The Edinburgh Napier graduate working to shift attitudes and build greater acceptance within the sporting world.
Zander Murray was the first openly gay player in the Scottish Professional Football League. His journey led him to become a passionate role model to empower young people in sport to be their true authentic selves.
“I want to support all young LGBT+ sports people to feel that sport is a place where they can thrive,” Zander comments. “Unfortunately, I struggled for years feeling that my life in football and my sexuality could not coexist. Keeping it hidden, and the personal struggle that brought, resulted in many missed opportunities for me.”
Now, Zander’s courage and authenticity serve as an inspiration for LGBTQ+ athletes who might be struggling with their identity or experiencing discrimination. “I use my own experience in the game to bring a player’s perspective to my outreach, and that’s still fairly unique,” he explains. Homophobia and negative language, on and off the football field, had a massive impact on Zander and he shares his story with young players to empower them: “I want to enable them to stand up to homophobia. But I also want everyone to learn how to recognise language and behaviour that is likely to make their teammates uncomfortable if they are struggling
with their sexuality.”
When Zander announced he was gay, he was one of only seven players out of 130,000 in the UK to do so. “It took me nearly a year and a half from when I came out to my family to actually tell the football community,” he comments. That was in September 2022 while playing for Scottish club Gala Fairydean Rovers where he had proved himself a talented player, scoring 100+ goals and holding the club record for
the number of goals scored in one season. “I had no idea the impact my story would have. I’ve since received thousands of messages from people who connected with my struggle, which has led me to what I’m doing now.”
Working with football clubs, schools and colleges, Zander gives talks and runs workshops, engaging a wide range of young people from primary school pupils to aspiring teenage footballers. He has been heavily involved with integrating Football vs Homophobia Scotland’s work with the Scottish Football Association’s (SFA) activities and working with the LGBT charity Time for Inclusive Education (TIE).
“I spin a number of plates,” Zander explains, “including corporate work where I give keynote speeches and host events for example, all sorts of media work, and collaboration with organisations like Police Scotland and the Scottish Government on their campaigns. I’ve also been delighted to speak at and lead out at PRIDE events.” He’s also been involved in a number of important documentaries, as well as producing one of his own, Disclosure: Out on the Pitch, for the BBC. Most recently, he featured in Amazon Prime’s docu-series ‘Dare to Defy’, led by Paralympian Richard Whitehead and broadcaster Adele Roberts, which explores the stereotypes and barriers that under-represented communities face in sport. “It was a pinch me moment to be part of this!” Zander comments.
Being an ambassador for the Gay Games, held in Hong Kong in 2023, was also a seminal moment: “To be part of this was history making,” he comments. The world’s largest LGBTQ+ sports and culture event, it was the first time the Games were held in Asia. “I was asked to give a keynote speech to corporate and organisational leaders in Hong Kong at a diversity conference in June. Then in November I spoke at the annual Out Leadership Asia Summit. While at the Games I had so many amazing interactions. Among the athletes was an LGBTQ-inclusive football team from Central Cambodia who were in tears meeting me – they have experienced so much abuse, so that was particularly special.”
What really matters to Zander, whether he’s on an international or local platform, is to make a difference: “It’s always going to be difficult work; I still get my fair share of abuse online, and I’m hyper aware that challenging attitudes comes with a potential backlash. But the feedback I get from young people telling me that I’ve helped them to cope, face their fears, and to be themselves, drives me on.”
Reflecting on his time at Edinburgh Napier, Zander sees it as a formative time: “While studying I took up sport again, joining the men’s football team – I’d had to give it up after suffering an injury at age 19 which was very hard as football was my life and soul.
Looking to the future, he is working towards creating his own organisation: “It’s incredible to be a voice and give power to this community. I want to keep building on what I’ve achieved and keep challenging homophobia, particularly in the men’s game: there’s still a huge gap in aspirations for acceptance and the reality. My hope is that we can get to a place where an individual’s sexuality is completely beside the point in relation to their sport, and where future generations of LGBTQ+ athletes are out and visible without fear of any negative reactions.
Alumni Awards
Zander was honoured with an Impact Award at the 2024 Edinburgh Napier Alumni Awards for his influential work as LGBTQ+ ambassador. Click on the images below to learn more about the Alumni Awards and the winners of the 2024 edition.
Photography credit: Euan Myles, Gordon Marino