The sports star also discussed
his battle with depression and near fatal suicide attempt.
Nathan Fort
says he decided to come out after surviving a suicide attempt and overcoming a
sexual assault.
The college
basketball player admitted that before coming to terms with his sexuality, he
had been homophobic and “hated” LGBT people.
He even said
that “gays had no meaning in the world”, however he says he knew deep down that
he was only trying to hide his true feelings.
After
struggling to suppress his true feelings, Fort considered taking his own life
by jumping from a cliff. In a cruel twist, as he walked away from the cliff’s
edge, he slipped and fell.
Despite his
near death experience, Fort says he felt stronger and brave enough to go his
first gay date.
However, the
meet up did not go as planned, after events took a sinister turn.
“We left the
club together, my heart beating fast, excited and nervous about what the night
might hold,” Fort wrote in Outsports.
“He drove and
we talked. It seemed like this was going to be my perfect first time with a
guy.
“It wasn’t. He
wrestled me out of the car. He sexually abused me. He drugged me. He raped me.
“He changed my
life. It’s a struggle to just write a few lines about it, but it’s part of who
I am now.”
“It’s important
to me to share this now because I know many other guys have been in similar
situations,” he explained.
The sports star
says the incident “forced back into the closet” and it took him a full year to
come to terms with what had happened.
Despite the
traumas he had experienced, Fort says he eventually gained the courage to come
out to his fellow teammates, friends and family.
He says he is
sharing his story to encourage others who might be struggling to come to
terms with their own sexuality.
“Don’t waste
your life being depressed like I did, to the point where that depression almost
takes away your life.
“Don’t let
anybody hold you back for what you want to do in life, because it’s your life,
not theirs.”
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