Craig Napier and Lloyd Wilson have become the first active Scottish male referees to publicly come out as gay.
Their respective announcements come just two-and-a-half weeks after Blackpool forward Jake Daniels became the first active British male footballer to publicly come out as gay since Justin Fashanu in 1990. The 17-year-old was applauded for his bravery by several high-profile figures including Prince William and Harry Kane.
Napier, 32, referees in the Scottish Premiership and took charge of 10 top-flight fixtures last season. He's been officiating in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) since the 2015-16 campaign. Wilson, 31, referees in the third and fourth tiers of the SPFL.
Napier revealed his sexuality in a brave interview with the Scottish FA on Thursday morning. "It's something that I never thought I'd be sitting here doing," said Napier. It's something I've obviously lived with for a long time. It's been a difficult journey to get to this point.
"It's really important that people like me are willing to sit here and do this. I don't think this needs to be a news story but I think at the moment, it really does because we need to see the climate change so that people do feel that they can be their true self and live happily and comfortable in their own skin. And then that needs to transcend into football."
Napier went on to say: "I've always felt so much lighter after speaking about it. This isn't a conversation about me, this is a conversation about trying to change the culture in Scottish football. There is something about football, there's still that barrier.
"Hopefully here in Scotland I can play a small part in hoping that it can inspire whoever is out there to be more comfortable in who they are and have the conversations with their family, their friends, their team-mates and come out publicly if they feel able to."
Wilson also publicly came out as gay on Thursday morning. "This has been a horrific journey to be honest," Wilson bravely admitted, as quoted by the Daily Mail. "A journey of maybe about 17 years of living a life that I didn't want to live, living a lie.
"Living the way that other people wanted me to live, or that I thought other people wanted me to live. Probably directed and dictated in many ways by football. The biggest worry for me was being judged differently from my colleagues who are not gay.
"I suppose being judged by fans for who I am off the field rather than who I am on it. At the end of the day I am a referee. I will get things right and I will get many things wrong, we all do because it's the nature of the job. But I want to be judged for the decisions I make on the pitch and not those that I make off.
"I feel doing this interview, that I must say I am petrified about, is absolutely crucial for not just my colleagues, but also my colleagues who are players and suffering this same battle and journey that I have suffered."
Napier admitted he was inspired by Daniels' brave admission. He also praised Josh Cavallo, who publicly came out as gay in October 2021 when there were no other openly gay male top-flight footballers. "It has been really inspiring to see what has happened recently with Josh Cavallo and Jake Daniels more recently," added Napier. "And I think many people will take inspiration from that."
