On February 19th 2011, The Justin Campaign are launching an initiative, Football v Homophobia, to raise awareness of homophobia in amateur and professional football; to unite clubs, players and fans across the country by using the game of football to bring communities together in opposing hate and discrimination in the world’s favourite sport.
The campainers where also part of the FARE Networking Conference “Football for Equality: Challenging racism and homophobia across Europe”. One decade after the foundation of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network in Vienna, The Justin Campaign joined more than 100 campaigners, fans, football administrators, players, policy makers and experts from 28 European countries in Austria’s capital to devise the future of the FARE network.
In her opening address MEP Ulrike Lunacek, co-president of the LGBT Inter-Group of the European Parliament, stressed her satisfaction that FARE addressed homophobia for the first time so prominently in a conference.
For football, Ulrike Lunacek said, "it is also clear that there are some gay man among football players - but very few of them are out. Justin Fashanu was one: A black man, but also gay. He could not live his full potential and committed suicide because of the fear, because of the reactions, because of the prejudices. That’s why it is so important to work against this fear, to be open, breaking the surface, breaking the silence."
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