First Out Gay HBCU Football Player Byron Perkins Introduces His BF
First Out Gay HBCU Football Player Byron Perkins Introduces His BF
He shared a sweet message on Instagram.
Byron Perkins, the first openly gay football player at an HBCU, is sharing something else with the world this Pride month — his boyfriend!
The Hampton University defensive back shared photos to his Instagram story earlier this month showing off his relationship with JD Dunn.
“Happy pride, love,” he wrote. “I don’t know a lot…but I know I love you.”
\u201cByron Perkins, First Openly Gay Football Player At An HBCU, Shows Off Partner To Start Pride Month\u201d— Dreddsworld (@Dreddsworld) 1685732577
\u201cByron Perkins, the first openly gay HBCU football player, celebrates Pride with his boyfriend on social media.\u201d— The G-Listed (@The G-Listed) 1685718353
It isn’t clear how long the two have been dating or how they met, although Dunn has also shared photos with Perkins to his own page in the recent past.
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through the process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do,” he wrote on a Pride month post of his own, to which Perkins replied, “I love you.”
Perkins initially came out as gay last fall via Instagram stories, announcing, “I’ve decided that I’m going to make a change, and stop running away from myself.” In doing so, he became the first football player at an HBCU to come out as gay while playing for the team.
“I have been told on many occasions that I walk around a look as if I’m upset. This is not because I am an angry person, but because I have put on a mask, a mask that has restricted me. Today, I am destroying that mask,” he wrote at the time.
“I’m gay, 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,” he added. “Simply put, I am who I am.”
