Exclive: ‘1000% agast promotg gay rights’ – Chelsea fan group chairman’s homophobic ments - The Athletic

Contents:

• 'I WOULDN'T FEEL SAFE AS A GAY CHELSEA PLAYER RIGHT NOW' - HOW THE BLU' LGBT+ FAN GROUP IS CHALLENGG -STADIUM ABE
• WOLV FED £100K FOR FANS' ANTI-GAY CHANTG VS CHELSEA
• HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF CHELSEA PLAYER ME OUT AS GAY?
• CHELSEA’S RUBEN LOFT-CHEEK NI HE’S GAY, BUT SUPPORTS A PLAYER G OUT
• NEW YORK GAY DISTRICT: CHELSEA
• EXCLIVE: ‘1000% AGAST PROMOTG GAY RIGHTS’ – CHELSEA FAN GROUP CHAIRMAN’S HOMOPHOBIC MENTS
• WHY ARE MORE FEMALE PROFSNAL FOOTBALLERS OPENLY GAY OR BISEXUAL THAN MALE PLAYERS?

'I WOULDN'T FEEL SAFE AS A GAY CHELSEA PLAYER RIGHT NOW' - HOW THE BLU' LGBT+ FAN GROUP IS CHALLENGG -STADIUM ABE

Goal's seri of terviews wh supporters' groups reprentg gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr fans ntu at Stamford Are The Shed, a die-hard group of Chelsea season ticket holrs, may not be the most stereotypil alli to the LGBT+ muny,. The ‘Chelsea rent boys’ chant is a mon homophobic slur ed by supporters of rivals clubs when visg Stamford Bridge, and has been -opted by many Blu fans by way of fiance.

It mak Brown immensely unfortable, and while ntu to be sung, she nnot see how LGBT+ fans of the club n be persuad to attend match – let alone for a gay player to e out. Goal"Governg bodi and the law need to change, so that if there is homophobia wh the stands, you n actually be prosecuted and banned jt the same way as you n for racism.

Chelsea pta Car Azpilicueta says he tackl ments that are "out of place" aimed at gay iends, addg that he wants to create a "safe environment" at Chelsea for LGBTQ+ players to feel wele at Stamford an exclive terview wh Chelsea's Pernille Harr and Magda Eriksson, Azpilicueta spoke to The HangOut - a llaboratn between Sky Sports and Ten To Media - about LGBTQ+ cln at the Blu. Megan Rapoe on The HangOutWSL table | Fixtur | RultsDownload the Sky Sports appAzpilicueta said: "I have iends that are gay and I would try to help a way that feels fortable. Last year, Blackpool's Jake Daniels beme the UK's first active male profsnal footballer to e out publicly as gay sce Jt Fashanu 1990, while 2021 Alai Uned's Josh Cavallo also me whether this had been talked about the Chelsea drsg room, Azpilicueta revealed: "It was discsed bee, of urse, was big news.

WOLV FED £100K FOR FANS' ANTI-GAY CHANTG VS CHELSEA

Almost a year after beg the first openly gay player men's profsnal football, Alai Uned midfielr Josh Cavallo spoke wh Tim Thornton about his life sce the announcement and how his cisn has helped to spire others. Two Premier League players are a uple and have e out as gay to their teammat, but not yet, reports suggt the Premier League footballers qutn uld e out a documentary currently productn wh Channel follows Gary Leker recently claimg he was aware of two Premier League players who were thkg of g out as gay soon.

Nottgham Fort’s draw wh Chelsea on Sunday (1 January) was marred by homophobic chants of ‘Chelsea rent boy’ that have been nounced by LGBTQ+ fan groups for both Premier League football teams.

Chelsea LGBTQ+ supporters group Chelsea Pri tweeted that they “totally nmn” the e of the homophobic slur after was directed at Chelsea players durg the match at Nottgham Fort’s Cy Ground stadium. Durg the 1960s and ’70s, Chelsea was a hub for LGBTQ+ people the Wt End of London, boastg numero pubs and bars where queer people uld eely be themselv a homophobic cultural climate.

HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF CHELSEA PLAYER ME OUT AS GAY?

Some of the motivatn behd the chant has evolved recent years, meang that some people g the term 2023 do not even realise s historilly homophobic nnotatns. Last year, the Crown Prosecutn Service nfirmed that nsirs the term ‘rent boy’ to be a homophobic slur, meang that those g uld be liable for prosecutn unr hate crime laws.

A CPS spokperson told Sky Sports News: “The CPS ntu to take racist and homophobic chantg at football match extremely serly and is workg closely the FA, football clubs and chari to drive this hio behavur out of the game.

Chelsea FC praised the move at the time, wrg on s official webse: “Chelsea Football Club wel the news that the Crown Prosecutn Service regnis that the term ‘rent boy’ is a homophobic slur, and that those who e are liable to prosecutn. Ultimately, is the police who are rponsible for enforcg the law around racist and homophobic language football, rather than the Football Associatn (FA).

CHELSEA’S RUBEN LOFT-CHEEK NI HE’S GAY, BUT SUPPORTS A PLAYER G OUT

Groups like Kick It Out and mpaigns like Rabow Lac are workg to te fans and eradite homophobia football, but after Sunday’s cint Chelsea Pri have lled on footballg thori to do more to tackle homophobic chants and abe. Beg told that somethg is homophobic, that ’s hurtful to both many Chelsea fans as well as many wh the Liverpool fanbase, should be enough to stop anyone sgg . It should be enough, and given those who did attempt to start the song on Saturday after beg told of s homophobia by Kop Outs and Jürgen Klopp himself ahead of the match were, by most reports, quickly shut down, perhaps even will be.

Rather than tryg to nvce anyone for whom that isn’t enough, though, this article is tend as a rource for anyone who has felt trated tryg to expla the homophobia herent the chant to someone who sists they “don’t mean anythg by .

” For most, beg told a homophobic song is alienatg to queer supporters of any club, cludg fellow Liverpool supporters, would be enough to stop sgg the song. This article, then, is my attempt to pay forward: someone explaed to me, and I hope this n be a helpful gloss that n be ed for anyone who matas a willful ignorance so as to be able to keep sgg the song whilst claimg they aren’t exprsg homophobia while dog so.

NEW YORK GAY DISTRICT: CHELSEA

Chants like the rent boy chant — and reactns that suggt removg homophobic chants is beg “overly PC” — serve to remd queer supporters that they still don’t que belong. While the chant self don’t explicly abe LGBT fans, what do do, both general and pecially now that everyone has been told ’s homophobic, is ntribute to the general hostile atmosphere many queer people ntue to experience. If you thk the sual homophobia herent the chant — ed, the homophobia that mak the chant work — is not important, you are sayg that you feel that sgg a homophobic chant is more important to you than allowg other supporters feel like they belong.

RtersJul 14, 2023, 09:24 PMWolverhampton Wanrers have been hand a £100, 000 ($131, 000) fe for anti-gay chantg by a sectn of their supporters durg their home Premier League game agast Chelsea April, the English Football Associatn (FA) said on FA has issued a plan of actn, which clus awarens of unacceptable behavur, that will take immediate effect and rema place for the g season. "The punishment relat to the 'Chelsea rent boy' chant, which is fed as an anti-gay slur and was ma a prosecutable offence for anyone found to sg or e the words by the Crown Prosecutn Service January 2022, " the FA said a statement. RtersJul 14, 2023, 11:24 AMWolverhampton Wanrers have been hand a £100, 000 ($131, 000) fe for anti-gay chantg by a sectn of their supporters durg their home Premier League game agast Chelsea April, the English Football Associatn (FA) said on FA has issued a plan of actn, which clus awarens of unacceptable behavur, that will take immediate effect and rema place for the g season.

EXCLIVE: ‘1000% AGAST PROMOTG GAY RIGHTS’ – CHELSEA FAN GROUP CHAIRMAN’S HOMOPHOBIC MENTS

But ok, to be pletely hont, I would probably like the player a ltle extra, e how big balls would you have to have to e out a homophobic sport like this?

Rumors about Loft-Cheeke, 22, beg gay circulated on Twter a re that has bee faiar the English Premier League, where no active player has ever e out. For far too long, homophobic sults have been ed to nigrate opposn players or fans, so 's time the thori took the issue serlyFor years, homophobia has been an easy, acceptable go-to for fans orr to nigrate opposn players or this fortable notn of vile abe jt beg part of the game is beg challenged, phed back, and January, the Crown Prosecutn Service (CPS) – the ma public agency for prosecutg crim England and Wal – announced that the "rent boys" chant often heard at football grounds Bra, and pecially aimed at Chelsea players eher at the club or on loan, is a hate crime, meang clubs whose fans sg the offensive songs n be punished as they would be for chant was heard recently at the League Cup semi-fal between Tottenham and Chelsea, and at Millwall vers Crystal Palace the FA Cup third round where on-loan Eagl midfielr Conor Gallagher was targeted, while Billy Gilmour has also been on the receivg end durg Norwich match this chant self dat back to the 1980s and the popular narrative regardg s orig is that a member of the famo right-wg hooligan group, the Chelsea Headhunters, was found bed wh a male prostute, or rent boy, durg a dawn raid by police, wh the news exposed by tabloids.

"As a Chelsea fan, Glanvill says the chant mak him and many other supporters eply unhappy – not on acunt of their sexualy, but on the fact that homosexualy should not be viewed as somethg to be mocked, monised and says: "Irrpective of s origs, the tnt the ‘rent boys’ chant is that all Chelsea fans are gay and sex workers and, as a Blu fan, hearg directed at you uld leave you a quandary.

WHY ARE MORE FEMALE PROFSNAL FOOTBALLERS OPENLY GAY OR BISEXUAL THAN MALE PLAYERS?

"There’s also the propagatn of a nasty stereotype, prevalent at the height of the AIDS epimic, that gay people are more promiscuo and sleazy than straight people – who, let’s face , are jt as liable to e sex workers as the next person. "It’s also hugely divisive to the support base of those sgg as there's an -built assumptn that no one the crowd uld possibly be homosexual and therefore hurt by what they’re hearg. "Or if you are gay and support the same team perhaps they are ready wh the same ‘you’re alright, ’s the rt of you’ nce that was whispered to black and Asian people for years.

"I jt fd pletely ignorant and prepostero, and although I’m never offend by a suggtn I might be homosexual, ’s the tentn behd the chant, as a slur and an sult to the gay muny, that mak abive. "Comg om a time when homophobia was the norm Brish society, the chant now liv on football stadiums, where n be stripped of all ntext and meang to be thrown out as a sual sult by those who know ltle and re ls about what they are is now beg challenged at a high level. “Recently, we have seen an crease of reports racist and homophobic abe at football match and this is a disease we are termed to play our part cuttg out.