The 27-year-old Frenchman Jérémy “Eika” Valdenaire came out as gay on December 27th. He is a professional in League of Legends. He says it is a daunting step because in the e-sports scene of LoL, one still hears homophobic remarks – but that is exactly why he feels this step is necessary.
Who is Eika?
- Eika is a veteran of the French scene in League of Legends, having played for as many as 12 teams since 2014.
- He was also on Schalke for 2 months and competed for Immortals, a US team, in the LCS in 2019/2020.
- Currently, he plays in the mid lane for the newly founded “Gentle Mates”, a team in the strong French league LFL. The famous Twitch streamer Gotaga is one of the owners of the team.
Regional e-sports teams are experiencing a surge in LoL. In Germany, Eintracht Spandau is a pioneer:
“It feels like a victory over myself”
This is his coming out: One day after Christmas, on December 27th, Eika wrote on Twitter that he wants to identify as a gay man. As a professional player, it is somewhat daunting to be the person you are because you still hear homophobic remarks.
But that is why he is writing this: He does it for himself and for all the people who can relate to it. He says: Please don’t be so hard on yourselves.
If you feel like you have to lie to people and think you have to forgo the feeling of being happy and being yourself, it will negatively affect your private life and your athletic performance.
The 27-year-old says it is naive to believe that just because he comes out, all the negative thoughts swirling in his head will disappear, but it is a step in the right direction. He feels as if he has won a battle against himself. It took him a long time to accept himself as he is.
“Respect” and “courage” are the dominant terms in the comments
What are the reactions? The post on Twitter is making waves: It has been viewed 2.1 million times, has nearly 20,000 likes, 2,000 retweets, and 1,220 comments.
The comments are respectful and express support: One can read between the lines that everyone understands what kind of courage it takes to come out in the competitive scene of LoL, where one will hear some tasteless remarks from the perceived anonymity of social media.
The two key words in the comments are “respect” and also “courage”. Many post a heart.
In 2022, Biofrost, a famous and very successful US professional, came out:
LoL: 4-time champion comes out – “In almost every team, I’ve heard homophobic things”
