Fred Rosser Wants To Lead By Example

Fred Rosser says coming out gave him new motivations. 

In 2013, Fred Rosser (formerly known as Darren Young) came out of the closest as a gay man and was the first active wrestler on the WWE roster to ever do so. He told ESPN recently that when he came out, he was given opportunities to become an advocate. 

"That's when I knew that my calling became much bigger than wrestling in the ring. It became about fighting bigotry and hatred, and trying to be the voice of the voiceless. That's how the Block the Hate movement came along," said Rosser.

For the next three years, Rosser was in WWE but was not featured on television often and in 2017 he left the company. Despite that, Rosser said he filled an important role for WWE fans who belong to the LGBTQ community. 

"I want to be remembered as a good human being who was the first in an industry to pave the way for LGBTQ athletes in wrestling and beyond to come out and live an honest and authentic life. Being the first openly gay wrestler, I've been able to encourage and inspire wrestling fans all over their world to chase their dreams. I've been able to show other LGBTQ athletes that they have a duty to instill confidence in the youth and lead by example," said Rosser. 

On March 9th, Rosser stepped back into a professional wrestling ring for the first time in the promotion Wrestle Pro in his home state of New Jersey. Also in the interview with ESPN, Rosser discussed the reaction of other wrestlers to his coming out and his final days at WWE. 

The entire interview is available at ESPN.com.