#INSERT type:image caption:Thomas Hitzlsperger announced that he was gay in January. END#
Thomas Hitzlsperger has told Metro he does not believe he would have been able to publicly say that he was gay while still a professional footballer because of the media.
In January, former Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham midfielder Hitzlsperger announced that he was gay shortly after retiring.
And speaking before the launch of this year's Stonewall Rainbow Laces campaign to kick anti-gay attitudes out of the game, the ex-Germany international explained why he believes it would be tough for a player at the height of his career to publicly announce that he was gay.
"I did so many interviews and it took up all of my time, so it would have been difficult to go back into training as if nothing had happened," he said.
"For me, it would have been almost impossible had I still been playing -- not because of the fans or the other players, but because of the media."
Hitzlsperger said he believed the campaign was "making good progress," demonstrated by the fact that the laces campaign will be launched on the pitch before Manchester City take on Arsenal at the weekend.
He said he was not aware of other gay Premier League players -- "maybe because I didn't talk to my teammates because I didn't think it was appropriate" -- but stressed that "we must do the groundwork now so gay players in the future can come out if they want to and be accepted in the dressing room and in the grounds."
He added: "I have had emails and letters from so many people congratulating me and thanking me for coming out as gay, but I don't wake up in the morning and think: 'I'm going to be a role model today.'"
Meanwhile, QPR midfielder Joey Barton, who launched last year's campaign, told the paper he believed it "was definitely a success."
He added: "I hope that more people join in this year -- at the end of the day, the more people that wear the laces, the more chance we have of raising awareness and tackling the issue of homophobia.
"Everyone knows there is an issue in football. The stats say that there must be homosexual players across our professional game, and the lads supporting the campaign are breaking barriers down so that people can feel comfortable enough to come out in the sport and kick out homophobia in football."