Arts & Entertainment
Southampton FC exec and GW alum shares coming out story
Hugo Scheckter came out and then went back in the closet
Hugo Scheckter, Southampton Football Club’s player/team liaison officer, publicly revealed his sexuality on National Coming Out Day in 2016. In a profile for The Times, the George Washington University alum shared how his road to transparency wasn’t an easy one.
On Oct. 11, 2016, Scheckter tweeted that he was finally ready to be an out member in football (soccer).
In honour of #NationalComingOutDay, I want to confirm something I’ve never mentioned publicly but am so proud to now do so: I’m gay. ??️?
— Hugo Scheckter (@HugoScheckter) October 11, 2016
As cliched as it sounds, it really does get better when you come out and I genuinely couldn’t be happier to have done so at this moment!
— Hugo Scheckter (@HugoScheckter) October 11, 2016
Atlanta-born Scheckter, 26, attended boarding school in England where he says he never learned about being gay “as a concept.” Once he figured out his identity, he decided to tell his family and friends.
“I went to boarding school here, where homosexuality is never talked about. So I didn’t really even understand it as a concept. It took until I was 21 to realize. That was a lightbulb moment, so I made a list of 20 people I wanted to tell in person and the rest I just stuck on Facebook. I told my parents over the phone,” Scheckter says.
In college, Scheckter attended George Washington University and served as the head club soccer coach. He decided to come out to his team because the school was an accepting place.
“Part of coming out was coming out to my team as I was coaching at the George Washington University. It was a very progressive place so it wasn’t an issue. We had three openly gay players in the starting XI. Then I went to my first club in Indiana, where it was not a very liberal state, though the club was. So I was half in, half out. Some knew,” Scheckter went on.
When Scheckter accepted the position at Southampton Football Club, he chose to go back in the closet. Worried that coming out would hinder his opportunity, he didn’t share that part of his life with the team.
After two years, Scheckter realized he had to be open with his team in the same way they were open with him. He says their responses were positive from the adults to the younger members.
“I thought I’d get silly responses from the 12 to 18-year-olds but they were so supportive,” Scheckter says.
Overall, Scheckter wants to normalize gay players and let other people struggling with coming out feel supported.
“We just have to stop the witch-hunt of trying to find a gay footballer and create an environment where someone can feel supported and comfortable,” Scheckter says. “Having role models in the sport is really important. I’m down the pecking order, but I’ve had fans get in touch asking to talk about coming out as they don’t know any other gay people. If I can help in any way, then great. I want to show football is a good place where gay slurs aren’t thrown around any more.”
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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