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Britain's gay footballers


Super_Saint
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Interesting program on BBC 3 about gay footballers within the game. I don't know of any gay footballers apart from Jutin Fashanu who commited suicide and Sol Campbell who was accused and abused of being homosexual, but later denied it.

 

What is the difference in Gareth Thomas coming out in a macho sport such as Rugby and being accepted opposed to football?

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Interesting program on BBC 3 about gay footballers within the game. I don't know of any gay footballers apart from Jutin Fashanu who commited suicide and Sol Campbell who was accused and abused of being homosexual, but later denied it.

 

What is the difference in Gareth Thomas coming out in a macho sport such as Rugby and being accepted opposed to football?

 

Money - the clubs and the agents don't want their products 'tainted' because they'll be worth less.

 

Sad, really.

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Money - the clubs and the agents don't want their products 'tainted' because they'll be worth less.

 

Sad, really.

 

Sad and probably wrong. There is a big gay market out there. David James posing in his undercrackers earns him some money, but if he were gay I bet he would be the biggest ticket in town - until everyone comes out, then the playing field levels out

Edited by ooh it's a corner
brackets and the word until failed the rude word filter
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I have to salute a player like our own Jack Cork tweeting what he has tonight. I'd hoped to watch the program but been too excite over Billy Sharp's signing. Jack has shown a lot of courage and I do hope other players across the country will follow his example. Too often on Youtube and in the newspapers I've come across bright young lads bullied, mocked and reduced into committing suicide by their classmates, so called friends for being gay. Only recently a young American posted a video on Youtube which he made himself but which got over 8 million hits in 3 days. Jack Cork is one person who retweeted the link as did many showbusiness people. We all make/made jokes but few of us realise the suffering they cause to those unable to defend themselves, unable to fight back.

 

Here's Jonah's video made out of desperation in the early hours of the night. The reaction was incredible from his parents, friends and millions who were moved by his story.

 

I personally found the video very moving yet very effective in the fight against homophobia in our society.

 

JOSH MOWRY "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

 

[video=youtube;TdkNn3Ei-Lg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

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I have to salute a player like our own Jack Cork tweeting what he has tonight. I'd hoped to watch the program but been too excite over Billy Sharp's signing. Jack has shown a lot of courage and I do hope other players across the country will follow his example. Too often on Youtube and in the newspapers I've come across bright young lads bullied, mocked and reduced into committing suicide by their classmates, so called friends for being gay. Only recently a young American posted a video on Youtube which he made himself but which got over 8 million hits in 3 days. Jack Cork is one person who retweeted the link as did many showbusiness people. We all make/made jokes but few of us realise the suffering they cause to those unable to defend themselves, unable to fight back.

 

Here's Jonah's video made out of desperation in the early hours of the night. The reaction was incredible from his parents, friends and millions who were moved by his story.

 

I personally found the video very moving yet very effective in the fight against homophobia in our society.

 

JOSH MOWRY "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

 

[video=youtube;TdkNn3Ei-Lg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

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Wasn't aware that Justin Fashanu played for us until seeing a picture of him in an eighties Saints shirt on ITV this morning. Just seen this on wiki about it:

 

"In August 1982 he was loaned to Southampton (scoring 3 goals in 9 appearances).[3] At The Dell, Fashanu settled in well and his promising form helped the "Saints" overcome the sudden departure of Kevin Keegan; manager Lawrie McMenemy would have liked to make the move permanent, but was prevented from doing so by lack of funds."

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I don't actually think it would be an issue if someone came out in the modern game, I think the prejudice of football fans as a group is greatly exagerated. I know there will always be a few idiots, but I really can't imagine the whole Northam screaming homophobic abuse at a player.

 

Singing silly songs about Brighton fans holding hands and shopping really isn't that much of a big deal. It's not funny, but homophobic really? It's like making a joke about ironing with a woman and being called sexist. It's not sexist really is it, it's a silly joke. Sexism would be not hiring a woman for a job because she is a woman, or paying her less etc.

 

I think if anything a player would be applauded and supported by most fans for coming out. It isn't the 1970s anymore, St Marys isn't full of 20,000 Jim Davidsons every weekend. I'm sure a very small minority shouting homophobic would soon be reported/banned/arrested the same as anyone shouting racist abuse at a black player.

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It may not be hateful homophobia, but it's still homophobia and doesn't help the situation one bit. Same way a lot of racist comments might not be intended hatefully, but still highlight ignorance on the subject and prejudice at some level.

 

As with sexist jokes, it may not be hateful, may not be meant but the jokes aren't funny because they aren't true.

 

I think what football needs is a gay player who is thick skinned enough to say, "yes I'm gay, I like holding hands and shopping, sing what you want." I mean seriously, the stuff we've sung at Kevin Phillips and Marlon King this season is worse than the stuff we sang at Brighton fans.

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Not gay stuff but Becks used to be pretty philosophical about the "Posh Spice is a slapper song"

Seem to remember he said it was what you paid £30 to go to football for and he didn't take any notice.

 

Shows how little of what football fans chant is based in reality. She seems the epitome of a supportive wife imo.

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I wouldn't care one bit about whether one of our players was gay or not - does it change how he plays on the pitch? It's a shame that not all gay footballers feel comfortable enough to come out, but unfortunately it seems that a lot of football fans are very narrow minded people who wouldn't accept it. Given the fact that somebody behind me at the Leicester game was saying racist things about Neil Danns, I can only imagine the kind of stick a player would get if he was gay - racist seems to be quite widely condemned across football but there's still a large element of homophobia present as well.

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I believe it's not the local club, the team colleagues that are the problem if a player announced he was gay. It would be the opponent fans, players who would give them grief and pressurise them to the limit. It would take several players announcing they are gay together, in particular, types that in no way fit the average persons opinion of what constitutes a gay person.

 

For those obviously enjoying the gay football photos, here are several very funny photos I send to adriansfc by private message the other evening. Check out the last one of Ronaldo. Really hilarious

 

http://izismile.com/2011/06/25/proof_that_gay_soccer_players_do_exist_10_pics_1_gif.html

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Art.

 

Thanks so very much for posting Jonah's video, I must say I too found it brutally honest and immensely moving. I can only hope this young lad can find the strength to overcome the ignorance surrounding him and find his own way through life.

 

I wish him well.

 

The response to this video was overwhelming and he gained the support of millions of people including all his classmates at his new school. For a week or two he and his mother were appearing on all the top American news programs. He got a big silly with all this new found fame and some accused him of faking his video. No so, he just got carried away at all the attention he got so suddenly.

Yet this is just the beginning for someone like Jonah, as has been so tragically seen in others who took to Youtube thinking they had done the right thing, only to relapse into depression and commit suicide. Such was the case of as 14 year old New York kid who caught the eye of Lady Gaga. He opened a channel on Youtube proclaiming it can only get better. Alas, one year of campaigning against bullying and homophobie. Despite Gaga's support, one Sunday last August Jamey Rodmeyer killed himself. This story is heartbreaking and what drew my attention to bullying and the suffering of so many trying to come to grips with their sexuality and other problems.. Here is a link to the story in the Daily Mail. On Youtube one is able to find more about this really tragic story.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039801/Bullied-gay-teen-Jamey-Rodemeyer-commits-suicide-Thanks-Lady-Gaga-post.html

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I don't actually think it would be an issue if someone came out in the modern game, I think the prejudice of football fans as a group is greatly exagerated. I know there will always be a few idiots, but I really can't imagine the whole Northam screaming homophobic abuse at a player.

 

Singing silly songs about Brighton fans holding hands and shopping really isn't that much of a big deal. It's not funny, but homophobic really? It's like making a joke about ironing with a woman and being called sexist. It's not sexist really is it, it's a silly joke. Sexism would be not hiring a woman for a job because she is a woman, or paying her less etc.

 

I think if anything a player would be applauded and supported by most fans for coming out. It isn't the 1970s anymore, St Marys isn't full of 20,000 Jim Davidsons every weekend. I'm sure a very small minority shouting homophobic would soon be reported/banned/arrested the same as anyone shouting racist abuse at a black player.

I agree with this. Unfortunately these sorts of things have to be exaggerated by the press & media in order to allow them to create sensationalist headlines & sell more papers/get more viewers. If they allowed society to be left to settle into a natural level of general acceptance & tolerance towards each other, they’d make less money.

 

Thankfully for them, they are able to crate these exaggerated prejudices, which in turn stir up the emotions of over dramatic people such as adriansfc who aren’t able to see the difference between real homophobia, with intended aggressive, negative, hostile activities aimed at a group of individuals, & non hostile stereotypical activities that are obviously meant as mockery without any intended aggression (& I don’t deny that amongst a group of 3000 football fans signing songs, there may well be a handful of people who do feel that intended aggression, but the majority won’t).

One of my best friends is gay, he makes references & jokes about ‘the gays’, & on occasions I’ve also told him to stop being such a bender when he’s been camping it up. Is he being homophobic/am I?... of course not.

Even if there were gay people in a crowd of away fans & the home fans were signing about seeing them holding hands, I honestly don’t beleive they would be offended at that, as they would know the difference between intended aggressive abuse and generic mockery & they'd be fully aware it was the latter.

 

This is the same with Racism, I’m sick to death of hearing the media talking about the first black this, the first black president, the first black MP, there’s X amount of black football managers, etc, etc. So frigging what, I personally don’t think many people actually care these days do they? I couldn’t care a less what colour someone is, so long as they can do the job. Again the media keep the prejudice going.

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