Liverpool Football Club has been championing LGBT+ rights for over a decade now.
While football fans' attention continues to turn to the FIFA 2022 World Cup and has done for the last month, it could be easily argued that the sport has gotten progressively worse, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community.
The coveted football tournament’s host nation, Qatar, criminalises homosexuality and is punishable with a jail sentence of up to seven years. Although there has been no record of it to this date, the country can also punish Muslim men with the death penalty for engaging in same-sex activity.
READ MORE: City region’s LGBT+ charities unite take stand against FIFA World Cup
With this in mind, we took a look at how Liverpool Football Club have been at the forefront of LGBT+ inclusion in football in the UK over the last ten years.
Paul Amann, the founder of Liverpool FC’s LGBT+ supporters’ group, Kop Outs, claimed the club has been helping “LGBT+ fans be their authentic selves” since 2012.
He told the ECHO: “The reach of our club is better than anything else in terms of engaging hearts and minds. Our club has helped our LGBT+ fans feel valued and supported not only by our club but also by the wider fan base and communities across the city.”
The Reds’ commitment to LGBT+ inclusion was particularly emphasised in 2012 when the club announced it would be the first Premier League team in the country to be officially represented at a Pride event.
Although no footballers took part, club representatives flooded the streets of Liverpool for the city’s annual Pride celebrations. The club provided a banner featuring its crest as LFC staff and LFC Ladies FC marched together. The club have marched ever since, with over 100 club staff and families, marching with Kop Outs at the last march.
Rishi Jain, senior manager of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), told the ECHO: “We’re really proud of the fact that we were the first club to be involved in a UK Pride March in 2012. It’s an important part of our history and hopefully demonstrates that LGBT+ inclusion is an essential part of what we do around EDI.”
Since then, the club has worked closely alongside its Kops Out as well as other “key stakeholders” such as Stonewall in order to “keep moving forward in this area”.
Mr Jain added: “We’ve had a number of milestone moments since; supporting the Rainbow Laces campaign since its inception, incredible allyship from our men’s and women’s first team players throughout and regularly championing our staff from the LGBT+ community and allies. Over time, our overall EDI work has become much more purposeful, whether that’s our internal efforts, external campaigning or being involved in Pride marches and related events.”
The club has launched multiple Pride ranges - the first being in 2019, which was modelled by members of Kop Outs. The theme of the range was “come as you are” and included t-shirts adorned with the club's motto “You'll Never Walk Alone” and the famous Liver Bird badge. Dave Merchant, a member of Kop Outs, at the time said: “Seeing LFC flying the rainbow flag makes me even prouder to be a fan of this incredible club.” In 2022, a new and extended LFC Pride range was launched, with all proceeds raised from the collection being donated to an LGBT+ inclusion charity.
The club has been quick to combat any questionable chants on the terraces and has always taken responsibility and called out those responsible.
A more memorable instance was when manager Jurgen Klopp urged “idiot fans” to stop using a homophobic chant against Norwich's on-loan Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour during the first Liverpool FC game of the 2021/2022 season. Following the match, Klopp invited Paul Amann to the Reds' training centre in Kirkby to discuss the impact of homophobia in football.
The Liverpool boss said: "It obviously makes people uncomfortable within our own fan group. For our supporter's group and for me, that means: done, let's go for another one. I really think it's an easy decision and should be an easy decision. I'm not sure if people listen to me but it would be nice. I don't want to hear it anymore for so many reasons."
Mr Jain claims “directly following” Paul Amann’s sit down with Jurgen last season “there was a clear and purposeful behavioural shift within our supporter base against homophobic chanting once our fans had been educated on the impact of what many didn’t realise was offensive”.
He said: “It was encouraging to see that last season, the reports we received through our Red Together Reporting Hub all came from our own supporters self-policing against others. We recognise and embrace the fact we’re in a privileged position at Liverpool Football Club.
"When we speak out on certain topics, people will engage and listen to what we have to say, so it’s important that we continually do that on a local, national and international scale. Working with incredible allies such as Jurgen and Jordan Henderson, Matt Beard and players across LFC Women to highlight these issues goes a long way and definitely leads to a behavioural change.”
Mr Jain explained “there’s always moments” when the club dial’s up its messaging but emphasised the club's dedication to LGBT+ inclusion all year round - including during the duration of the World Cup.
He said: “We had said that this isn’t about politics, but about equality and human rights for all. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people are mistreated for a myriad of different reasons. What we can do, is use our platforms and voice to fight against discrimination and promote inclusion in all that we do. This is about having conversations at the right time to show that Liverpool Football Club is for all.”
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