Coronatn Street actor who plays Jam Bailey says 'football is ready to have a gay player' | London Eveng Standard | Eveng Standard

Contents:

• CORONATN STREET'S GAY FOOTBALLER STORYLE CHANGG NVERSATN ON HOMOPHOBIA
• CORONATN STREET WILL EXPLORE HOMOPHOBIA FOOTBALL AS NEW GAY CHARACTER JOS THE ST
• CORONATN STREET NEWER NATHAN GRAHAM REVEALS FIRST TAILS OF GAY FOOTBALLER CHARACTER JAM BAILEY
• DAN BROCKLEBANK ‘HONOURED’ BY CORONATN STREET’S FIRST EVER SUCCSFUL GAY WEDDG
• CORONATN STREET TO EXPLORE HOMOPHOBIA FOOTBALL WH ARRIVAL OF NEW GAY CHARACTER
• CORONATN STREET ACTOR WHO PLAYS JAM BAILEY SAYS 'FOOTBALL IS READY TO HAVE A GAY PLAYER'

CORONATN STREET'S GAY FOOTBALLER STORYLE CHANGG NVERSATN ON HOMOPHOBIA

Jam received support when he me out as gay to his mum and brother last year, but after tellg his dad Ed Febary, the reactn was far om posive. A social media slip-up then saw mours beg to circulate around the County fanbase, leadg to Jam flectg awkward qutns om the club's manager and prs the soap havg been stretched longer across the schl due to the panmic, Jam' difficulti have been prolonged - and last Friday, a nontatn on the bbl wh a supporter who was makg homophobic tnts threatened to turn vlent.

CORONATN STREET WILL EXPLORE HOMOPHOBIA FOOTBALL AS NEW GAY CHARACTER JOS THE ST

Jam was terpted while talkg to Tim Metlfe and reacted aggrsively when the fan ed homophobic abe. "Graham is speakg to Sky Sports to mark the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, an annual awarens day that has been observed for over 15 years.

CORONATN STREET NEWER NATHAN GRAHAM REVEALS FIRST TAILS OF GAY FOOTBALLER CHARACTER JAM BAILEY

In the absence of a visible gay or bi role mol men's profsnal football the UK, the story will be havg a particularly signifint impact on anyone who se themselv reflected Jam. "If starts to create nversatns wh different muni or areas of the football world, and if young kids are watchg who play football and who might be gay themselv, shows 's important to she a light on this subject.

'Rpect for gay player would help'.

DAN BROCKLEBANK ‘HONOURED’ BY CORONATN STREET’S FIRST EVER SUCCSFUL GAY WEDDG

He's now the Diversy and Incln Officer at the Football Associatn and has been playg as a forward for Stonewall FC - the UK's first gay football club, currently playg at Step 7 of the non-League pyramid - for several years. "I didn't know anybody who looked like me who may or may not have been gay. "A lot of my difficulti were tryg to fd a sense of belongg the football muny whilst knowg that beg gay was this element of my inty that didn't rencile, " says Lemoni.

The tertwg of both homophobia and racism the Fashanu story has ma him a totemic figure the fight agast discrimatn; a charable foundatn Jt's name was recently lnched by his niece Amal. Somebody uld be watchg the show and see a mirror of themselv, pecially if they're a young black man who's gay. Jam' father Ed has prevly told his son he should hi his sexualy orr to avoid homophobia, makg the ntrast between how neher of them n hi their race and so have to al wh racism.

CORONATN STREET TO EXPLORE HOMOPHOBIA FOOTBALL WH ARRIVAL OF NEW GAY CHARACTER

"Unfortunately, homophobic and racist abe still happen, but a footballer like Jam shouldn't have to feel they're alone experiencg that, " says Graham.

"As I've e out and navigated that journey, I've always felt more nsc of beg black before beg gay, particularly LGBT spac. "Welg cultur, wng mentaliTo help Graham learn more about the experience of beg a sportsman who's gay, the gby league player Keegan Hirst - who me out publicly 2015 - talked him through some of the parallels between his own journey and that of Jam. "The sle of the two sports is obvly very different, " says Graham, "but om what Keegan said, sounds like the RFL has a zero tolerance towards homophobia wh their sport, which ma him feel like the environment was safe for him to e out.

CORONATN STREET ACTOR WHO PLAYS JAM BAILEY SAYS 'FOOTBALL IS READY TO HAVE A GAY PLAYER'

"There n be a victimls mentaly - a feelg that 'we n't be homophobic, bee there aren't actually any gay, bi or qutng players on the pch to be homophobic towards'. It means that for someone experiencg a microaggrsn or smaller form of homophobia that's more vert, the chanc they're gog to report or speak out about are que slim.

Particularly when I liver trag at amy level, I fd the players are ed to havg gay, bi and trans people their schools and they're gettg tn that's clive now as well. Todd Grimshaw was a nfed teen when he filmed Coronatn Street’s first ever gay kiss.