adamstag wrote:ParisStag wrote:adamstag wrote:Tbh I'd like to think football would have moved beyond this.
It's not right or acceptable to chant about black players for instance (obviously rightfully so!) but was once rife so not really sure why fans would find it acceptable to chant stuff about being gay either - obviously there is a difference between "banter" and malice - being afraid of something due to drunk folk with an IQ of a flea isn't on
As a fan I wouldn't care if the person was black, white, gay, Mr Blobby - as long as they were good at being a footballer - which is basically the aim of him being on the pitch - I wouldn't care.
We're nowhere near moving beyond it. The fact that there isn't an openly gay pro player in England is testament to that. With homophobic attacks on the rise in general society and in schools, I sadly don't think it will come for a while.
I get that it hasn't moved beyond it totally, I assure you. However, it an ideal world I would have thought it would have done.
Authorities need to be stronger about this.
Totally agree but when the authorities have such ludicrously lenient punishments for racism offences in the game then what chance do players of different sexual orientations have when faced with the same ignorance? The footballing authorities across much of the world are clueless. They have the power to make significant change and to make the game all inclusive yet they consistently fail because the only measures needed that would start to have an impact they would deem as draconian. Yet it's draconian measures that are now needed because we keep talking about racism and intolerance in the sport and it ain't going away. Nothing is changing.