One of the region’s most historic institutions of higher learning will soon be experiencing a historic transition. He grew up in Chicago and went to De La Salle High School, where he played offense, defense and special teams.Hampton University’s William Harvey is one of the longest serving college presidents in the country. Perkins was previously on the Purdue Boilermakers football team before transferring to Hampton. I just want to be better than the man I was the day before, and I want to help people.” “You can be gay and be religious,” he said via phone shortly after Wednesday’s practice. He himself is a devout Christian, including #ThankYouGod on his coming-out post. Perkins also understands that religion may play a role in people’s perspectives. I want people to know they can be themselves. I want to end the stigma of what people think. There hasn’t been an out gay football athlete at an HBCU. “Especially at an HBCU, young Black gay men need an outlet,” he said. “It’s about that kid who’s going to see this and think he can be himself too.” Perkins said he understands some people may not fully understand him being gay, but he primarily wants to help other gay Black men who are struggling, particularly at an Historically Black University. His coaches, he said, have supported him. He told Outsports that the reception from his team has been “very good,” but also a bit mixed. In six games so far this season, he’s recorded 16 tackles, two deflected passes and one interception. Perkins is a junior defensive back for the 4-2 Pirates, meaning he’ll now play one-and-a-half seasons as an out football player. You have all helped me in the process of building the young man I am today. Today, I am destroying that mask.įor the friends and family that have known and supported me to this point, thank you, and for the friends and family that I will lose. This is not because I am an angry person, but because I have put on a mask, a mask that has restricted me. I have been told on many occasions that I walk around a look as if I’m upset. No one should have to live a life crippled by what society thinks. I have come to understand that life is precious and I could be gone at any moment, therefore, I will no longer be living a lie. In the rest of Perkins’ coming-out Instagram story, he talked about removing the mask he has worn for too long, and his love for people in his life, whether they can accept this or not: He has come out as gay in hopes of helping others. Byron Perkins is a leader on the Hampton Pirates football team. Other gay Division I football players have been out during their college careers - Scott Frantz at Kansas State and Arizona’s My-King Johnson - in addition to various other gay college football players. Perkins is the first gay football player to come out publicly at an HBCU. The conference currently includes 13 football teams from Maine to South Carolina. Hampton is an Historically Black University that competes in the Colonial Athletic Association, a Division I FCS conference made up, in part, of former Atlantic 10 schools. “I’m gay, let it be known that this is not a ‘decision’ or a ‘choice.’ Yes, this is who I am, this is who I’ve been, and this is who I’m going to be. “I’ve decided that I’m going to make a change, and stop running away from myself,” Perkins wrote on Instagram. Today he came out publicly as gay in a powerful message of love for everyone in his life. And recently I’ve been able to figure out that I haven’t been fully happy because everyone didn’t know who I was. “I thought it could be just football and school, but there was a component missing. “I’ve been self-reflective and trying to prioritize what makes me happy and makes me feel alive,” he said. Over the last month, he had realized that being in the closet as a gay man was eating at him. He wasn’t being authentic to himself and it was causing pressure in his life, he told Outsports. Byron Perkins, a defensive back for the Hampton University Pirates, was in a dark spot a month ago.
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