James Adcock has spoken about his experiences of being one of the few openly gay men involved in high-level football.
The experienced referee was speaking to coincide with National Coming Out Day.
The 37-year-old is the highest-level male official to speak publicly about his sexuality in English football, following Ryan Atkin who came out four years ago.
Adcock, who has taken charge of more than 500 matches in the Premier League and EFL, told the BBC : "As I was going from part-time to full-time in football, some knew and some didn't.
"Now all my colleagues know, and it's just the norm. And, to be honest, there's been interest from colleagues saying, 'I'm proud of you James, that you're able to be openly gay in sport,' because they know the barriers that are still in place.
"They're fully supportive and don't change the way they are around me or the way they speak to me because they thought I was a heterosexual guy, and now they find out I'm a gay guy.
"I don't need to wear a T-shirt saying: 'I'm James Adcock and I'm a gay guy.' People know and just accept it.
"I've not had any homophobic abuse thrown at me, and I can't tell you a story where I've had to combat or overcome that."
Adcock sympathises with those in his line of work who may be struggling to come to terms with their sexuality.
He added: "A lot of referees will think they can't come out because it's going to affect their progression within the sport.
"But you are not judged by your sexuality - and if you are confident enough in yourself, you're going to have every support from every colleague, and it's not going to affect you.
"To come out as gay or not come out as gay, you have to choose that as a person and not as a ref. But from the top level down, there's not an issue."
