Homophobic ‘rent boy’ chant still torments gay soccer fans - Outsports

Contents:

• YEARS LATER, HOMOPHOBIC ‘RENT BOY’ CHANT STILL TORMENTS GAY SOCCER FANS
• WOLV FED £100K FOR FANS' ANTI-GAY CHANTG VS CHELSEA
• TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
• IN JAPAN, A J-POP STAR HAS E OUT AS GAY AND HIS FANS CHEER
• REECE JAM IS NOT GAY, HE IS IN A RELATNSHIP WH HIS GIRLIEND MIA MCCLENAGHAN
• BEYONCé HONORS GAY FAN WHO WAS KILLED, ALLEGEDLY FOR VOGUG TO HER MIC

YEARS LATER, HOMOPHOBIC ‘RENT BOY’ CHANT STILL TORMENTS GAY SOCCER FANS

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.

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

A recent spate of homophobic beatgs Liverpool speak to this fact. It would not work if there was no associatn between the area the club is and gay people. While sex work is certaly monized popular culture, the punchle of this particular chant is specifilly to gay sex.

The “gay” part is not cintal, ’s central.

TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED

And if a joke reli on gay sex as the target of the punchle for to land is necsarily homophobic. They do this bee they worry that they would receive physil or verbal abe om homophobic people — often fans of their own team — if they didn’t.

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. A homophobic chant mak a queer fan remember that they don’t belong. But when a group of people sgs somethg homophobic, those queer fans are remd that realy they aren’t que part of that llective.

IN JAPAN, A J-POP STAR HAS E OUT AS GAY AND HIS FANS CHEER

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. Lettg sual homophobia stand embolns explic homophobia.

The slur’s stubborn persistence shows how difficult n be to eradite homophobic tradns om male sports, pecially wh relative actn om erng bodi. “It’s a te dark cloud over any gay man who go to a football game and has to hear . Eher way, the exprsn “rent boy” is herently homophobic, says Jon Holm, an edor at Sky Sports.

“There’s always the suggtn that people chant or say that chant or sg bee they don’t really do wh homophobic tentns, ” he said. K., don’t regnize the chant as homophobic.

REECE JAM IS NOT GAY, HE IS IN A RELATNSHIP WH HIS GIRLIEND MIA MCCLENAGHAN

For Callum Jewell, -founr of Watford’s LGBTQ fan club, the Proud Hors, “rent boy” and other anti-gay tnts brg back unpleasant memori.

“When you grow up gay, and you’re bullied a lot childhood pecially, there’s words that put you on edge, and jt brg back all the horrible memori of every time that someone says sh to you.

And then a b of tly horrific timg, that same week’s Wt Ham/Chelsea match ma headl for what Sky News lled “ntuo” homophobic chants directed at Chelsea supporters. And tth, this homophobic mob mentaly has existed among certa segments of Premier League fandom for a long time. In the wake of this most recent outburst, Wt Ham LGBTQ supporters group Pri of Irons tweeted, “When you e homophobic chants, you aren’t abg most Chelsea fans who will be straight, but all gay fans whether they support Chelsea or Wt Ham.

BEYONCé HONORS GAY FAN WHO WAS KILLED, ALLEGEDLY FOR VOGUG TO HER MIC

Kick It Out’s rponse put bluntly: “We have rmed the FA and reerate our msage: the ‘Rent Boy’ chant is homophobic and mt be treated as such. As Sky News reported, this is the third stance of the anti-gay “Chelsea rent boys” chant rearg s ugly head 2019 alone.