It's been a long, hard battle for gay athletes in professional sports. There have been years of constant progress when it comes to gay rights issues and representation in wider society, but it has sometimes felt like sport has been slow to catch up. Even now, gay people seem under-represented.
There are signs of progress in more recent years, though. It used to be the case that gay people waited until they'd retired from sport to come out as gay. They feared the reaction they'd get from press and fans and didn't want their sexuality to distract from their careers.
Nowadays, we're slowly seeing more professional athletes feeling comfortable enough to publicly live as they really are while they're still playing. Hopefully, they'll inspire others to come out, too. From Billie Jean King's announcement in back in 1981 through to the present day, here are fifty proudly gay professional sportspeople.
