Football v Homophobia MCFC Press Conference 01/02/16. Filmed & edited by James Delargy.
5 Feb 2016 #LGBT
Unfortunately, homophobia is still something that is around in this day and age. A campaign had been started called Football v Homophobia which aims to kick homophobia out of football for good and takes a positive stand against it.
Therefore, everyone, no matter what their sexual orientation or gender identity, can enjoy the beautiful game. football-for-everyone Football v Homophobia was founded and launched by the Justin Campaign in 2010. This campaign started as a small voluntarily-run football group and was named following Justin Fashanu’s tragic suicide in 1998.
In 2012 a LGBT organisation called Pride Sports joined with the Justin Campaign to help produce Football v Homophobia. By 2014, the organisation took over the delivery of the campaign altogether. Almost 2 out every 3 football fans in England believe football would be a better sport if anti-gay abuse was eradicated. 1 out of 2 lesbian, gay and bisexual fans feel it affects their participation in the sport. Alex Williams, Ambassador for Football in the Community, says a few words on the Football Vs Homophobia campaign.
Alex opened the press conference at The Etihad on Monday 1 Feb 2016, outlining Manchester City FC’s strong support for the programme and the work it does through its outreach work. Lou Englefield, who is energetically running the Football Vs Homophobia project talked about its initial launch in 2010, the history of the original campaign- which was very successful – and how the scope of the campaign grew from there. Lou highlighted that there are still challenges to come which are complex and that it’s made easier by looking back at how far awareness and inclusion has come.
Lou also spoke about sexism in the women’s football community from both lesbian and straight women and across genders. There is an international campaign which Lou and Manuel Picaud later talk about in which grants and support across the globe have been in place to deliver change. Phil Mason attended the event at the Etihad for the launch of Footballs Vs Homophobia.
Phil represents the Community Trust at Bolton Wanderers and talks about the scheme from the club/community perspective. Manuel Picaud is in the UK supporting the campaign and speaking to various clubs and organisations. He says it’s a very popular campaign with press conferences on weekly even on a daily basis.
Manuel talks about the Pride House initiative for Euro 2016. Look out for trending hashtag: #FvH2016 and check out @ManuelPicaud @GayGames 2018 MCFC Supporters Club & Homophobia Vs Football The ‘Kick Homophobia out of Football’ campaign is supported by fans of Manchester City FC all over the world.
From Australia, Canada, the US and Channel Islands to many of the MCFC Supporters Club branches across the UK, videos have been filmed and sent in to show solidarity for the movement. The entire UK is having a huge push right now to continue the work that’s been done over the last few decades.
Kicking homophobia out of football is something we’re passionate about across the entire MCFC Supporters Club! This ‘in progress’ video is kindly sponsored by The Ultimate Marketing Co Ltd – please give them a thank you!
Share, like and comment below! We’ve got Australia, Canada and the USA in this collection! You can also help support #LGBT rights and kick #homophobia out of football! If you want to be in the official video, get your branch to send in a clip (see branch email for details).
Should we create an MCFC t-shirt for this? See our growing collection of designs on our page here: http://mcfcsupportersclub.co.uk/2016/…
Also check out the John Browne interview from MCFC Canal Street Supporters Branch. John is a life-long true blue and speaks about the Canal Street MCFC Supporters Branch in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village. This branch is bringing football fans from the LGBT community together to support.
Checkout The X Generation: the north-west’s new and exclusive digital TV channel! For more, follow The X Generation on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter!
