Scottish referee comes out as gay

Referee Craig Napier has come out as gay in a bid to change the culture in Scottish football.

Napier becomes the first male openly gay figure on Scottish football pitches since Justin Fashanu, who played for Airdrie and Hearts in the mid-1990s several years after announcing his sexuality.

In a video on the Scottish Football Association Twitter account, category one referee Napier said: "We need to see the climate change so that people do feel that they can be their true self and live happily and comfortably in their own skin, and that needs to then transcend into football."

"We need to see the climate change so that people feel they can be their true self and live happily and comfortably in their own skin." An important conversation with Category One referee Craig Napier. pic.twitter.com/bYygya2k23

Napier was quickly followed by fellow referee Lloyd Wilson.

Wilson, who referees in Scotland's lower leagues, talked about his sexuality in a video on the YouTube channel of mental health charity Back Onside.

When asked why he was speaking publicly now, Wilson said: "I think really the reason being that this has been a horrific journey, to be honest.

"A journey of maybe 17 years of living a life that I didn't want to live, living a lie, living the way that other people maybe wanted me to live or that I thought other people wanted me to live. And probably dictated and directed in many ways by football."

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