Hockey player comes out

Champion Victorian hockey goalkeeper Gus Johnston has publicly come out via a brave and emotional YouTube video, just months after his retirement.

Titled â┚¬Å”The Reality of Homophobia in Sport,â┚¬Â the video has prompted a surge of new media interest about exactly what the landscape is for LGBT people.

Johnston's filmed revelation comes just months after the elite player's official retirement from hockey. In it, he says that retiring from the sport freed him from the pressures of being a professional athlete and helped him realize the bigger pictureâ┚¬â€that hockey players aren't just athletes, they are people.

â┚¬Å”That perspective has motivated me to share my story, because I see such great value in how it might potentially help people,â┚¬Â he says in the video. â┚¬Å”It's really important for me to send a message to everyone else, to let them know that what they perceive to be or think of as harmless or iniquitous, really hurtsâ┚¬Â¦ and it contributed an incredible amount of pain and hardship to my life.â┚¬Â

He continues to say that when someone is 25, they are afraid, lonely and with very few resources.

â┚¬Å”And you feel like there's no escape from that,â┚¬Â he added. â┚¬Å”For a long time, there would barely be a week that would go by where I wouldn't contemplate taking my own life.â┚¬Â

Johnston goes on to explain that he feels society's expectation that young people can easily navigate and overcome the wall of discrimination during a key moment in their lives where they are discovering their identity, is unrealistic, when at the age of 30 he feels he's only coming to terms with it now.

Johnston said that it's not surprising to find a high level of discrimination and homophobia ingrained in society when governments actively discriminate against gay and lesbian people in law, and its leaders are reinforcing that message.

The hockey star now joins a very small elite number of publically out Australian athletes that include Matthew Mitcham, Daniel Kowalski (retired) and Ian Roberts (retired).

Hockey Victoria has weighed in on Johnston's video, congratulating him on his â┚¬Å”selfless act of courageâ┚¬Â and highlighting the work of the Fair Go, Sport project, set up to better understand and respond to the challenges faced by LGBT people who play mainstream sports.