LA Galaxy winger Robbie Rogers says he
knew he was gay in his early teens.
The 26-year-old Rogers debuted last
year with the LA Galaxy after coming out gay and announcing his
retirement from soccer.
In a CNN profile, Rogers said that he
was always sensitive to gay slurs.
“I would say, for sure, I knew I was
[gay] when I was about 13, 14,” Rogers said. “But I realize,
thinking back to my past, that I was always very sensitive to the
word homo, fag, gay, anything like that. You know, it really turned
me the wrong way and I always knew it was an offensive word. I just
didn't like that word. So, I must have known when I was younger than
that. I must have known when I was really young. But I would say
eighth grade, ninth grade was when I really realized like, 'OK, this
is going to be tough.'”
(Related: Thomas
Hitzlsperger, German soccer star, comes out gay.)