Arsenal’s Hector Beller says openly gay player impossible EPL - Outsports

Contents:

• 'WE LOVE FOOTBALL AS MUCH AS ANYONE ELSE' - HOW THE GAY GOONERS AND ARSENAL ARE TACKLG HOMOPHOBIA
• ARSENAL’S HECTOR BELLER THE VICTIM OF HOMOPHOBIC SLURS AND SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER IS IMPOSSIBLE PREMIER LEAGUE
• ARSENAL’S GAY GOONERS AMONG ENGLISH LGBT SOCCER FAN GROUPS PHG FOR CLN
• GAY GOONERS: AT THE FOREONT OF FAN CLN
• RABOW LAC: GAY GOONERS -CHAIR GRATEFUL FOR CLUB'S YEAR-ROUND SUPPORT AHEAD OF ARSENAL VS NEWSTLE MATCH
• ‘THIS MUNY CHANGED MY LIFE’ ARSEBLOG NEWS TALKS TO GAY GOONERS FOR PRI

'WE LOVE FOOTBALL AS MUCH AS ANYONE ELSE' - HOW THE GAY GOONERS AND ARSENAL ARE TACKLG HOMOPHOBIA

Gay Gooners exists to provi a social group for LGBT+ Arsenal fans, alli and their iends to meet up, provi a safe and welg space, and mpaign to kick homophobia, biphobia and transphobia out of football.

ARSENAL’S HECTOR BELLER THE VICTIM OF HOMOPHOBIC SLURS AND SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER IS IMPOSSIBLE PREMIER LEAGUE

Gay Gooners holds meet-ups near Emirat Stadium before home fixtur, group trips to away gam and anis regular social events. Gay Gooners’ patron and lifelong Arsenal supporter, edian Matt Lus says he is “immensely proud of and grateful to the club” for s support for the group and how “young gay fans now feel clud by the club a way my generatn never uld”.

The club works directly wh members of the Gay Gooners to tackle anti-LGBT+ discrimatn football by vg members to take part cln trag for staff. England's largt LGBT+ football club supporters’ group is makg the Emirat a more welg place for people who jt want to be themselvIt was Sunday, January 23 and Arsenal had jt been held to a tratg 0-0 draw by Burnley at Emirat Fearn and a number of fellow members of the Gay Gooners, the largt LGBT+ football club supporters’ group England, ma their way to one of the many pubs close to the Emirat to chew the fat over a post-match pt.

ARSENAL’S GAY GOONERS AMONG ENGLISH LGBT SOCCER FAN GROUPS PHG FOR CLN

However, as he stood at the bar, Carl heard somethg prsgly faiar: a homophobic chant beg sung by a group of Arsenal fans on the other si of the so much prev experience wh the suatn, the 58-year-old kept his feelgs check.

Later on, though, he would have a nversatn wh the landlord that would set motn a seri of events that would culmate Arsenal celebratg their relatnship wh the Gay Gooners throughout Saturday’s game agast Brentford.

GAY GOONERS: AT THE FOREONT OF FAN CLN

”Fearn, who is -chair of Gay Gooners, was te to his word and spoke to 24 hours was cid that flyers and posters wouldn’t jt be given to that one pub, but stead hand out at every pub around the Emirat by Gay Gooners members and Arsenal “We’re tryg to get out there that we love football as much as anybody else, ” Fearn says. Several Gay Gooners members were filmed discsg their relatnship wh the club and some of the difficulti they’ve faced jt tryg to be themselv at vio footage was broadst on the giant screens si the stadium at half-time and was also put out across the club’s social media giant rabow flags were missned and two members om the group were posned pchsi to wave them as the teams me out and when goals were sred.

Arsenal FC/GOALThe centre spread of the matchday programme featured a Gay Gooners banner, along wh the quot of three Gay Gooners members which spelled out what the group means to them. Arsenal also alloted one of the executive box at the stadium to the Gay Gooners as a way of givg a space for LGBT+ fans who hadn’t been to a game before or who had issu or ncerns about attendg a match on their own. “It was a way of people beg able to enjoy the game a welg space as their thentic selv, ” says Joe Whe, who is -chair of Gay Gooners and who hosted the box on Saturday.

Gay Gooners was tablished Febary, 2013 and is the first and largt LGBT+ football supporters' group England, wh well over 1, 000 members the UK and group holds regular meet-ups before home gam, anis group trips to away match and reprents the club at the annual London pri para every members, such as Carl Fearn, have seen some signifint progrs ma over the years when to makg LGBT+ fans feel more wele when watchg their team. The overridg msage that the Gay Gooners want to get out and that the club tried to share on Saturday is that Arsenal is for fan should be able to go and support their team whout havg to hear discrimatory abe or be ma to feel unfortable about their, the Gay Gooners will ntue workg wh the club to ensure LGBT+ fans are ma to feel as wele as possible at Emirat Stadium.

RABOW LAC: GAY GOONERS -CHAIR GRATEFUL FOR CLUB'S YEAR-ROUND SUPPORT AHEAD OF ARSENAL VS NEWSTLE MATCH

It’s disuragg what has happened to Beller and ’s easy to see why he fells that way about an openly gay player. Last weekend, the club alongsi our LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, GayGooners, celebrated Pri by participatg a seri of events, culmatg the Pri In London Para, wh the highlights available to view above. After their open-top, double-cker float received a special send off om Mikel Arteta and some of our men’s first-team squad, the GayGooners partied alongsi club lleagu and Arsenal Women’s players Jen Beattie, Jordan Nobbs and Cal Foord, as they ma their way through the packed, lourful streets to soak up the ftivi.

Speakg about their weekend, the GayGooners add: “We are credibly proud of the work we have done wh Arsenal over the years.

‘THIS MUNY CHANGED MY LIFE’ ARSEBLOG NEWS TALKS TO GAY GOONERS FOR PRI

To celebrate, we ved members of GayGooners to share their experienc of Pri month, tellg what means to have been the first football club reprented at a Pri march. When a handful of found the GayGooners 2013, Arsenal was the first Premier League club to have an official LGBT supporters group. When we started, homophobic and transphobic abe was still monplace at grounds and on social media, and sometim we uld feel like we were alone.

In 2022 I will be attendg my first ever Pri London, and I am so proud to be a part of the GayGooners ntgent for this important event.

Wh football fandom is often still taboo to be out and a same-sex relatnship, and recent months members of GayGooners have been abed and asslted for a simple thg as wearg rabow lac to a game, or holdg their partner’s hand. It’s up to fan groups like ours to show the world that ’s ok to be Gay, Trans, Non-Bary, Pansexual, Queer, anywhere on the LGBTQI+ spectm and love the game. The support of the Arsenal fay - om the club, fellow fans and the iends who make up the GayGooners - at Pri n never be unrstated.

We are makg Arsenal for Everyone, every day - through allyship, through visibily and through thoands of GayGooners beg their thentic selv whether Gay, Lbian, Bi, Trans, Ace or Queer. Arsenal striker Vivianne Miema has said that would take an ele male player g out as gay for football to ever accept homosexualy.

Miema, who plays ternatnally for the Netherlands, is openly gay and is a relatnship wh Arsenal team-mate Lisa Evans. When asked if she thought a high-profile men’s player g out now would help bat homophobia football, Miema told the Prs Associatn: “Obvly I like to thk so.”.