Coronation Street’s storyline about gay footballer James Bailey will come to a head this week, as James is forced to confront his sexuality after rumours start to spread on social media.
The plot has also seen James clash with his father Ed (Trevor Michael Georges) over his views on homosexuality, as well as share a kiss with newcomer Danny (Dylan Brady).
Actor Nathan Graham, who plays James, has received praise from Coronation Street fans for his sensitive portrayal of a vastly underrepresented topic.
Graham is now hoping the storyline will be helpful to other young LGBT+ individuals in sport and encourage them to come out.
“I think as long as it helps somebody that might be going through the struggle of telling their family or if they are a young footballer who watches the show," Graham told BBC’s Newsbeat.
“They might see it and think 'okay, you know, I can do this. Maybe I could be the first player to come out in this era'."
There are currently no openly gay players in UK football, so to research the storyline, Graham spent time on set with rugby league player Keegan Hirst – who came out as gay in 2015 – to make sure his portrayal was accurate.
Justin Fashanu was the first male English footballer to come out as gay in 1990. He died by suicide in 1998.
While Graham acknowledges the world has become more liberal in its attitudes since then, he believes far more needs to be done in the world of sport
“It is important because it is clearly an issue as there is no one currently playing professional football who is openly gay," Graham explained to The Sun.
“After talking to Keegan Hirst, I can see that in football, homophobia is not seen as being on the same level as racism so it is good to spark that conversation and then hopefully it will educate people that discrimination is discrimination no matter what it is; race, religion, sexuality."
“If a sportsperson is gay, it doesn’t take away from their ability and with any type of discrimination, until people are educated then nothing will change."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV
