“I have never hidden the fact that I am gay.” This statement is already a great demonstration of strength, because it comes from a well-known player, an icon of volleyball, who really made his entire sports career, even reaching Olympic gold, without ever hiding anything. This player now lands in Italy. The 26 year old Douglas Souza he is in Vibo Valentia for his first adventure away from Brazil.
He chose Italy because “it is the leading country of world volleyball and I realized that for my career it was the right time to test myself away from home”.
In Vibo Valentia, Tonno Callipo Volley, there are two other Brazilians, they will help him in the insertion. «I hope to evolve as a player and as a person. Growth that will come not only on the pitch, but also off the pitch, “he told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
He is not afraid of discrimination, even if a coming out in Italian men’s team sport has not yet arrived. “It is impossible for a homosexual person in 2021 not to suffer any kind of prejudice. If you have not suffered it is because you have not noticed. When I was in the youth academy and I was making my way to the national team, I heard people say: “Look, you have to hide. If you arrive in the Brazilian national team talking and walking like this, they cut you off, they send you away. They won’t want to know ”. Today they are proof that they were wrong. I never hid the fact that I was gay. Now, people got to know me thanks to the Olympics, and this gave me this great visibility ».
That there are others who have not come out to him is possible. «Not only in volleyball, but in any profession. Unfortunately, we know how the world can be violent and have prejudices about people’s sexuality ”. He lives with the fiancé and is ready to marry after the pandemic. He hopes to inspire other athletes to tell about themselves. “The volleyball player Douglas Souza is also a streamer, youtuber, influencer”. From 3 million followers.
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