LFL player and former midlaner for Aegis, Jérémy “Eika” Valdenaire, posted a “bit of a personal message” on Twitter, coming out publicly as a gay man and the response from fans has been overwhelmingly supportive.
Eika has been a face around the French League of Legends scene for quite some time, playing for numerous teams in the national leagues, as well as a stint on Immortals in their 2020 LCS season.
He’s currently part of the recently formed LFL team, Gentle Mates, who acquired the LFL spot from his previous team; LDLC OL.
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But in a recent Twitter post Valdenaire revealed he’d been hiding part of himself from friends and fans for quite some time.
“A bit of a personal message,” He began the tweet, which appeared in both French and English, “I would like to come out as a gay man.”
In the tweet, Valdenaire expresses his fear and uncertainty about coming out publicly “in an environment where you can still hear homophobic remarks,” but also explains that was why he decided to do it.
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“I am writing this today, for me but also for all the people who can recognize themselves in what I am writing, and if so: please do not be too hard on yourself.” He said.
Fans soon responded on social media with messages of support. While most came in his native French, English speaking fans also posted the translation of Eika’s tweet to Reddit with the flair “wholesome”.
In his tweet, Eika spoke candidly about how he struggled with the decision to accept himself.
Community figures from within the LFL also chimed in with encouragement.
“Lots of courage to talk about this,” is the translation of response from French shoutcaster, Dariusz “Finghin” Walczak. “Strength Eika, for what you may have suffered, and bravo for having managed to talk about it.”
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