Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Alfie's Documentary about Homophobia in Football

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Alfie's Documentary about Homophobia in Football

    It was on BBC 2 last night.

    Gareth Thomas presented what I thought was a decent programme on the topic featuring the Premier League avoiding him and Gordon Taylor of the PFA giving a car crash of an interview.

    #2
    Thanks for that. It's on I-player so I will watch it today.

    Comment


      #3
      Gordon Taylor's position in the past has been that we have to wait for the culture of crowds to become more civilized before we can encourage players to speak out. If that is still his position (I am unable to view the documentary) I hope he was challenged on it because if all sports take that view, LGBT kids are left isolated and feeling that their heroes are colluding with the oppressors.

      Comment


        #4
        It was a very interesting programme, and worth seeing; if only for the part where he calls out a load of homophobic Palace fans for a grown-up discussion, and none of them turn up. I can't imagine why.

        Comment


          #5
          Isn't that true of most homophobes though? When you ask them why they think that way, they can't explain it. (Usually then they just get angry)

          Comment


            #6
            True, but this was following them giving out to him on a message board. One of them seemed to believe that it was OK for him to shout homophobic slurs because it got rid of the "stress of the week". Brilliant.

            Comment


              #7
              People use that argument to justify giving out all kinds of vile to players and opposing fans. There are healthier ways.

              Comment


                #8
                Was the show only about fans, or players/clubs too?

                I ask because here in North America the pressure for change has been on players, not fans. Yesterday was Vancouver Pride Day, and all three of the city's pro-sports teams sent representatives. This generated a fair amount of local comment about "lip-service." I think I'm correct that no active professional male team athlete here has declared as LGBT to date. (The same is by no means true of women.) The reason generally given is that it would destroy dressing room harmony, as any off-field instance which draws attention to an individual inevitably takes away from the team. I don't buy this, (cf: women's sports) but if the reaction to Colin Kaepernick's "protest" is any indicator many do, even if it becomes self fulfilling.

                Comment


                  #9
                  A related piece of news.

                  Ryan Atkin becomes first openly gay professional official in English football

                  https://www.theguardian.com/football...y_to_clipboard

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Here's a link to the documentary

                    https://youtu.be/1RaBEdmU67Y

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Confirmation bias was my thought watching it. He went it search of homophobia and he found it. Progressive campaigning like rainbow laces and the LGBT fan groups were given only a brief mention, gay football teams like Stonewall FC not mentioned at all. Sports like rugby and cricket were presented as examples of progressive sports but as far as I'm aware there's only one out gay cricketer and he's the only out gay rugby player I know. Mind you I don't follow rugby so perhaps there's loads.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X