LGBT issues in Football

Thoms

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Snowflake society nowdays. The LGBTQ community can enjoy their Songfestival. Leave your politics out of football.
 

Manncunian

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Snowflake society nowdays. The LGBTQ community can enjoy their Songfestival. Leave your politics out of football.
The irony of calling society a snowflake whilst clearly demonstrating being irked themselves by those standing up for this.

Also nice little bit of stereotyping shoved in this deeply insulting post too.

Disgusting. Should be banned.
 

Solius

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The irony of calling society a snowflake whilst clearly demonstrating being irked themselves by those standing up for this.

Also nice little bit of stereotyping shoved in this deeply insulting post too.

Disgusting. Should be banned.
He is gone.
 

tomaldinho1

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Whatever progress, if any, that had been made I guess is now gone after FIFA decided you can be gay but just when it suits them.
 

Amar__

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Your takes are horrible. You’re also talking about how black footballers should have deleted their social media in protest at racist abuse. I bet women shouldn’t wear short skirts because they’re just asking for it too?
Wtf? :houllier:

I am literally talking about Harry Kane.

How on earth did you just conclude that only black footballers should delete their social media? Are you a racist too and only see world as black and white?

I can play that game too.
 
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Dan_F

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Wtf? :houllier:

I am literally talking about Harry Kane.

How on earth did you just conclude that only black footballers should delete their social media? Are you a racist too and only see world as black and white?

I can play that game too.
You didn’t mention Harry Kane in there but sorry I took that the wrong way. The point is still the same. Why on earth would any footballer need to delete their social media due to racist abuse on social media? The temporary pause of social media was a campaign done to raise awareness and start discussions, which it did. Removing a platform to have those discussions just doesn’t make any sense.
 

Bert_

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Snowflake society nowdays. The LGBTQ community can enjoy their Songfestival. Leave your politics out of football.
Question - Who's the bigger snowflake? A person daring to exist or someone that can't stomach the sight of a rainbow flag?
 
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Amar__

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You didn’t mention Harry Kane in there but sorry I took that the wrong way. The point is still the same. Why on earth would any footballer need to delete their social media due to racist abuse on social media? The temporary pause of social media was a campaign done to raise awareness and start discussions, which it did. Removing a platform to have those discussions just doesn’t make any sense.
Aside from racists obviously, the biggest culprits for racism on social media are the companies who own it. Importsnt people deleting their profiles on social media, or doing stuff like freezing them publicly for some time until it improves filtering for racism and other bad things would do A LOT, and would definitely hurt those platforms. It won't change racists, but it will definitely improve how those companies/platforms deals with racists and racists profiles.

But that was obviously too expansive for players/celebrities to do, I am sure just few of them did something similar.
 

duffer

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Has there ever been some serious punishments for homophobic chants? Like stand closed or something of the kind?


Not that it helps with cnuts like some
Lazio fans… But at least they should be made to pay for it.

https://en.as.com/en/2017/10/03/soccer/1507050823_648724.html?outputType=amp
No.

Football fans and the footballing authorities mostly don't really care about homophobic abuse outside of a little virtue signalling.

Will anything happen to the homophobes from last night? I dunno, seems unlikely that Everton, Man United or the Premier League give enough of a shit to even acknowledge it happened, let alone do something about it.

I did see that the Rainbow Devils have called on the club to do something, must be heartbreaking for them to see their fellow supporters do this and their club not care.

 

duffer

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The Athletic are reporting that Man United have said "“Homophobia, like all forms of discrimination, has no place in football. Manchester United is proud of our diverse fan base and the work we have done to reduce instances like we sadly heard today. We will continue to campaign for inclusivity and to tackle discriminatory abuse whether inside stadiums or online. This includes working with fan groups to educate fans on the offence which discriminatory language causes.”

Very interested to see what the club does. Be hard to ban so many fans but I'd hope they do something more than a statement to a journalist. I suspect they'll say nothing further and hope it goes away, just like what is in happening in this thread.
 
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Welsh Wonder

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The Athletic are reporting that Man United have said "“Homophobia, like all forms of discrimination, has no place in football. Manchester United is proud of our diverse fan base and the work we have done to reduce instances like we sadly heard today. We will continue to campaign for inclusivity and to tackle discriminatory abuse whether inside stadiums or online. This includes working with fan groups to educate fans on the offence which discriminatory language causes.”

Very interested to see what the club does. Be hard to ban so many fans but I'd hope they do something more than a statement to a journalist. I suspect they'll say nothing further and hope it goes away, just like what is in happening in this thread.
I don't know what they could do, as you say there were a lot of fans involved. Maybe speak to supporters groups to get a message out to members en masse threatening bans for anyone caught?
 

Welsh Wonder

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A tweet or a post on the official site condemning the chants on Friday would be a start.

Maybe there was and I've missed it but I did check and found nothing.
Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that. D'oh.
 

SilentWitness

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Would be good to have a tweet about it and maybe a spread in a match programme.
 

Jippy

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Would prefer education over any punitive punishment. A bit like Park's request for fans to stop singing his song about dogs.
Agreed. Education is definitely needed because I'm sure a chunk of fans see the chant as more generic abuse of Chelsea, rather than thinking too deeply about it what it actually means and understanding times have moved on.
 

Herman Toothrot

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Just make it a banning order offence and stop it. I don't care about the arguments, there are a million other chants to sing and these headlines are genuinely embarrassing. Stop it.
 

Erebus

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The thing is it's much more widespread than many believe. Obviously Premier League games get the publicity, but it permeates all levels of the game. I worked as a volunteer at a non-league club doing match photos for nearly six years and was then subjected to homophobic abuse from one of the players. Football appears, at all levels from FA to non-league clubs, to be strong on words and very weak on action. Although having said that I've met so many wonderful people in non-league where sexuality isn't an issue. I also received huge support from the club involved, other clubs, the League and ex players when I had problems - but nothing has happened to the player involved and he's still playing.
 

SilentWitness

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The thing is it's much more widespread than many believe. Obviously Premier League games get the publicity, but it permeates all levels of the game. I worked as a volunteer at a non-league club doing match photos for nearly six years and was then subjected to homophobic abuse from one of the players. Football appears, at all levels from FA to non-league clubs, to be strong on words and very weak on action. Although having said that I've met so many wonderful people in non-league where sexuality isn't an issue. I also received huge support from the club involved, other clubs, the League and ex players when I had problems - but nothing has happened to the player involved and he's still playing.
That's vile and apologies for that having happened to you. Did you receive any word as to why nothing has happened?
 

Resch

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In German & Austrian football, homophobic chants do not surprise anyone. Once A capo tried to start a fight with me, after I said some "very very bad" words to him (Told him, his homophobia is just a sign of uncertainty about his masculinity). He started a very homophobic chant against the ref (Translation would be something like "Ref, we know you are wearing suspenders, you g** m**f**"). Many fans thought that I was the one, who showed inappropriate behavior. That's the problem. Homophobia is still a part of our daily life, most of us do not recognize it.
 

Chesterlestreet

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Agreed. Education is definitely needed because I'm sure a chunk of fans see the chant as more generic abuse of Chelsea, rather than thinking too deeply about it what it actually means and understanding times have moved on.
Exactly this.

I personally know fans who will likely be very defensive about something like this: if you just condemn them for being homophobic, they might start crying "PC gone mad!" rather than committing to change.

The origin of the "rent boy" taunt is lost on many fans - they genuinely don't get it. They think it's about Chelsea being "plastic" more than anything: as in, they're all about the money, like a - well - prostitute.

(I'm actually not sure whether some of the younger ones even understand what a "rent boy" is.)
 
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WeePat

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Exactly this.

I personally know fans who will likely be very defensive about something like this: if you just condemn them for being homophobic, they might start crying "PC gone mad!" rather than committing to change.

The origin of the "rent boy" taunt is lost on many fans - they genuinely don't get it. They think it's about Chelsea being "plastic" more than anything.
I have no doubts that a lot people think that's the origin of the taunt and genuinely say it with nothing more than 'Chelsea are plastic' in mind. That doesn't excuse it one bit though, and at this point, it has been highlighted over and over again by various groups, including the official LBGT+ group associated with most clubs.
 

Chesterlestreet

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That doesn't excuse it one bit though, and at this point, it has been highlighted over and over again by various groups, including the official LBGT+ group associated with most clubs.
Absolutely - sure.

But it may take some time to get the point across.

I genuinely believe that many people who join in on that chant aren't actually homophobic - I guess that's what I'm saying. How much patience they should be afforded - because they really should just feckin' stop doing it - is another question.
 

oneway

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You won`t get everyone to accept LGBT for different reasons but no way should we fans chanting homophobic in stadiums.
 

duffer

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Didn't actually stop the song being sung though. It's not as common as it was but it's still around.
Simply telling football fans to stop singing something is a surefire way to ensure they keep singing it, such is the nature of football fans.

I get why Man United fans don't give a shit about my opinion (as a Chelsea fan) on this, I even understand why they don't really care about what the club says but there's gay Man United supporters groups saying "please stop, this is really shitty to us" and I can't fathom the thinking behind ignoring them.
 

Chesterlestreet

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Isn't it about the head of one of the Chelsea firms being caught with one?
I don't think there's an absolutely 100% verified origin for it. But the term started to be used by northern fans (United and Liverpool, mainly) at some point during the 80s. The story about an infamous Chelsea fan (a hooligan, if you will) being caught with a male prostitute in a raid on a London brothel was one factor. Another factor was that Earl's Court - which is close to Stamford Bridge - was a known area for picking up - well - "rent boys".

All this was way before Roman, of course - so the "plastic" aspect that many now focus on has just been added on to the original meaning (which had nothing to do with Chelsea being a money bags team - it was about male prostitutes: and a major idea was, of course, that there was something wrong or shameful about using the services of male prostitutes, especially for supposedly "masculine" types such as football hooligans).
 

RonaldoVII

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Simply telling football fans to stop singing something is a surefire way to ensure they keep singing it, such is the nature of football fans.

I get why Man United fans don't give a shit about my opinion (as a Chelsea fan) on this, I even understand why they don't really care about what the club says but there's gay Man United supporters groups saying "please stop, this is really shitty to us" and I can't fathom the thinking behind ignoring them.
As a straight fan I thought the same when it was briefly sung on Friday night. There's still a lot of neanderthals that attend football matches from my experience. I'm in J stand and would guess it's worse in the singing section opposite, as it used to be when the majority of them were over here.
 

reuben290

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I'm sure I'll be warned, or probably banned (not that it'll make any difference to my opinion), for daring to go against the grain on what is clearly a very woke forum... but the song is NOT homophobic... it is clear to anyone with a brain (i.e. someone who can think for themselves and not just follow the media/Twitter on whatever they have decided the latest topic of "outrage" is) that the target of the joke is male prostitutes... not gay men themselves. If the Chelsea hooligan had been caught lying in bed with a man who was simply his partner, then that wouldn't be funny, and any mocking of that would be downright homophobic, sure... but it is do with the "prostitute" aspect of it. I don't get why this is so difficult for many of you to understand. Of course, in 2023, I don't expect anyone who already has the opposite view to me on this to change. However, I accept that everyone is entitled to their opinions, and if people choose to look at it a different way and therefore be offended by it, that is their right, but it doesn't mean that everyone that is offended has the right to try and force everyone to abide by their views, and try to get people banned from a stadium for singing a harmless song. Why must we always pander to these people? Being offended, doesn't always mean, you're RIGHT.

I'm sure I'll get the usual responses that I see on here such as "Wow... I have no words", whenever somebody in the minority DARES to state their alternate views (shock! horror! :eek:) but hey, I honestly couldn't care less. :lol:
 

Chesterlestreet

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If the Chelsea hooligan had been caught lying in bed with a man who was simply his partner, then that wouldn't be funny, and any mocking of that would be downright homophobic, sure... but it is do with the "prostitute" aspect of it.
Come on now. Of course it has something to do with the "prostitute" part of it. But you know very well that if he'd been caught with a female prostitute, that would've been a non-story as such (this bloke wasn't a celebrity) and it would hardly have been great material for a chant.

You also know bloody well that if he had been (somehow, it obviously wouldn't have been a news story) exposed at the time as someone who had a non-prostitute gay lover - this would have been mercilessly used against him by other football fans.

In short, if you think that the origins of the chant has nothing to do with homophobia, you're simply wrong.

And this has nothing to do with "woke" culture.
 

Todd

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Why do some people think that wanting to make sure that people are treated decently and without prejudice is a 'political issue'?