Football v Homophobia exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football.
Farnborough First Team Kitman Mike Long reflects on why the club are supporting this campaign: “Being LGBTQ+ within football is still a taboo topic. There’s only been one active player in the top flight of English football who has come out – Justin Fashanu back in 1990. Since then, it’s rare any active footballers in any league have come out.
In the past 18 months, we have seen an increase of this in the likes of Jake Daniels and Josh Cavallo. But as a sport we need to do better. In a world where being LGBTQ+ is still punishable by the death penalty in over 10 countries, it is important to speak out where we can.
Since joining Farnborough, I have received nothing but support from the players, management, volunteers and fans of the club. I’ve really wanted to help push out our support of equality initiatives. We held our annual anti-racism game back in October during Black History Month, and during LGBTQ+ history month we hold our Football v Homophobia campaign to support LGBTQ+ in football.
Football v Homophobia exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football. If I can ask you to do anything going forward:
- Think about the language you use at games
- Challenge homophobic and transphobic behaviour in others
- Report it where needed.
Farnborough Junior Academy’s Mini Kickers have sponsored Saturday’s game, funding the warm-up t-shirts to be worn pre-match and the Rainbow Laces we’ve given to the players and volunteers at the club – so thank you to them. Hopefully one day I won’t need to write an article like this and we won’t need to have a day to highlight the issue, but all I can say for now is thank you for helping us support this campaign, and come on you yellows!”
By working together across football, we can make a difference: www.footballvhomophobia.com
