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Matildas star Chloe Logarzo is proudly gay – and she won’t let the haters force her to hide who she really is.
The 27-year-old striker, who has represented Australia more than 50 times at senior level and played in top leagues around the world, is used to nasty comments both online and in person.
And that’s exactly why it’s so important that one of the country’s top female soccer players refuses to hide how she happily attacks life alongside fiancé McKenzie Berryhill, with whom she played in the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the launch of the A-League Women’s season, in which she will play for new expansion squad Western United, Logarzo said she’s not pushing agendas – she’s just being true to herself.
Matildas star Chloe Logarzo (left, pictured with fiancé McKenzie Berryhill) told Daily Mail Australia she just wanted to live her life as an open and proud gay person and be a role model for young gay people
Chloe Logarzo, who plays for Western United in this season’s A-League Women’s, also represented the Matildas this week
“I grew up not knowing anyone who was gay, literally not a single soul, even though they clearly existed. I had no way of expressing my true self and I felt like I was on my own,” she said of her upbringing in Sydney in the late 90s and early 2000s.
“I don’t want to share a lawyer in a way that I force it on people. I just live my life without lying about it to people because I don’t want to hide who I really am.
“If you want to be offended by something, you can be offended, but that’s up to you and it’s your choice — it’s not a reflection of me.
“I just live my life and keep a positive attitude… (and) bring back into the world what I would like to see.”
After beginning her professional career with Sydney FC in 2011, Logarzo has spent a lot of time playing in the NWSL, Sweden, Norway and the English Super League, enjoying everything life has to offer.
Chloe Logarzo (left) and fiancee McKenzie Berryhill (right) travel the world as part of Logarzo’s professional soccer career
Unfortunately, despite being so comfortable in her skin now and trying to be a role model for the next generation, it wasn’t always that easy.
“When I was 17, I came out as gay to my parents. They were a bit stunned and showed no emotion anyway,” Logarzo wrote for the The voice of an athlete in 2018.
“That wasn’t good enough for me. I assumed they didn’t approve, when all they were really trying to do – as I only realized much later – was take the initial shock and process what I had told them.
“Some of my other friends didn’t immediately take my news and I said to myself, ‘I’ll just get rid of you guys.’
The tiny forward represented Football Australia and the A-Leagues at Mardi Gras earlier this year, and she’s clearly fully aware of what her LGBTQI+ advocacy can mean for young girls. It is nothing less than a life saver.
Chloe Logarzo marched in the 2022 Mardi Gras at the SCG on behalf of Football Australia and the A-Leagues
“I wish I (LGBTQI+) had role models who could be here and experience this and know that you are loved and united,” she said after marching around the SCG.
“When you’re out there feeling lonely, know that you are accepted and loved. There are people who want you to be loved, to feel safe and supported.”
Unfortunately, gay men and women often do not feel safe and supported. The 2021 Australian LGBTIQ+ Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Report found that young people aged 16-27 were five times more likely to attempt suicide than straight people.
Chloe Logarzo (left) announced that her longtime partner McKenzie Berryhill had said yes to her marriage proposal in August 2021
When ‘Manly Seven’ member Josh Aloiai recently called homosexuality a ‘lifestyle choice’, something Logarzo told Daily Mail Australia was ‘horribly offensive’, many were met with a deluge of social media abuse for daring to speak out .
Logarzo said the amount of messages she’s received saying she’s saved someone’s life, or made someone finally feel comfortable with their sexuality is all worth it.
“The number of DMs I get in my Instagram inbox asking me how did you know (you were gay), what did you do, all that stuff, is amazing,” she said.
“I never had anything like that growing up, so it’s really special to be able to give back and be that person to young girls in particular.”
NBL star Isaac Humphries came out as gay on Wednesday in an emotional video of the Melbourne United player speaking to teammates
It’s a sentiment that has become even more important in recent days, with NBL star Isaac Humphries coming out as gay in an emotional speech to his teammates.
“It’s a truth about myself that I’ve wanted to deny for a long time, but now I feel comfortable telling you all. That truth is I’m gay,” he said in the video released Wednesday.
“I went through extremely dark times on this journey, but I’ve had so much growth and I’m happy with who I am now.
“I believe it’s definitely time to make a change and be an example to the next generation that they can be anything they want while staying true to themselves.”
Humphries, who plays for Melbourne United, is just the second active male player in one of Australia’s top sports leagues to come out as gay, alongside A-League player Josh Cavallo.
“I just want to play football and be treated equally,” Cavallo said in an emotional coming-out video last October.
A fairly simple request, but ignored by far too many people, including Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman, a former Qatari international, who called homosexuality “a damage to the mind.”
The treatment of LGBTQI+ people and athletes has certainly come under scrutiny as the upcoming World Cup takes place in oppressive Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal and those engaging in same-sex sexual intercourse face up to seven years in prison.
Fortunately, players like German superstar Leon Goretzka, despite the risk they run, make it clear that anti-gay sentiment is not okay.
“That’s not what we (German players) want to stand for and what we don’t stand for,” he said in response to Salman’s “damaged mind” comments.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to make such a statement. It’s very oppressive.
“This is an image of a man who comes from another millennium. It leaves you speechless that something like that could be said by a World Cup ambassador shortly before a World Cup,” said an irate Goretzka.
German superstar Leon Goretzka has condemned the anti-gay statements of a Qatar World Cup ambassador who called homosexuals ‘damaged minds’
Angie Greene, CEO of Stand Up Events, a non-profit association dedicated to combating homophobia, particularly in sports, said that while things are moving in the right direction, more needs to be done.
“In terms of when we talk about governing bodies like the AFL, Tennis Australia, NBL, he’s the first in Australia and the second in the entire world and we’re talking about 2022,” she said on KIIS 101.1 Thursday morning.
“We’ve done research with Monash University and the statistics are absolutely terrifying. There’s still 50 percent of gay youth who deliberately self-exclude themselves from male-dominated sports because they don’t feel safe or involved, so providing this visibility is huge.”
Logarzo’s Western United will play their first ever blockbuster game against reigning champions Melbourne Victory on Saturday afternoon, while the World Cup kicks off at 3am Monday (AEDT) with a match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador.