A brave and important step.
The senior Scottish judge, Craig Napier, came out of the closet last night (Thursday) openly and even spoke openly in the media in Scotland.
"It's something I've obviously lived with for a long time. It's been a difficult journey. It's really important that people like me be willing to sit here and do it," Napier said in a video released by the Scottish Football Association.
"We need to see climate change so that people feel they can be their true self and live happily and comfortably in their own skin."
An important conversation with Category One referee Craig Napier.
pic.twitter.com/bYygya2k23
- Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) June 2, 2022
Napier added: "I do not think it should be a news story but I think it's really happening right now. We need to see climate change, so that people feel they can be their true selves.
This is not a conversation about me.
This is an attempt to change the culture in Scottish football.
I can not go back and change decisions I made to get here but I feel I can pass on to others so as not to make the same mistakes.
Do not waste time you can spend with other people.
Live your life because it's not something you can change. "
Following Napier's announcement, Scotland's lower league referee Lloyd Wilson also announced his exit from the closet: "It was a horrific journey to be honest. A journey of about 17 years of life that I did not want to live, to live a lie. To live as other people wanted me to That other people want me to live in. The biggest concern for me was that I would be judged differently from my non-gay colleagues.
Lloyd Wilson says he wants to stop 'living a lie' as he follows Craig Napier to become second Category One Scottish referee to publicly come out as gayhttps: //t.co/uQ4wxmHOFH pic.twitter.com/1wRg2JoeDN
- Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) June 2, 2022
In doing so, the two have become the first to make the bold move in Scotland, since former striker Justin Pashano announced his sexual orientation in the mid-1990s.
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