Out high school
football player dies in car crash

Anthony Castro, a Southern California teen who came out to his high school football and wrestling teams, was killed in a car crash over the weekend, OutSports.com reports. Castro was 19.

"Anthony was that rarest of people--an athlete out to his team," wrote Jim Buzinski of Outsports.com. "In Anthony's case, he was out in high school to his football and wrestling teams, our two most macho team sports. It took guts to take such a step, but Anthony never thought too much about it. He was not ashamed of who he was, and if you were uncomfortable, that was your problem."

Castro was a student in Banning, a conservative inland town about two hours east of Los Angeles. According to Buzinski, Castro had been rejected by his mother and wound up living with a legal guardian. Football, he said, was always a refuge for him. He played in a tournament at the Gay Games in Chicago where "he caught the go-ahead touchdown in the gold medal game and added an interception in the end zone to boot," Buzinski wrote. "Watching Anthony receive his gold medal from teammate Esera Tuaolo gave me goose bumps; two out jocks, separated by a generation but bonded nonetheless." (The Advocate)