'We love football as much as anyone else' - How the Gay Gooners and Arsenal are tacklg homophobia |

Contents:

• 'WE LOVE FOOTBALL AS MUCH AS ANYONE ELSE' - HOW THE GAY GOONERS AND ARSENAL ARE TACKLG HOMOPHOBIA
• ARSENAL’S GAY GOONERS AMONG ENGLISH LGBT SOCCER FAN GROUPS PHG FOR CLN
• ARSENAL’S HECTOR BELLER THE VICTIM OF HOMOPHOBIC SLURS AND SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER IS IMPOSSIBLE PREMIER LEAGUE
• ARSENAL’S HéCTOR BELLERíN TALKS GAY PLAYERS FOOTBALL: “I DON’T KNOW IF FOOTBALL IS READY FOR THAT YET”

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

Gay Gooners. Gay Gooners is Arsenal Football Club’s official supporters’ group for LGBT+ fans.

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

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. 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. Gay Gooners also send a team to the club’s annual Arsenal for Everyone tournament at the muny hub. 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 HECTOR BELLER THE VICTIM OF HOMOPHOBIC SLURS AND SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER IS IMPOSSIBLE PREMIER LEAGUE

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. ”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.

ARSENAL’S HéCTOR BELLERíN TALKS GAY PLAYERS FOOTBALL: “I DON’T KNOW IF FOOTBALL IS READY FOR THAT YET”

“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. 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. Among the roughly 1000 profsnal male footballers the top four levels of the English league system, not a sgle one is openly gay. ' " says Dave Raval, a former profsnal soccer referee who's now chairman of Arsenal FC's Gay Gooners.

' How n you expect one man, right the middle of this pch, surround by 60, 000 people, to put his hand up and say, 'Hey, I'm the gay one, ' when not a sgle other person has done so?

The Gay Gooners, found 2012, were England's first gay soccer fan group, and they now number more than 600, makg them the largt such group anywhere the world. Even as the UK has ma huge stris toward LGBT equaly recent s, sual homophobia has remaed part of soccer culture.