Homophobia in football

[Tom Palace]

Hello all,

 

I'm currently studying at University and am doing a project on homophobia in football. I've created a really quick survey (ignore any ambiguity in the questions!) which I'm posting to every team in the Premier League's forum. As a Palace fan, I'm currently suffering enough without failing this assignment so any responses would be very welcome!

 

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SLQXCJ5
 

Apologies if this post bores some of you but I'd be very grateful if you did respond!

 

Good luck for the rest of the season

 

Tom

[RoboFox]

Done. Good luck.

[Fox92]

Done.

 

I particularly liked if I considered it "banter"  Maybe you need to rephrase that.

 

[Great Boos Up]

Never understand why they call it phobia. I'm interested in football and my team and don't want to know what two consenting adults do in their own privacy so why ask the question? I also don't want to know what peoples bedroom preferences are but obviously you do.

[Ross-Kemp]

The media are the main reason no one has come out in the premier league whilst playing.

 

Youd immediately become the poster boy and be known for your sexuality rather than your ability.

 

If people and the media just cracked on, I believe people would come out.

 

Couldnt give a shit if a player is nlacj white blue orange green gay likes animals or whatever, it's nothing to do with me.

 

Ill judge you on your footballing ability

[Mark_w]

4 hours ago, Great Boos Up said:

I'm interested in football and my team and don't want to know what two consenting adults do in their own privacy so why ask the question?

Seems pretty obvious that the OP is interested in the prevalence of homophobia in football, and how football fans view homosexuality and homophobia. Is that really an unreasonable line of enquiry?

Whether you want it to or not football is a massively popular sport that both reflects and influences the values of the people who follow it.
 

4 hours ago, Great Boos Up said:

 I also don't want to know what peoples bedroom preferences are but obviously you do.

How do you work that one out when none of the questions are about the sexual preference of the person taking the survey? There's nothing in there to suggest that the OP is even remotely interested in what you, or anybody else, does with their penis.

[Xen]

Done.

 

Q3: As a gay man myself, I absolutely WOULD care if an LCFC player came out as gay, but not at all in a negative way. I'd be as proud as possible for him, and to an extent inspired. 

I appreciate that's not what you're getting at with the question though (I imagine you meant something like 'would it bother you if a player on your team came out?'), so answered 'No' accordingly.

[Fox92]

8 hours ago, Ross-Kemp said:

The media are the main reason no one has come out in the premier league whilst playing.

 

Youd immediately become the poster boy and be known for your sexuality rather than your ability.

 

If people and the media just cracked on, I believe people would come out.

 

Couldnt give a shit if a player is nlacj white blue orange green gay likes animals or whatever, it's nothing to do with me.

 

Ill judge you on your footballing ability

I've always felt the media contribute to the problem. As soon as a sportman comes out it's all over the front news "oh he's gay" etc etc. When in reality I'm certainly not bothered. Just let people be.  But the media don't do they.

[stripeyfox]

Absolutely not bothered in the slightest if one of our players "came out".

 

The media make it worse becasue if someone did reveal that they were gay they'd be all over it.

 

It's probably the media firestorm that deters players from coming out more than the odd moron shouting "you fking puff" at them.

 

 

[TiffToff88]

12 hours ago, Fox92 said:

Done.

 

I particularly liked if I considered it "banter"  Maybe you need to rephrase that.

 

Agreed. I absolutely hate the word banter. Its just a word people use to justify their bullying.

 

I'm speaking from experience as a disabled person who has experienced name calling relating to my disability. The person involved tried to justify is as "just banter"

[Xen]

38 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

Absolutely not bothered in the slightest if one of our players "came out".

 

The media make it worse becasue if someone did reveal that they were gay they'd be all over it.

 

It's probably the media firestorm that deters players from coming out more than the odd moron shouting "you fking puff" at them.

 

Exactly this. If I was a professional footballer (alas, I have about as much skill as a 3-legged elderly goat) I couldn't care less about the odd individual with a few missing brain cells shouting a few words at me, but the intense spotlight from the media would put a LOT of pressure on me, and I'm not sure if I could cope with that level of scrutiny. Admittedly it'd be mostly short-lived, but there'd still be a long-standing expectation that you become some sort of super-involved ambassador for the LGBT+ community, whereas most probably just want to kick a bit of leather around for a bit then go home.

 

 

I'd imagine a lot of reluctance to come out would stem from the anticipated reactions of teammates (particularly those from countries whose cultures aren't as accepting) who you see day in, day out.

[purpleronnie]

It shouldn't matter and shouldn't be a big deal but it will be.  But I think if some brave person did come out here then others would follow and then it wouldn' be a big deal.

There's no question it could cause problems though, when this subject was raised on here before there were people who said they would feel uncomfortable being in the changing room with an openly gay man....baffling but true.

[stripeyfox]

3 minutes ago, purpleronnie said:

It shouldn't matter and shouldn't be a big deal but it will be.  But I think if some brave person did come out here then others would follow and then it wouldn' be a big deal.

There's no question it could cause problems though, when this subject was raised on here before there were people who said they would feel uncomfortable being in the changing room with an openly gay man....baffling but true.

There was a survey on the BBC last month I think in which a small but signifcant minority (12% I think) said they would not be able to carry on supporting their team if one of the players came out!
 

Well good riddance if that is the case - would be glad to see the back of them.

[purpleronnie]

5 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

There was a survey on the BBC last month I think in which a small but signifcant minority (12% I think) said they would not be able to carry on supporting their team if one of the players came out!
 

Well good riddance if that is the case - would be glad to see the back of them.

That's scary.  I don't think I'll ever understand prejudice, and why people feel that strongly about other peoples sexuality or race.

[Manwell Pablo]

12 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

 

 

Yeah, it's all the media.

 

TBF I think he's just trying to be funny and failing. 

[Alf Bentley]

7 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

There was a survey on the BBC last month I think in which a small but signifcant minority (12% I think) said they would not be able to carry on supporting their team if one of the players came out!
 

Well good riddance if that is the case - would be glad to see the back of them.

 

I suppose we all have attitudes deeply ingrained from a young age. So, if your parents, elder siblings, early friends or whoever were homophobes, it might take a lot to change your attitudes unless you're given to challenging yourself (most of us aren't) or start moving in different circles.

 

Looking back 30-40 years, I can remember some fans commenting about not liking having black players in their team. Only a tiny minority would say that now.

Likewise, I remember some blokes being uneasy about women watching matches (or mothers working outside the home, for that matter). Again, probably only a tiny minority would take that attitude now.

 

There's probably still a few more people who would have a serious problem with a player being gay, but I'd be surprised if it was really as high as 12%.

That many might mumble a bit, but even most of them would soon forget it if the player was performing OK - might be a stick for them to beat him with if he was playing badly, though.

 

One or two openly gay footballers might reduce the number of homophobes more quickly, but I can quite understand why a young man in the public eye wouldn't want to bring extra attention and pressure on himself.

Football is much more team-based than, say, diving (obviously) - and much higher-profile than rugby, so might be a harder sport for someone to come out in.

[Guest MattP]

I think the media do take a little blame, it's almost they are actively waiting for it now so they can plaster the first all over the front pages and make that person become the poster boy for gay footballers, that might not be what they want to be.

 

Who really cares what sexuality someone is in 2016 anyway? We'll know we've moved on as a society when this isn't even an issue and no one gives a shit what anyone else does in their private life.

[stripeyfox]

19 hours ago, MattP said:

I think the media do take a little blame, it's almost they are actively waiting for it now so they can plaster the first all over the front pages and make that person become the poster boy for gay footballers, that might not be what they want to be.

 

Who really cares what sexuality someone is in 2016 anyway? We'll know we've moved on as a society when this isn't even an issue and no one gives a shit what anyone else does in their private life.

I suppose it is a good thing that the majority of people don't care. As you say, the media will make a right song and dance about it if a player did reveal he was gay. 

 

I guy who works in our office revealed he was gay last year. If I thought about it I'd probably have been able to figure it out that he was. He doesn't get treated any differently now and we still share the same water cooler chat that we did before - usually about football as he is a City fan but he also joins in our inappropriate workplace chats about women etc, just as he did before. 

 

And he hasn't even tried to chat me up once - must be losing my sex appeal!
 

 

 

 

[GaelicFox]

Yawn ....... 

 

its not football its society , boxing , rugby , horse racing all have the same sort of issues 

 

 

[limeydale]

It's a non issue here in the States, had some footballer who plays for the La Galaxy named Robbie something come out a couple years ago, it was news for about a week then died off.

On another note; if we lose today then I will definitely develop a case of 'Awayophobia'.

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, limeydale said:

It's a non issue here in the States, had some footballer who plays for the La Galaxy named Robbie something come out a couple years ago, it was news for about a week then died off.

On another note; if we lose today then I will definitely develop a case of 'Awayophobia'.

Glad it's not an issue in the football stands in the US, because from what I've seen it's still a big issue in other areas of society over there.

[Captain...]

On 17/12/2016 at 07:04, stripeyfox said:

I suppose it is a good thing that the majority of people don't care. As you say, the media will make a right song and dance about it if a player did reveal he was gay. 

 

I guy who works in our office revealed he was gay last year. If I thought about it I'd probably have been able to figure it out that he was. He doesn't get treated any differently now and we still share the same water cooler chat that we did before - usually about football as he is a City fan but he also joins in our inappropriate workplace chats about women etc, just as he did before. 

 

And he hasn't even tried to chat me up once - must be losing my sex appeal!
 

 

 

 

But your work place is very different to a football club (I imagine), and I assume your colleague isn't a paid millions for his job and isn't a target for media speculation. I think  the media intrusion would be more of an issue than the  team mates, now a days  most teams are made of players from all different races, nationalities, social classes, religions. Most clubs are progressive and look after their players and most clubs will have a diverse cross section of fans. I think anyone coming out would get a  lot more support than abuse, and proportionally probably no more abuse than if they came out in any other walk of life. 90% unconditional support 10% minority making trouble. The difference would be the press intrusion, the highlighting of any issue around that player and turning him into a spokesman for all gay sportsmen.

 

It would be interesting to see how many openly gay footballers play at an amateur level, where there is no media spotlight. There may be hundreds or thousands playing every weekend up and down the country without any issue.

[Manwell Pablo]

20 hours ago, Captain... said:

But your work place is very different to a football club (I imagine), and I assume your colleague isn't a paid millions for his job and isn't a target for media speculation. I think  the media intrusion would be more of an issue than the  team mates, now a days  most teams are made of players from all different races, nationalities, social classes, religions. Most clubs are progressive and look after their players and most clubs will have a diverse cross section of fans. I think anyone coming out would get a  lot more support than abuse, and proportionally probably no more abuse than if they came out in any other walk of life. 90% unconditional support 10% minority making trouble. The difference would be the press intrusion, the highlighting of any issue around that player and turning him into a spokesman for all gay sportsmen.

 

It would be interesting to see how many openly gay footballers play at an amateur level, where there is no media spotlight. There may be hundreds or thousands playing every weekend up and down the country without any issue.

 

Played against one Sunday funnily enough, and not the first I have played against.

 

Doesn't seem to be that many though. I would imagine it's thousands if that, if one openly gay lad played for every amateur team (Saturday and Sunday Inclusive all the way up to about Step 4,5, on a Saturday) There would only be 30k odd. 

[Captain...]

1 minute ago, Manwell Pablo said:

 

Played against one Sunday funnily enough, and not the first I have played against.

 

Doesn't seem to be that many though. I would imagine it's thousands if that, if one openly gay lad played for every amateur team (Saturday and Sunday Inclusive all the way up to about Step 4,5, on a Saturday) There would only be 30k odd. 

How do you know he is gay? Do you know him personally or just through football?

 

[Manwell Pablo]

9 minutes ago, Captain... said:

How do you know he is gay? Do you know him personally or just through football?

 

 

I did't know him at all one of the others did, he was playing on the other side of the pitch to me I barely noticed him apart from the fact he was constantly stood on the keepers toes during Corners   someone mentioned he was openly gay in the pub.

 

It's not the norm, I could probably count the players I've knowingly played against on one hand we are talking hundreds of games involving 15 lads at a time, certainly never played with anyone I've even had a suspicion about bottling it up but then it's not always obvious someone is keeping something like that to themselves. 

 

EDIT: Also had a female referee  a very 2016 game of Sunday football.