Marcus Urban(born 4 August 1971, earlierMarcus Schneider[3]) is a former Germanfootball player.He played with the East Germany national youth football team and in thesecond divisionclubRot-Weiß Erfurtin the 1980s and early 1990s. Several years afterwards hecame outas agay man.He has spoken publicly about the difficulties that gay footballers experience, and he is now a spokesperson and campaigner on diversity issues in sport and the workplace.[3][1]
Marcus Urban | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Marcus Urban in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 August 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Marcus Schneider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Bauhaus-Universität, Weimar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Diversity adviser; life coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organization(s) | FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt;Verein für Vielfalt in Sport und Gesellschaft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Football player; spokesperson for LGBT issues | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As a child, he took on his step-father's surname, Schneider, but as an adult he changed it back to his mother's maiden name.[4]
In 2008, the sports journalist Ronny Blaschke published an authorised biography of Urban. This is titledVersteckspieler: Die Geschichte des schwulen Fußballers Marcus Urban('Hidden Player: the story of the gay footballer Marcus Urban')[4][5]
Life
editUrban was born and grew up in the city ofWeimar,which was then in theGerman Democratic Republic(East Germany). From 1984, when he was 13, until 1991 he attended a boardingsports schoolin the nearby city ofErfurt,support by the 2nd division Bundesliga club FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt (Erfurt city football club; Red and White are the club colours). Such schools were widely used in the formerEastern bloccountries. He trained with East German world sports champions and olympic medal winners. He played for the East German national youth football team from 1986 to 1989, moving through each age class.[4][2]
In 1990, he was given an amateur contract to play for Rot-Weiß Erfurt. He played against future players of the German national team such asBernd Schneider,Thomas Linke,Steffen FreundandFrank Rost.[3][2]He was about to become a professional football player, but in 1991, he decided to quit due to the pressure of having to hide his homosexuality from the football world.[6]
In 1991, he began studies in urban and regional planning atBauhaus-Universitätin Weimar, graduating in 2000 with a master's degree in engineering, specialising in renewable energy.[4]During this time, he spent a semester atUniversità degli Studi di Napoli Federico IIinNaples.He undertook hiscivilian serviceyear in 1997, working for an organisation that provided special therapies for disabled children based on theatre, music and art.[4][2]
Urban came out to family and friends in 1994, but it was not until 13 years later, in 2007, that he publicly came out in an interview with the newspaperWelt am Sonntagin which he spoke about the difficulties of gay football players.[6]A year later, his biography was published.[5]Grand Hotel Pictures, a Berlin film production company, started developing a film based on the book in 2009, but as at July 2017, nothing had been released.[7][4]
Today, he is an adviser ondiversityissues and also works as a life coach with individuals and organisations, specialising in the areas of self-confidence, diversity and intercultural skills. He makes appearances on TV, radio and in print media, discussing his experiences as a gay man in sport, and his work in this area. Urban advises theDeutscher Olympischer Sportbund,(German Olympic Sports Confederation) and the Sports Committee of the German Federal Parliament, as well as businesses and non-profit institutions.[8][9]
Urban is on the management team of theVerein für Vielfalt in Sport und Gesellschaft('Association for Diversity in Sport and Business').[10]In March 2010 he co-founded the diversity expertise networkFußball für Vielfalt('Football for Diversity'), originally calledFußball gegen Homophobie.This is a project of thede:Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld('Federal Foundation of Magnus Hirschfield'), an organisation that aims to carry on the work of the pioneering social scientistMagnus Hirschfeld(1868-1935), researchingLGBTissues and seeking to prevent social discrimination against the LGBT community in Germany.[6][11]
As at May 2017, Marcus Urban lives in Berlin with his partner. He plays football in the over 40s team forHertha BSC.[6]
Further reading
edit- Beasley, Neil (2016)Football's Coming Out: Life as a Gay Fan and Player.[London]: Floodlit Dreams Ltd.ISBN978-0992658564
- Blaschke, Ronny (2008)Versteckspieler: Die Geschichte des schwulen Fußballers Marcus Urban.Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt.ISBN978-3895336119
- Leibfried, Dirk; Erb, Andreas (2011)Das Schweigen der Männer: Homosexualität im deutschen Fußball.Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt.ISBN978-3895338151
- Magrath, Rory (2016)Inclusive Masculinities in Contemporary Football: Men in the Beautiful Game.Abingdon: Routledge.ISBN978-1138653610
- Rohlwing, Christoph(2015)Homosexualität im deutschen Profifußball: Schwulenfreie Zone Fußballplatz?.Baden-Baden: Tectum-Verlag.ISBN978-3828835962
- Walther-Ahrens, Tanja (2011)Seitenwechsel: Coming-Out im Fußball.Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus.ISBN978-3579066998
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abBogena, Kai-niels (11 November 2007)Schwule Fußballer haben Angstin Welt N24. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^abcdefMarcus Urban websiteArchived2017-11-08 at theWayback Machine.Retrieved 17 July 2017
- ^abcKirbach, Roland (21 June 2007)Schwulsein heute - ganz normal?inDie Zeit.Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^abcdefBlaschke, Ronny (2008)Versteckspieler: Die Geschichte des schwulen Fußballers Marcus Urban.Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt
- ^abSchall, Tobias (3 November 2008)Ich dachte: als Kicker ist man nicht schwulin Stuttgarter Zeitung (archived 9 November 2012). Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^abcdEhrlich, Betting; Schirmer, Lisa (12 May 2017)Fußball-Star Marcus Urban im Thüringen Talk Schluss mit den VersteckspielenArchived2017-06-29 at theWayback Machineon Antenne Thüringen website. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^German gay footballer to get biopic treatmentin Pink News, 9 February 2009.Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^DOSB Expertinnen-Datenbank.Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^"Homophobie ist im Sport noch stark ausgeprägt".Deutscher Bundestag Dokument, 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2017
- ^Verein für Vielfalt in Sport und Gesellschaft.Retrieved 18 July 2017
- ^Fußball für Vielfalt website.Retrieved 16 July 2017.
External links
edit- The story of Marcus Urban, a gay soccer player in DDR(YouTube 8:00 min) (An Italian Television report, in Italian)