Coming Out in Print

Award-winning actors, iconic rock stars, champion athletes, and controversial political figures — all have shared their coming-out stories with The Advocate.

BY Jeremy Kinser

August 23 2012 5:00 AM ET

Dave Kopay
Issue 185, March 10, 1976
The former NFL running back made national headlines when he came out in an interview for The Washington Star’s controversial “Homosexuality in Sports” series. He wrote an impactful memoir, The David Kopay Story, published in 1977, and he spoke with The Advocate about his plans for it. In 2006 he was a featured announcer at Gay Games VII in Chicago.

“I realize there are other people like me, younger people especially, who need to know the truth, to know that there are successful gay people in every walk of life, including the life of a pro athlete. It would have helped me to know others.”