Sport

‘Superstar’ footballer Darcy Vescio comes out as non-binary, prompting wave of love and support

Darcy Vescio is the seconf Australian footballer to come out as non-binary

Darcy Vescio said sharing that they’re non-binary ‘brings me a lot of warmth and happiness’. (Twitter/DarcyVee)

Top Australian footballer Darcy Vescio has come out as non-binary and changed their pronouns to they and them.

“Just popping in to let you know that I am non-binary,” Vescio shared in a lighthearted post on Twitter on 29 December, adding a rainbow emoji.

They continued: “Sharing this feels a bit daunting but brings me a lot of warmth and happiness.

“I am most comfortable with they/them pronouns and will always respond to Darcy unless in trouble. Thank you for reading.”

Darcy Vescio, 28, was the Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) leading goal scorer in 2021 and plays for Carlton Football Club, a team in Melbourne.

They are the second AFLW player to come out as non-binary after Tori Groves-Little, who plays for the Gold Coast, announced their pronouns and gender in an October Instagram post.

The online reaction to Vescio’s news has been largely positive, with more than 8,000 people liking their post and dozens of people on Twitter congratulating them. “Go you for being your authentic self and may you keep kicking goals of all sorts,” said one Twitter user.

“You are a superstar. I’m glad you’ve found your authentic self & feel safe & strong enough to live it!!” said another.

Non-binary player Darcy Vescio follows in footsteps of out gay Australian player Josh Cavallo

Australian football player Darcy Vescio has come out as non-binary soon after Josh Cavallo, 21, came out as gay on social media on 27 October, becoming the only active gay male top-tier professional football player in the world.

Cavallo thanked another gay football player for helping him to come out, saying that his friendship with Thomas Beattie, a former English footballer who came out after retirement, inspired him to come out and help other young queer people struggling.

“He has worked closely with me, and he said to me: ‘Josh, you can have both, you can change the world, you can do this’ and he opened my eyes to doing this,” Cavallo said.

Cavallo also infamously clapped back at the anti-trans charity LGB Alliance soon after coming out – after the group tweeted him “applauding his courage” for coming out, Cavallo simply responded with the hashtag “LGB with the T”, showing his unequivocal support for his trans siblings.

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