Trailblazing footballer Josh Cavallo calls out hateful homophobic abuse
Adelaide United midfielder Josh Cavallo has called out the daily online abuse he faces on social media two years after coming out as gay.
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Adelaide United’s star midfidler Josh Cavallo has called out the ongoing online abuse he is subjected to daily, two years after coming out as gay.
The trailblazing top-level Australian soccer star – who said he was sick of living a lie when he came out in October 2021 – continues to receive hateful abuse online.
This week, Cavallo took to social media to call out the abuse, sharing a handful of vile comments, in the hope of sparking change.
Online users have called him “dirty”, a “waste of a human” and say football is not for gays and only for “real men”.
Other social media posters tell him he will be going to hell and needs to be “put in a mental asylum”.
Cavallo became the first current player in any Australian football code to come out in October 2021 and since has been subjected to abuse on and off the playing field.
In 2022, he called out abuse during an A-League game.
And now, as 2023 comes to a close, Cavallo has called out online abuse.
“I share my life via this social media platform to help individuals grow around the world,” he posted on Instagram on Monday.
“To feel empowered in their own skin.
“To be comfortable with the person they wish to be.
“I’m hand on heart so proud of how much my football club and the LGBTQIA+ community have grown in the world of football, but we have to remember there is still a huge amount of work left.”
Cavallo warned of the harm the abuse could cause, while taking social media platforms to task on their response to the abuse posted.
“We are in 2023 and this behaviour can be more harmful than you think,” he said.
“Two years on from my coming out journey and I go through my everyday life being reminded how people wish me dead,” he said.
“To all you social media platforms, all I have to say to you is do better.
Originally published as Trailblazing footballer Josh Cavallo calls out hateful homophobic abuse
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