Hampton defensive back Byron Perkins made history Wednesday by becoming the first football player at an HBCU to come out as gay. Perkins, a redshirt junior from Chicago, made the announcement on his Instagram account story, saying that it was time to “stop running away.”
“I’ve decided that I’m going to make change, and stop running away from myself. I’m gay,” Perkins wrote. “Let it be known that this is not a ‘decision’ or a ‘choice.’ Yes, this is who I am, this is who I’ve been, and this is who I’m going to be.”
In an interview with Cyd Ziegler of Outsports, Perkins said that before making his announcement, he felt something had been missing from his life.