THE annual Rainbow Laces campaign, which highlights the topic of LGBT+ inclusion in sport, kicked off once again this weekend.
Since the campaign started in 2013 sport – and in particular football – has witnessed a great deal of change when it comes to the visibility of LGBT+ players.
In the past year alone, Australian left back Josh Cavallo became the only openly gay professional top-flight male footballer in the world.
Then in May this year, Blackpool’s Jake Daniels came out, too: the first professional player in the UK to come out since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
In Scotland, Gala Fairydean Rovers striker Zander Murray has led the way after coming out last month, becoming the only openly gay professional footballer in Scottish football (a barrier also previously broken by Fashanu).
But, as sports journalist Andrew Henderson told The National, there’s still work to do when it comes to making sports accessible for LGBT+ people – both as players and as fans.
Henderson founded Pride Of The Terraces in 2019, a website which places a spotlight on LGBT+ sportspeople and their stories through long-form articles and interviews.
“I remember saying to people back when I started Pride Of The Terraces that there would come a time when I would look back on their being no openly gay or bi mens footballers and think it was crazy,” he said.
“I certainly didn’t expect that to happen in three years but it seems like every month that passes there’s another fairly high-profile athlete coming out.
“We’ve got Zander Murray, now. We’ve got Lloyd Wilson and Craig Napier [two openly gay referees in the Scottish Premier League] as figures in the men’s game just going out and being on the pitch every weekend.
“So, there definitely has been progress. But I’d still like to see more structure behind the support systems available.
“From talking to these people it seems to be very individualistic. It’s these guys taking it upon themselves to do the work.
“I’m not convinced that there’s enough support going on across the board in the background of Scottish football.”
The Rainbow Laces campaign has been successful in drawing attention to the discrimination many LGBT+ players and fans are subject to in sport, particularly in football.
However, a study of homophobic discrimination in Scottish sport from 2019 found that 45% of those surveyed had witnessed homophobic or transphobic language, particularly at higher performance levels.
Yet 91% of them did not report this hostility to official bodies due to feeling that such complaints would be considered insignificant and any intervention ineffective.
But, at least for fans, it seems the tide is slowly changing.
Last year Hibernian FC put the feelers out to see if there was any interest from fans in an LGBTQ+ supporters club.
Now more than 100 people are on the club’s mailing list with smaller numbers meeting up to attend games together – both home and away.
Julie Cuthbertson, a lifelong Hibee, signed up immediately.
She said: “I’m 52, now. I’ve been going to watch Hibs since I was 15, initially with my dad and then later just by myself.
“I came out when I was 21 and I’ve literally been the subject of homophobic abuse and witnessed it at football games.
“So, for me, getting involved in this group was massively important.
“I think there’s a misconception that because we have more equality in law than we did 50 years ago then all these problems must have gone away.
“People don’t think there’s a problem and therefore you get people saying they don’t think there’s need for the group.
“But it’s so important because it allows us to highlight these problems of visibility, problems which explain why you perhaps don’t get a lot of LGBT+ people attending matches.”
Julie emphasised that the support from the club’s official machinery had been outstanding, with a member of the group even being involved in the launch of new home kit.
According to Henderson, encouraging these kinds of clubs in football benefits everyone.
“This going to sound very cynical and business focused but there’s this whole market of people who football clubs aren’t tapping into,” he said.
“People who can buy tickets and buy merchandise. And it’s stuff like supporter’s groups and rainbow laces that open eyes and make people think: ‘Oh, actually, maybe I would be welcome there’.
“The more LGBT+ people feel welcomed, the better for football across the board.”
