“I know 12 secretly gay premiership footballers” - Paul Elliott
October 17th, 2008
Homophobia in football could be a thing of the past with the launch of a new Football Association campaign against homophobia and other bigotry on the pitch and on the terraces.
Kick It Out, which has long campaigned against racism in football, is pushing a new anti-homophobia initiative under the theme of One Game, One Community.
Kick It Out’s Director, Piara Powar, said: “We’ve been campaigning to rid our game of discrimination. We’ve made significant headway; black players are everywhere and ethnic minority communities are getting involved, whether they are on the pitch or in the stands. However, there are still no openly gay players and casual abuse of many players has homophobic overtones.”
Professional men’s football has long been associated with homophobia. Just last month, in September 2008 Portsmouth’s star player and England international Sol Campbell was subjected to a torrent of homophobic and racist chanting from fans, including:
“Sol, Sol, wherever you may be / You’re on the verge of lunacy / And we don’t give a f**k if you’re hanging from a tree / You Judas c**t with HIV.”
“He’s big, he’s black. He takes it up his crack. Sol Campbell, Sol Campbell.”
Hampshire police are investigating the incident, which took place at a match between Tottenham Hotspurs and Portsmouth.
Speaking at a forum held last night by Kick It Out to discuss the issue of homophobia in football, former professional footballer Paul Elliott said he knows 12 top players who are gay. He said they are reluctant to come out because they fear negative reactions.
Peter Tatchell of pressure group Outrage! has urged the Football Association to adopt a four-point plan to stamp out homophobia, which would include straight footballers condemming homophobia in an MTV-style video that could be shown in stadiums before matches.
Tatchell also urged the FA to help gay players come out: “Kick It out and the FA could privately sound out several gay and bisexual premier league players about a collective coming out. If half a dozen top footballers came out in a joint statement, there would be safety in numbers. No individual player would be vulnerable to isolation and victimisation.
“Bigotry has no legitimate place in any sport,” added Tatchell. “Homophobia is no more acceptable than racism. We want all prejudice kicked off the pitch. Congratulations to Kick It Out and the Football Association for taking a stand against homophobia.
“Gay players, like black players, should never be expected to put up with bigoted taunts, insults and threats. We want football to offer a safe, welcoming atmosphere for players and fans of all races and sexualities.”
Kick It Out’s new campaign, which starts on Thursday 16 October, will see professional football link up with schools, universities, community and youth centres, for a nationwide stand against discrimination and for diversity. Over 1000 events and activities are scheduled to take place.
Yay! About time something was done about this. Isn’t it ironic that women’s football is probably 80% lesbian…
jules ∼ October 17th, 2008 12:47 pmFrom what I’ve heard Sol Campbell is bisexual - but not out as such of course. He officially has a girlfriend anyway - fashion designer Fiona Barratt.
Also of course queer bashing thugs don’t differentiate between gay and bi - certainly not as far as men are concerned anyway. However I feel LGBT people should know better.
Geri ∼ October 18th, 2008 9:44 amJules, if womens’ football is 80% lesbian I’m 100% heterosexual!
Geri ∼ October 18th, 2008 11:25 pmI love to go to see the Toon play (urm, when they play properly…). However, while the anti-racism campaign has been pretty successful wrt crowd comments, there is absolutely no holds barred on homophobic abuse at matches.
I have no problem with the general banter at matches – comments usually make me crack up; however, when people get wound up, out come the ‘fucking pouf’, up-the-ass abuse, and ‘kick like a fucking woman’ comments. I would never be comfortable saying to the bloke I sit next to at the match – I’m gay and that upsets me. But if he were to consider the issues for a minute he just might hold back on the objectionable stuff and keep to his usual routine of ‘Ref, ref, you should have gone to specsavers…’ etc.
The only way to change things in society is to start by getting people to stop the reflex homophobic comments and take the sting out of this random and often meaningless abuse. This will help target the serious abuse that prevents the acceptance of gay people at the root of society, that prevents them coming out in their own communities.
So bring it on, Kick It Out.
Mel ∼ October 19th, 2008 1:29 pm“Sol, Sol, wherever you may be / You’re on the verge of lunacy / And we don’t give a f**k if you’re hanging from a tree / You Judas c**t with HIV.”
This is so impressive . It encompasses an insult to people with mental illnesses, racism, anti-semitism and homophobia. Seriously, who writes this stuff? It is all a bit too well thought through for my liking!
Jen ∼ October 21st, 2008 11:00 amWe should not tollerate any form of homophobic abuse in football…All employers have a legal duty of care to protect their employees ect, from any form of homophobic abuse…
raphael ∼ December 11th, 2009 1:39 pm