Darren Young shocked a TMZ cameraman when he announced that he is gay. TMZ caught up with the WWE superstar at LAX and asked him whether a gay wrestler could be successful in the WWE. Young laughed and said of course.
"Absolutely. Look at me. I'm a WWE superstar and to be honest with you, I'll tell you right now, I'm gay," Young said. "And I'm happy, I'm very happy."
The cameraman, clearly shocked, commended the wrestler for revealing his sexuality and asked him if he was worried how other people would take the news.
"I don't think it matters. Does it matter?" he said. "Does it matter to you? Does it change what you think about me?" he continued. "To be honest with you, I'm happy with myself. Some people might not like it, some people will like it but I'm here to please myself. I'm here to be happy. It's very important I'm happy with myself."
TMZ reports that the 33-year-old is the first openly gay wrestler in WWE's history but there has been two other wrestlers who have come out as gay.
According to Newsday, in 2006 Chris Kanyon revealed that he was gay two years after being released by the WWE. His experiences as a closeted gay wrestler was chronicled in the book "Wrestling Reality: The Life and Mind of Chris Kanyon, Wrestling's Gay Superstar" written by Ryan Clark.
The book was released in 2011 the same year Kanyon was found dead in his New York City apaprtmenr from an apparent suicide. Red Alert Live reports that wrestler Orlando Jordan "began portraying a bisexual character" which was based on his real life.
Young has already received a tremendous amount of support. The organization released a statement saying that they were proud of Young.
"We will continue to support him as a WWE Superstar," a rep for the organization told TMZ. "Today, in fact, Darren will be participating in one of our Be A Star anti-bullying rallies in Los Angeles to teach children how to create positive environments for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation."
Current champion John Cena also weighed in on it saying that he has a brother who is gay and understands how tough it can be to come out.
"Oh wonderful," Cena said. "I know Darren personally. Darren's a great guy. That's a very bold move for him. And congratulations for him for actually finally doing it."
