Football v Homophobia
Why are LGBTQ fans having to untangle Rainbow Laces?
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Episode notes
In the history of the Rainbow Laces campaign, LGBTQ supporters groups have been pivotal - think of Proud Hornets’ huge rainbow mosaic at Watford, fans getting to chat with first-team players, and clubs and community trusts sharing the stories of members.
However, in the 2024 activation, three groups in the Premier League - Crystal Palace’s Proud and Palace, Manchester United’s Rainbow Devils and Ipswich’s Rainbow Tractors - found themselves pitched into controversies due to decisions made by players that blew up into big stories.
Be it an armband or an anthem jacket, whether abstaining or altering, the impact of these situations are felt deeply by LGBTQ fans who suddenly find themselves having to handle media enquiries and negotiate with club officials under similar scrutiny.
On a special Podcast episode, Proud and Palace co-chair Emma Franklin-Wright and group member Randy Boose share their reflections from a turbulent week and a half; Emma’s equivalent at Rainbow Devils, Eric Najib - who’s also first-team manager at Stonewall FC - talks us through what happened at Manchester United; and we’re also joined by Rishi Madlani, the co-chair of Pride in Football and a committee member of Leicester City’s Foxes Pride.
As well as looking back, the panel also looks ahead to what a future Rainbow Laces activation might look like in light of this year’s challenges, and how the annual FvH Month of Action in February 2025 can help shift the focus onto where it needs to be.
Links
Football v Homophobia - https://www.footballvhomophobia.com/
Sports Media LGBT+ - https://sportsmedialgbt.com/
Read Randy’s blog - https://substack.com/@randy831/p-152601330
Proud and Palace on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/proudandpalace
Rainbow Devils - https://rainbowdevils.com/
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