Robbie Rogers feels he may have set the scene for more athletes in America to come out as gay.
The 25-year old winger, who joined LA Galaxy on Saturday, came out in February before retiring from the game.
The former Columbus Crew, Heerenveen and Leeds United man is now back in the MLS fold and feels that he won't have much trouble in getting on with the game now that he has got the burden off his shoulders.
"I think there's something unique about the MLS," Rogers. "I think the locker rooms in MLS are a little bit different from what I've experienced in Europe.
"That's not to say that in England or Europe that they're ready or not ready - I'm not sure
"The MLS is definitely ready. And I think the United States is ready for more athletes to come out in other sports, whether that be the NBA, obviously, or the NFL, and I'm hoping from this experience and from the experience of others, more athletes will feel comfortable with doing so."
Rogers added: "I kept my secret because I thought I couldn't be both a soccer player and a gay athlete.
"It's not true, but I felt that way. I was afraid to put myself in a situation where I felt I was kind of an outcast and just different from people, but through this whole process, I've realized everyone is a bit different, everyone has their issues.
"That's the number one lesson of all this. I was afraid to come out to my family. I thought it was the hardest thing in the world. After that, I was like, 'I don't know what I was so worried about.' Then I posted that letter [on my blog] that I wasn't going to post, and I thought that was going to be the end of the world.
"And then coming back just to train, I thought that was going to be the hardest thing. At the end, it's just not a big deal, and people are very supportive. It's a great lesson I've learned. It's almost like I didn't give people the opportunity to accept me."