Those of us that are out of the closet know how difficult it can
be. To take the plunge out of a "normal" hetero-society takes
courage, and there's no going back, so you have to be brave.
On a personal level, coming out is one of the hardest things you
can do. On a much larger scale, coming out in the media eye must be
terrifying. This is what footballers have to deal with, as well as
further complications that a team game brings to the equation.
Questions like "will I still play regularly?" and "will my
teammates treat me differently?" are at the top of the list. To be
a part of a team dynamic is to work as one unit. As a footballer,
you don't want to feel different to the rest of your team - you
want to fit in. So, to perform to the best of your ability, surely
being happy and comfortable inside your working environment is of
drastic importance? By footballers staying closeted, they are not
only preventing themselves from achieving their full potential, but
they're depriving the lower leagues of a role-model that could
change the whole face of the game.
For some gay and lesbian footballers, there's a fear of the
supporters. What will they associate the club or the player with if
he or she comes out? To investigate this, LGBT rights campaigners
Stonewall conducted a survey, which indicated that two-thirds of
football fans would be happy to have a gay football player on their
squad. It's all about the football for the majority.
So what about the football club? Would there be internal
consequences for a player coming out? In the UK we are equal
opportunists. To discriminate based on sexuality is illegal, and
there are numerous organisations set up to ensure equal treatment
within football across every division. Show Racism the Red Card,
the Justin Campaign and Kick It Out are organisations that have a
zero tolerance policy on prejudice of any kind, including racism,
sexism and homophobia. They aim to attack prejudice from the top,
which hopefully will filter down to grassroots level. Furthermore,
universities such as Liverpool Hope encourage its LGBT campaigners
to hold "Love Sport and Hate Homophobia" weeks to help spread
equality across sport. In an environment so encouraging, it is hard
to believe that there are no gay footballers and very few lesbian
women out in the game.
To further promote gay and lesbian football, the Gay Football
Supporters Network have created a league specifically for
LGBT-friendly football teams. These mixed-gender teams hold no
prejudice or traditional values - such as football being only for
masculine people. It seems that within football, anything
associated with femininity is shunned. Ex-Liverpool and current
Chelsea player Fernando Torres's "Ladyboy" chants are evident of
this, as well as the presumption that women who play the sport must
be more masculine than others. In 2005 Diva spoke to Hope Powell,
the England Women's team coach, who said "there's always been that
stereotyping of female footballers as butch, dykey and
unattractive". This stereotype not only prevents young women
becoming involved in sport, but may contribute to women footballers
staying closeted.
There are a vast majority of lesbian women who play individual
sports, but those playing in teams seem to feel the pressure to
stay closeted. LGBT-rights activist and ex-tennis player Martina
Navratilova told Gay Star News, "I have always said the biggest
thing we can do to advance the cause is to come out". She also
commented on the fear of losing money via sponsorships as nonsense,
"that was a concern thirty years ago and lost me plenty of money
but nowadays it wouldn't". At the highest level, sponsorships and
transfer fees would remain unaffected, whereas in the lower
leagues, perhaps there's more of a general fear of these possible
monetary-related concerns.
Britain's first and only gay professional footballer Justin
Fashanu suffered at the hands of society. Eight years after he
publicly came out, Justin took his own life. He was an outcast by
the homophobic culture football embodies. Fourteen years on, we
have the support of the FA and the majority of the public. The
culture in the UK is changing, especially if we compare our fight
against homophobia to others. The Nigerian women's football team
made claims in 2011 that they had "successfully banned
homosexuality in its players". In 2008, South African and lesbian
football star Eudy Simelane was raped, tortured, stabbed and thrown
in a ditch - then left to die. Yet there's still a lesbian football
team in South Africa. They live in fear of "corrective" rapes and
attacks just like Eudy's, but they continue to hope and persevere
for their rights. If circumstances in the UK were still as awful as
any of these, we wouldn't enquire as to why there are no gay and so
few lesbian footballers - it would be obvious. Fear is the
dominating factor in staying closeted, no matter if it's for your
life like in South Africa, or for keeping your career on-track like
the UK. From the highest level to grassroots, awareness and change
is happening. For now we can only wait for one brave footballer to
come out, and to give hope for a prejudice-free game.
If you would like to report discrimination in sport please dial
0800 1699 414 or go on to http://www.kickitout.org/ for
more information.
To find further information on the campaign "Love Sport and Hate
Homophobia" click here www.hopelgbt.org/campaigns/sport
