Former Wimbledon striker John Fashanu, has regretted cutting ties with his late elder brother, Justin, after the deceased admitted publicly that he was a guy.
Fashanu’s regret is coming on the heels of media reports that two Premier League players are preparing to come out as gay – which would make them the first British footballers to make the announcement while still playing at the top levels of the game.
Justin was the first black footballer to command a £1million transfer fee but in the twilight of his career came out to the press and openly confessed that he was a gay, and became the first and one of only two English professional footballers to be openly gay.
In the wake of his confession, people including members of his family turned on him, and after he was charged with sexual assault in the US, and fled to England, he committed suicide in 1998.
Recalling the incident, John Fashanus told Daily Mirror that he persuaded Justin not to make the startling revelation, and severed his relationship with him after he went ahead, adding that he regretted not standing by him.
He said: “I’ll never forget when Justin first told me. He called me in the evening time and said to me: ‘I’m gay’.
“Then he said to me: ‘I’m planning to go to a newspaper’. I said to him: ‘Oh heavens forbid… oh my God. We don’t need that. You’re mad’.
“He promised when I gave him the money he would not go out and say that. Two days later… bang… headlines in a newspaper. I looked like a sucker.
“For me and my family it was like Hiroshima or Nagasaki on our lives. It knocked us dead, it was a total shock.
“People might not like it, but I was trying to protect my family.
“You’ve got to remember the public’s perception of homosexuality at that time was that it was an abomination . It was taboo. Street boys were beating up gays in nightclubs.
“I give him credit for having the courage to come out and say it. But it caused a lot of confusion and animosity towards him, me, and my family.
“As a result of him saying what he said, my mother died because of the stress. She actually died a year later on the day of his birthday.
“She was already old, very fragile and suffering cancer.
“Then to be told her second eldest son was a homosexual was too much.”
However, with the benefit of hindsight, John said he was not fair to the deceased.
“I’ve never spoken about these things before because I was stamped a homophobe.
“But things have changed and I make it very clear: I was wrong. It was ignorance on my behalf.
“I didn’t understand him. I was trying to protect my family and I was worried about the effect on my career.
“In the process I lost my brother and I am very sad about that”.
Fashanu appealed to people not to victimize the two football stars rumoured to be preparing to come out as gay.
“If these young men feel it is the right time to come out and announce they are homosexual, please don’t anybody victimize them.
“Please be careful with words, don’t let it lead to the destruction of two men in their prime. I didn’t have that wisdom 20 years ago and it led to the destruction of my late brother Justin.
“We must accept them. I beg everybody not to make the same mistakes I made. Give them as much understanding as possible,” he advised.
Source: Daily Mirror
