "Overcoming Adversities as a Gay Teen: One Generation at a Time." The video was a documentary created for a senior project by a gay high school student. In it, he interviewed various local openly gay people of all ages about their sexuality and their coming-out experiences. (This is the video—it is 90 minutes long, so I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to sit through it. But for those who do, here you go.)

To recap, the student asks everyone a series of questions and then played their responses. It is the typical interview format, but I think what was interesting was being able to see the variety of responses (or lack there of) amongst the many interviewees.

I was inspired by this project, and I wanted to do something similar. I am a firm believer in sharing our stories, because no matter how boring or mundane our story may seem to us, it is unique and has the potential to influence someone else.

So without further ado, here is my version of such a Q&A:

A Letter to My 13-Year-Old Self

Dear younger me,

I know what you are thinking, what you are feeling. Even though you may not want to admit it, I know what you are going through.

I know what is buried down deep inside you which you are scared to let out. I know how conflicted you feel; how confused you are with the situation you live in; how frustrated you are that things could not be different.