Soccer (Closing)

This is the problem with pushing sportspeople into being "societal" role models. He's made a decision for his personal gain, it's not really anyone's business regardless of what people think. I think Hendo is a complete hypocrite for going, but whatever. It's his choice. Why should he be held to a higher standard than anyone else going to work in Saudi or other gulf states?

Southgate / The FA / his ex-footballer mates lining up to tacitly defend Henderson or even explicitly endorse the move, because they think the Saudis might cut them cheques in the future, is hilarious tbf.

no one in Saudi Arabia cares about this. and no one in Britain cares about this either. these articles just stink of racism tbh.

You would've thought that Jordan was the pinnacle of LGBT in the uk the way people keep going on about it.

most people didnt even realise he did anything for lGBT before this move yet the coverage of this has been non stop

I think the fact that FIFA have decided to host a World cup there is about a million times worse than this non story.

why is football being mixed with other things? I think the only problem that football should be involved is rasicm , any other politics should not be mingled with football, it's my opinion nobody should take offence

they still cooking this headlines? it's getting boring ngl.

Europe is electing far fascists who hate gay people as well, in the Netherlands a guy won by landslide who openly advocated for genocide against Moroccans/Turks, hates Trans people etc.. . So should we shame every single player who plays in the Dutch league then ?

No matter what people on Reddit say, this guy’s views are important. He is a gay footballer, he isn’t just a gay fan who can justify it away because they support Liverpool or England. He has experiences on the pitch, he’s heard the vitriol that fans come out with and there stood Henderson. A man who decided to become a face of LGBTQ inclusion in football, who subsequently abandoned it all for a big ol’ bag of cash.

If he’s saying it was disappointing it must be disappointing for so many players who aren’t out yet. I’m a member of the community and it does really fucking suck to see good representation disappear like it never mattered.

Good on Jake for having the guts to talk about it, even when he’s going to get some horrible comments about his identity in return. Henderson has done damage to the progression of inclusion in football full stop, fuck, I’d argue EA managed to do more to raise awareness with including women’s players in FUT who are often queer too and they’re solely motivated by money.

Man could have had both, now nobody will touch him with a bargepole post retirement.

They should get over it

He did the best for himself and his family

This is very problematic, isn't it? -

1. It implies that once someone advocates for a political cause or community, they are now obligated to make substantial personal and financial sacrifices related to that cause going forward. Their past advocacy locks them into standards they may not have fully considered initially.
2. This means public advocacy for controversial issues becomes very risky - it's hard to know where it may impose serious burdens down the line as social views change. This could have a "chilling effect", discouraging that advocacy.
3. It sets up an expectation that other people (in this case Daniels) get to police your life choices based on their interpretation of your past advocacy and whether your actions now align. This imposes an invasive moral judgment.
4. This approach provides little room for context, nuance, or thoughtful disagreement when an activist claims someone has contradicted past support. It becomes close to a black-and-white moral litmus test enforced through public shaming.

Right now the harmless choice to simply love someone in Saudi leads to torture and complete loss of human rights.

The UK treated homosexual people the same in the past, but the MASSIVE difference is that people forced their voice to be heard and society changed for the better. Try that in Saudi u get executed.

Fuckers who try to defend Saudi are hypocrites who will without question do a complete 180 and play victim if freedoms or security they believe in are even touched, let alone mutilated by Saudi law. They simply don't care because it doesn't effect them. Heartless bastards.

Henderson's choice is indefensible. The fact he did it for money reveals even more of his character.

Henderson already did more for the LGBT community than 99% of all footballers, that's an indisputable fact.