A Hampton University football player came out publicly as gay, a first for a football player at a historically Black college or university, according to Outsports.com, an LGBTQ sports news site. Byron Perkins, a Division I defensive back for the Hampton University Pirates, came out as gay in an Instagram story shared Wednesday. Perkins told Outsports that he’d like to help other gay Black men who are struggling with their sexuality. “There hasn’t been an out gay football athlete at an HBCU. “I’m sure the young man has heard his fair share of slurs from teammates unaware that he is gay.

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