Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion campaign, launches its annual One Game, One Community weeks of action initiative with a homophobia in football debate at Soho Square on 16 October at 7pm.
The 12 day week of action campaign will see professional football link up with schools, universities, community and youth centres, for a nationwide stand against discrimination and support diversity.
Over 1000 events and activities are scheduled to take place and the initiative kicks off with ‘Homophobia: Football’s Final Taboo’, with gay rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell.
“All bigotry is ugly. It has no legitimate place in any sport. Homophobia is not, or should not be, any more acceptable than racism,” commented Tatchell.
“I’m delighted to be involved in raising the debate with Kick It Out as part of their weeks of action.”
The panel discussion will bring together The FA, the Gay Football Supporters Network (GFSN), and flagship gay newspaper, The Pink Paper, to discuss how homophobia in football can be addressed.
Panel members will include:
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Piara Powar - Kick It Out
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Lucy Faulkner - The FA's Equality Manager
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Barney Efthimiou - GSFN
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Jason Bartholomew Hall - Justin Fashanu Campaign
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Peter Tatchell
Kick It Out Director, Piara Powar, said: “We’ve been campaigning to rid our game of discrimination for some years now.
“And we¹ve made significant headway; black players are everywhere and ethnic minority communities are getting closer whether they are on the pitch or in the stands.
“However there is still no openly gay players and casual abuse of many players has homophobic overtones.
“We exist to, among other things, help raise the issue of homophobia in football.
“We want to use this event to pose some questions and unearth some answers, as to why the world of professional football remains hostile to the openly lesbian, gay and transgender sections of the population.
Events will be taking place across the UK from 16-28 October.