First Openly Gay Male Pro Soccer Player Proposes on Home Field

Josh Cavallo, an Australian football player and the first professional male player in the top-tier to openly identify as gay, recently proposed to his partner on the football pitch at his team’s home stadium.

Cavallo, a midfielder for Adelaide United, shared on social media on Wednesday that he is engaged to his fiancé, Leighton Morrell. He expressed his gratitude to his A-League club for their unwavering support and assisting him in arranging the proposal at Coopers Stadium in South Australia.
“I am gratefully blessed with a supportive environment in football, an unimaginable opportunity, inspiring me to live my life authentically,” Cavallo stated about his team. “Choosing this location to celebrate this unique moment felt appropriate, given it’s where my journey started.” Photos taken during the proposal show Cavallo kneeling while proposing to Morrell and their joyous moment after the question was popped.
Josh Cavallo, the first openly gay male football player proposed on the pitch at his team’s home stadium in Australia.

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Cavallo’s engagement follows more than two years after he came out publicly in a video released by his team. He confessed that leading a “double life” while trying to perform was an “overwhelming effort,” an experience he doesn’t wish upon anyone else.
“As a child, I always concealed my true self as I was deeply ashamed. It was like having to live a lie to realize my childhood dream of playing football, thinking it would be impossible to be professional and openly gay. But all I’ve ever wanted is to play football and be treated equally,” he conveyed.
Few male players in the professional football scene have publicly come out as gay. In 2019, Andy Brennan, a player for the semi-pro team South Melbourne Football Club, became the first Australian professional men’s player to come out while still actively playing. Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto, last year, announced that he is gay, which makes him and Cavallo the only two openly gay players in top-tier teams. Former U.S. national team member Robbie Rogers revealed his orientation in 2013 when he retired, but he subsequently joined the Los Angeles Galaxy and became the first openly gay player in the Major League Soccer.