Find out how this high school sportsman came out at prom

A high school sportsman recently came out as gay by slow dancing with the school’s homecoming king at prom.

Michael Martin, 18, shared his experience in a blog for Outsports, explaining that it was a “weird feeling” to be fully open about his sexuality for the first time.

Michael (left) with his boyfriend Jem

He wrote: “I am an 18-year-old senior all-state high school soccer goalie for Musselman High School in West Virginia. I also have been on the school’s football, tennis and swim teams. And I am openly gay. Growing up in rural West Virginia, it’s not the easiest place to be a gay teenager and it took me a long time to come out to myself and others.”

Michael attended the prom of his love interest, Jem, with a female friend, but the pair decided to take to the dancefloor together when a Taylor Swift song came on.

“There we were, Jem and I, on an October night this fall, slow dancing with each other. We attend schools in different counties and met through friends and I was thrilled that he asked me to his dance so we could be together,” Michael said.

“He was wearing his gray vest and pink bow tie while I had on my black shirt with a gold tie. We danced to Love Story by Taylor Swift, which was a perfect song for my first dance with a guy.”

He went on to add: “After the dance we went to his house. That is where I asked him to be my boyfriend. I posed the question by writing it on the dry erase board on his wall. He quickly said yes.”

Martin added that his sporting hero, footballer Robbie Rogers, was the inspiration behind his decision to open up about his sexuality.

“My soccer hero and the man who inspired me to come out is Robbie Rogers of the Los Angeles Galaxy,” he said. “I loved how he announced he was gay and did not quit playing soccer. He gave me hope and confidence to be true to myself.”

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