Dennis Del Valle comes out as gay
‘I did not need the whole world to know I was gay.’
Dennis Del Valle, playing for a Swiss Team (Lausanne), opened up about his homosexuality in an interview with Swiss website 24 Heures.
He said he regretted not coming out at his teammates earlier and added: “Now is the time to speak up. There must be lots of young athletes who live in secret, in Switzerland and elsewhere. On my level, I’ve had a successful career being gay. I hope they will say to themselves: ‘Why not me?’ Maybe I could change someone’s life. Me speaking out could allow someone to gain confidence, to feel safer, to not stop playing sport for fear of rejection.”
When asked why he came out so late to his teammates he replied: “I especially didn’t want to break the chemistry of the team, that it could become weird in...