Arsenal have clamped down on a number of homophobic tweets in a bid to reinforce their zero-tolerance approach to discrimination.
As part of LGBT+ history month, the club took to social media to share the story of Selena - an Arsenal fan and member of the GayGooners Supporters’ Club. Selena spoke about the importance of Arsenal's partnership with GayGooners and the need to promote visibility in football.
And the Gunners were quick to quash any abusive responses to the post, blocking a number of Twitter users in a crackdown on online abuse.
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A tweet posted to Arsenal's official Twitter account on Thursday read: "We have blocked several accounts following hatred displayed under this post. We strive to ensure that everyone connected to Arsenal feels an equal sense of belonging.
"We will continue to celebrate our supporters’ diversity and continue a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination."
In Selena's interview, the Gunners superfan reflected on what can be done to make football more welcoming to the LGBT+ community.
“It’s a tough question,” she said. “The dearth of openly gay and bisexual men in football demonstrates how difficult it is for them to ‘come out’ in the current environment.
"This issue isn’t really seen in the women’s game, which has a significant number of high-profile players in same-sex relationships."
Selena added: "Encouraging people to report abuse and additional training for stewards to recognise abuse for what it is may go some way to improving things. Some abuse may sound like banter but can be extremely harmful, to both direct and indirect targets. We are all people with the same goal of enjoying a football match and supporting our team, no-one should ever feel like it’s not safe to do so.”
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