As president of the Football
Association, Prince William took to his official Twitter account to pen a
heartfelt message which read: “What Jake has done takes courage and will
hopefully help break down barriers that have no place in our society.
“I hope his decision to
speak openly gives others the confidence to do the same.” He signed
his message with a ‘W’, signaling that the tweet came personally from him
and not his communications team.
On Monday, the 17-year-old
forward player publicly came out on Sky Sports – the first British
male professional footballer to do so since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
Jake said: “Now is the right time to do it. I feel like I am ready to
tell people my story.”
Alongside Prime Minister Boris
Johnson, Prince William was one of many who rallied behind the youngster in
support of his decision to come out in the public eye.
Back in 2016, William starred
on the front cover of the UK’s leading gay magazine, Attitude. As
second in line to the throne, the future king was officially the first member
of the royal family to be photographed for the cover of a gay publication.
He told Attitude:
“No one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason and no
one should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured
in their lives.
“The young gay, lesbian
and transgender individuals I met through Attitude are truly brave to speak out
and to give hope to people who are going through terrible bullying right now.
Their sense of strength and optimism should give us all encouragement to stand
up to bullying wherever we see it.”
In 2019, William said that it
would be “absolutely fine by me” if any of his children come out as
gay or lesbian.
The Duke’s candid admission
came when he visited the London headquarters of the Albert Kennedy Trust (Akt),
an LGBTQ+ youth homelessness charity.