Federation of Gay Games signs UK Charter for Action on Homophobia in Sport

At Pride House 2012 Carl Schultz, on behalf of the Federation of Gay Games, signed the United Kingdom government Charter for Action on Tackling Homophobia and Transphobia in Sport (photo Mark Delacour).

For more information on the Charter, visit its webpage from the Home Office.

More on the UK Sports Charter

From the UK Home Office web page on the Sports Charter on homophobia and transphobia in sport, which can be found HERE.

Sports Charter
The Sports Charter calls for anyone and everyone with a sporting interest or involvement to unite and tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport.

We launched the Sports Charter in March 2011 with the backing of five major sporting bodies and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). Now, over a year later, the Charter has gained support from all over the UK, and has over 3,300 signatories.

1) We believe that everyone should be able to participate in and enjoy sport –
whoever they are and whatever their background.
2) We believe that sport is about fairness and equality, respect and dignity. Sport teaches
individuals how to strive and succeed, how to cope with success and disappointment,
and brings people together with a common goal.
3) We are committed to making these values a reality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people. We will work together, and individually, to rid sport of homophobia and transphobia.
4) We will make sport a welcome place for everyone – for those participating in sport,
those attending sporting events and for those working or volunteering in sports at any
level. We will work with all these groups to ensure they have a voice, and to challenge unacceptable behaviour.

Supporting the Sports Charter
To date over 3,300 sporting bodies, clubs, professional athletes, celebrities and sports fans have signed the Sports Charter and committed to taking action.

Signatories include Billie Jean-King, Ben Cohen, Martina Navratilova, Gareth Thomas, Stephen Fry and David Furnish.

On 2 February 2012, the Charter received a boost when every football club in the Premier League signed up, followed on 28 February by the Football League, which represents 72 professional clubs in England and Wales.

All these clubs are fully committed to challenging discrimination and working to rid footaball of homophobic and transphobic abuse, both in the stands and on the field.

A full list of the organisations, sports stars and celebrities that have backed the Charter is now available HERE..


How to sign the Sports Charter
To show your support for the Sports Charter you can visit and 'like' the I love sport but I hate homophobia and transphobia Facebook page, We'll update the growing list of signatories every few months.

Turning committment into action
You can help spread the message that discrimination of any kind has no place in sport by letting your teams, players and fans know what you are doing to tackle homophobia and transphobia.
The communications toolkit includes a number of resources to help you demonstrate this:

More signatures on UK Sport Charter against homophobia

From PinkNews.co.uk:

British tennis champions have signed up to the government’s Sports Charter on tackling homophobia and transphobia in sport.

British number one Elena Baltacha and number two Anne Keothavong signed the Sports Charter, along with former British player Katie O’Brien.

They were joined by members of the Lawn Tennis Association at the signing.

Signing the charter commits the association and players to actively challenge all forms of homophobic and transphobic abuse or discrimination.

Dale Park, the association’s Equality and Diversity Manager, said: “It’s fantastic to have so many colleagues, volunteers and elite players sign the charter.

“We have seen great support from the LTA with the CEO, President and Deputy President all signing the Charter along with high profile players Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong, and former player Katie O’Brien.

“This sets a great example to everyone who plays, coaches and watches tennis on the type of environment we expect across British tennis.”

Keep reading HERE.

Keph Senett on campaigns against homophobia in sport

In Xtra.ca, Keph Senett asks if campaigns are having an impact on homophobia in sport in Canada and beyond:

While more professional athletes have come out of the closet in the past year than in the past decade, an expert on homophobia in professional sports says it is still the last great bastion of institutionalized homophobia.

In 2011, dozens of athletes publicly came out across a spectrum of disciplines, ranging from swimming to cycling to soccer. Momentum gathered as several high-profile organizational figures — such as Phoenix Suns president Rick Welts and ESPN radio host Jared Max — followed suit, and straight allies like wrestler Hudson Taylor, of the Athlete Ally foundation, and rugby player Ben Cohen, who founded the StandUp Foundation, helped put the anti-homophobia message on the international agenda.

The same year, Major League Baseball got involved at the franchise level when the San Francisco Giants participated in Dan Savage’s It Gets Better project, and by the end of the season a total of eight MLB teams had produced videos for the campaign.

Former basketballer Charles Barkley was vocal in his ondemnation of homophobia in sports, and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network ran its Think B4 You Speak campaign on television during a National Basketball Association game in May.

Gains were made even in the world of soccer, which has been heavily criticized for its lack of organizational support for an anti-homophobia strategy. In 2011, the United Kingdom’s The Justin Campaign, which advocates against homophobia in the sport, secured official endorsements from both The Football Association and the Union of European Football Associations.

Indeed, if a spectator dropped in for the 2011 sports season only, it seems likely that he or she might conclude that homophobia in sport is an antiquated issue, a throwback to a different, less enlightened time.

But according to Caroline Fusco, an associate professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto, professional sport remains a stronghold of homophobic attitudes.

“Sport as a space has been one that has really been there for the production of a certain kind of hyper-masculinity. Particularly when you think of pro sports, the big ones: hockey, football, baseball. These all tie in to the rugged notion of masculinity, and these attitudes remain — that gay men aren’t masculine,” she says.

Strategies like Brian and Patrick Burke’s You Can Play campaign, which is aimed at the National Hockey League, are trying to change that. Advocates go after the highest-profile names they can secure to create messaging that challenges that notion.

It’s an effective method. The events of 2011 seem to suggest a sea change in the sporting culture. But is the endorsement or coming out of a collection of high-profile sports figures a reasonable measure of the state of homophobia in sport? Is it the best way to tackle homophobia?

Marc Naimark, vice-president of external affairs for the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), seems to think not. “The Federation of Gay Games [has] continued to offer opportunities for LGBT athletes to be active in sport in a safe environment while engaging straight athletes in clubs or at sports competitions,” he says. “When we consider sheer numbers, that is far more significant than the elusive out pro athlete.”

Keep reading HERE.

UK Sports Charter logo has Gay Games connections

After a public contest, the official logo of the UK Charter against homophobia in sport has been chosen. The FGG is proud of the Gay Games connection and congratulates Suran Dickson on inspiring the winning design! Here's the article from the UK LGBT History Month website: 

The New Sports Charter Logo is now out and proud and you can see it below. The Sports Charter commits signatories to work to rid sport of discrimination and abuse against LGB&T people. It has received remarkable support from the sporting world receiving over 3,300 signatures, including from all Premier League, Championship, League 1 and League 2 football clubs and all Rugby Football League super league teams. To see a full list of signatories click here.

The winning logo was designed by a very talented 10-year-old girl from Hungerford Primary School who beat 70 others to the prize in a competition judged by rugby union star and Sports Charter champion Ben Cohen who has recently set up anti-bullying charity, the StandUp Foundation. He shortlisted the top six entries which were then put to a public vote on Ben Cohen’s website.

The inspiration for the winning design came when Suran Dickson, a Gay Games triple gold medallist and founder of anti-bullying charity,Diversity Role Models visited the school and spoke about how important it was for everyone, no matter who they are, to be able to go for gold.

All the children from years five and six (aged nine to 11) at Hungerford Primary School took part in the competition. Two other pupils from the school came second and fourth. The remaining runners up were from Nottingham and Reading. The winner and runners up received prizes donated by the Football Association, the Football League, the Lawn Tennis Association, the Rugby Football League and Ben Cohen.

En français / Sport U traite de l'homophobie dans le sport et de l'initiative du ministère du sport

L'émission "Sport U" sur Ma chaîne étudiante a traité de l'homophobie dans le sport. Présentation des actions du comité contre les discriminations dans le sport, auquel participe notre membre FSGL, vidéos destinées aux éducateurs sportifs (dont le making-off a été diffusé en avant première au colloque organisé par la FSGL en décembre 2011).

En français / 4 April 2012 / Journée de réflexion "Sport et VIH"

Marc Naimark participera à cette journée, où il présentera la charte VIH de la FGG et remercie la FSGL d'avoir aidé à cette invitation. S'inscrire à l'adresse indiquée ci dessus.
Marc Naimark will participate in this study day devoted to the results of a study of sport and physical activity in people living with HIV. He will present the FGG Charter on Sport and HIV.

While England's Football Association launches new anti-homophobia initiative, clubs are dragging their heels

From The Independent:

England's biggest and most lucrative football clubs came under fire from the Government and equality campaigners this weekend for dragging their feet over plans to stamp out homophobia in the professional game. Ministers are privately furious at the “mealy-mouthed excuses” of Premier League teams when asked if their grounds could be used as the backdrop for the launch of a high-profile campaign against homophobia in sport.

As the annual international Football v Homophobia campaign begins this weekend, campaigners also voiced their dismay that only 16 of the 160 clubs in seven English divisions responded positively to a call to arms to tackle sport's last taboo. The campaign wrote to every professional English club asking them to get involved. The letters suggested a number of ways in which clubs, players and coaching staff could raise the profile of the issue – from mentioning it on Twitter to promotions in match-day programmes or PA announcements. Only six Premier League clubs agreed actively to help.

"Football's in the gutter at the moment," said a senior government source. "And they've got real problems with homophobia in dressing rooms and on the terraces. It needs top clubs to speak out repeatedly and as publicly as possible."

David Cameron will host a No 10 summit on racism in football on Wednesday, after a string of cases of alleged abuse aimed at black players by rival teams and fans. However, tough questions will also be asked about why there are no openly gay players in the entire English league at the moment.

[...]

Earlier this month Lynne Featherstone, a Home Office minister, announced that all 20 Premier Leauge teams had signed the Government's Sports Charter to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport, on and off the pitch. But attempts to organise a photo opportunity at a major club's ground foundered.

It is understood that six Premier League sides were contacted asking for help to promote the charter. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur said they were not given enough time, while QPR said they agreed to help in future. Fulham, Chelsea and Aston Villa claim they were not contacted, though Home Office insiders insist all six teams were asked to take part.

Megan Worthing-Davies, director of Football v Homophobia, said: "We heard back from many clubs who said, 'We've signed up to the charter so we're not going to be involved with Football v Homophobia'."

Andy Wasley, from Stonewall, said: "Actions speak louder than words, and it's one thing to sign a charter, it's quite another then to actually do the hard stuff like training officials and stewards to make sure they challenge homophobia when they see it."

The 16 teams signed up to Football v Homophobia so far are: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Fulham, Liverpool, Newcastle Utd, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Derby County, Ipswich Town, Millwall, Huddersfield Town, MK Dons, Wycombe Wanderers, Exeter City, Port Vale and Hyde FC.

[...]

Read in full HERE.

Red Card Homophobia on recent UK initiatives against homophobia

From Red Card Homophobia:

The U.K. has taken steps forward to combat homophobia in sport this week, with Prime Minister David Cameron meeting with football representatives and equality organizations Wednesday.

The meeting was held because of the recent series of racism accusations, but Cameron said the meeting was to “reaffirm our vigilance against racism – and all forms of discrimination.”

Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin Fashanu and who recently made a documentary video about homosexuality in football, was one of the participants at the meeting. This past week the FA launched an action plan for tackling homophobia at a grassroots level, but Cameron also pushed for more work to be done in the top leagues.

“It’s obviously quite unlikely that there are no gay Premiership players, and that tells you something about the tolerance within the game,” said Steve Field, Cameron’s spokesman.

Meanwhile, the FA have punished West Ham player Ravel Morrison for a homophobic remark he made on Twitter. The player was fined £7000 and warned about any future misconduct after admitting to the charge of “using abusive and/or insulting words including a reference to a person’s sexual orientation.” (The Telegraph)

Finally in Scotland, a new initiative was launched Tuesday against homophobia in Scottish sport as part of Football vs Homophobia week. The initiative, Out for Sport, will be run by the Equality Network, a charity working for LGBT human rights in Scotland, with work also being done by LEAP Sports Scotland, a national organization established to support LGBT sporting groups. Out for Sport will research homophobia and transphobia in Scottish sport and use the results to produce a series of recommendations to the Scottish government and sports bodies.

Scott Cuthbertson, Community Development Coordinator for the Equality Network, said; “For too long homophobia and transphobia has been allowed to plague Scottish sport, with prejudice and discrimination too often left unchallenged. This will be Scotland’s biggest research to date on homophobia and transphobia in sport.

With all eyes on Scottish sport in the lead up to the Olympics and Glasgow Commonwealth games, now is the right time to ensure sport is fully inclusive to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.” (Gay Today)

"Football needs a culture change, not a gay role model"

After a landmark broadcast on the BBC, journalist Adrian Tippetts points out in the Pink News the vacuousness of waiting for the first out player in a top UK football team, when the real issue is the need for action within the sport to fight homophobia within management, the team, the pitch, and the stadiums.

Monday’s BBC3 programme Britains Gay Footballers presented by Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin Fashanu, generated serious debate about homophobia in football, in mainstream media and the football blogosphere.

Barnsley FC’s goalie David Preece suggested Amal Fashanu was the wrong choice to investigate the matter. This viewpoint, in an otherwise thoughtful article , is somewhat unkind: it’s arguably the very fact that so few footballers are willing to candidly speak out on homophobia that it has been left to a 23-year media studies graduate and model to ask some hard questions.

Amal deserves credit for being the first to call to account her own father, John Fashanu, whose chilling, public rejection of his vastly more talented brother, compounded the devastation that Justin must have felt.

The programme was most notable for challenging the perception of football being an impenetrable bastion of homophobia. Max Clifford’s intransigent doom-mongering about how coming out would ruin a footballer’s career challenged, by footage of Sweden’s openly gay player Anton Hysén enjoying changing-room banter with team-mates and support from the stands. Perhaps the greatest coup of all was the willingness of a premiership player, QPR captain Joey Barton, to speak out and ridicule ‘archaic’ attitudes of managers who are preventing players from being open.

There is in fact more reason for hope in the offence taken by Preece at what he regards as the demonisation of footballers. “I couldn’t think of a more welcoming place to reveal your sexual preferences than inside a footballer’s dressing room’

However, the overall picture is far from one of acceptance. Homophobic chanting is a weekly endurance for Brighton’s fans; and a string of homophobic callers, one asking for separate changing rooms, left Danny Campbell and guests of his BBC Radio 5 phone-in dumbfounded last Thursday. Statistics show that 29 percent of the UK population thinks same-sex relations are sometimes or always wrong, and an Observer poll in 2008 stated that nearly one in four thinks homosexuality should be recriminalised. Football, being the nation’s favourite sport is simply a barometer of the bigotry that is rife and unchallenged in society.

The disappointment with the programme was that no managers or high-ranking FA officials were interviewed. A significant amount of direction and resources will be needed to change the culture and attitudes within football, through club hierarchies and at grass roots, Sunday league level too.

Currently, the FA and the government are patting themselves on the back for putting together an LGBT charter, full of good intentions about banishing homophobia and transphobia from the game. But the precise details of how this campaign will make life better for LGBT players and supporters are anything but clear.

However, instead of pressing the FA on this matter, the media and some in the gay community obsess themselves with the moronic question: when will we see an out gay player? I suspect this is driven as much by the tabloid press going to ever more desperate measures to titillate readers and buck declining sales figures, and some activists seeking another trophy in the role model cabinet.

Why should a footballer come out to the whole nation? Most of us are out to friends and work-colleagues, but that’s all. True, the media is no longer full of homophobic columnists like the Star’s Brian Hitchen and the Sun’s Gary Bushell, whose innuendo-laden diatribes reinforced the very worst prejudices. But even if the coming out were reported in glowing terms, the very experience of being in the media spotlight can be ruinous for concentration and performance. And as the Leveson inquiry has revealed, the extremes that reporters go to, to sniff out an exclusive could make life intolerable.

Keep reading HERE.

England Football Association launches anti-homophobia initiative

After its most recent initiative against homophobia in football flopped, the FA is trying again. We'll post on Gay Games Ambassador John Amaechi's reponse to the prelaunch video described below, but a viewer could be struck by the fact that representatives of the governing body of the sport treat the behavior of clubs and more important, supporters, as some sort of naturally occuring phenomenon that occurs independent of the FA itself:

The FA has released a brand new film around anti-Homophobia in Football ahead of announcing an action plan on the subject at Wembley Stadium next week.

The film features Brendon Batson and former FA Cup winner and England international John Scales, plus ex-Reading skipper Ady Williams who was capped 13 times by Wales.

Filmed in the dressing rooms at Wembley Stadium, the 30-minute discussion on tackling homophobia in the game has been made as football remembers Justin Fashanu’s birthday on 19 February and leads in to The FA’s action plan launch on Monday 20 February.

Last year saw The FA become one of the founding signatories on the Government’s Charter for Action in this area while all 20 Premier League clubs signed up at the start of this month.

Looking ahead to the Action Plan launch on Monday, FA Chairman, David Bernstein, commented: “Football’s response to combating racism has demonstrated that a collective approach with partners from inside and outside the football family is effective.

“We all have a collective responsibility to ensure that football remains accessible to all and to combat homophobic and transphobic abuse in the game.”

Home Office Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone added: "The whole world admires the skill and competitive drama on display in our football grounds but sometimes we also see the worst of intolerance and discrimination.

"That's why the government launched the Sports Charter last year. It's a rallying cry for all of us to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport.

“The FA were one of the founding signatories of this Charter and I am delighted to see them take forward their commitment to ensure football is a welcoming place for everyone.”

Anti-Homophobia in Football events continue next week with Kick It Out teaming up with Pride Sports for a panel discussion in Nottingham on 21 February.

The Panel see representation from both sides of the River Trent with Forest Chairman Frank Clark, and County’s Sam Sodje both in attendance.

Kick It Out’s Earl Barrett said: “I think if we can educate people about the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) presence in, and appetite for, football, then we’ll be taking a step in the right direction.”

Vote for logo for UK Charter against homophobia in sport

Logo competition

On 23 November 2011, Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone launched a competition for sports clubs, fans and players across the country to design a logo for the Charter and mark their support for the campaign.

The first stage closed on 18 January 2012, and we were delighted to have received nearly 70 entries, most of them from young people.

Rugby union star and competition judge Ben Cohen has shortlisted the top six entries, and you can now pick the winning logo by voting online for your favourite design.

Vote now!

Simply go to our Facebook page (Opens in a new window) and 'like' your favourite logo. If you don't have a Facebook account, you can also vote on Ben Cohen's website (Opens in a new window) .

Voting closes on Monday 20 February at midday. Votes will then be counted, and the logo with the highest number of votes will go to a professional design team before a final unveiling in March.

More information is available in the competition leaflet and terms and conditions.

Top British football league teams sign anti-homophobia charter

From the PinkNews:

The twenty football clubs which make up the Premier League have signed the Sports Charter aiming to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport.

The Sports Charter was launched in June 2011 at 10 Downing Street when Chief Executive Richard Scudamore signed on behalf of the Premier League.

All 20 Premier League clubs have now signed the Charter individually, the League said today.

Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League said: “We are pleased to reaffirm our commitment with each of our clubs signing the Charter.

“The Premier League and our member clubs believe that everyone should be able to participate in, watch and enjoy sport – whoever they are and whatever their background.

“When the Sports Charter to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport was launched in June 2011 the Premier League signed it and we are pleased to re-affirm our commitment to it today with each of our clubs signing it individually.”

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone added: “Nearly 3,000 individuals and clubs have already signed up and I’m delighted that Premier League clubs have taken a stand by signing the Charter too.

“It sends a really strong signal when clubs in the best league in the world say enough is enough.”

The Charter is made up of four points:

- We believe that everyone should be able to participate in, watch and enjoy sport – whoever they are and whatever their background.
- We believe that sport is about fairness and equality, respect and dignity. Sport teaches individuals how to strive and succeed, how to cope with success and disappointment, and brings people together with a common goal.
- We are committed to making these values a reality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We will work together, and individually, to rid sport of homophobia and transphobia.
- We will make football a welcome place for everyone – for those participating in the sport, those attending matches and for those working or volunteering in it. We will work with all these groups to ensure they have a voice, and to challenge unacceptable behaviour.

Keep reading HERE.

UK football players group launches homophobia initiative

From the Daily Mail, news of an initiative of the UK's Professional Footballers Association, the trade union for soccer players:

The PFA will send a poster out to all 92 Premier League and Football League clubs to raise awareness of homophobia in the game.

The union has been working with leading figures in the game for the past few months to tackle the issue and will send out the poster to try to create a 'so what?' culture around homosexuality in football and reassure a gay footballer that he will have support from his club, team-mates and the wider public if he does choose to come out.

The poster shows two shirts in a locker room – one with No 7 Gay and the other with No 11 Straight – written on it, with the words ‘When you are part of a team you are never on your own – we are all winners. Football is committed to tackling homophobia’.

The poster has the official backing of the FA, Premier League, Football League, League Managers’ Association and the Kick It Out campaign.

Following the poster, an educational DVD on the subject featuring prominent gay sportsmen and women - including Gareth Thomas, Martina Navratilova ans Swedish footballer Anton Hysen - will be distributed. All 92 clubs have also agreed to sign the government's charter for homophobia and transphobia within sport.

Keep reading HERE.

Act now to enter UK Sports Charter logo contest!

Find all links relative to this appeal HERE.


Enter our competition to design a logo for our campaign to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport.

We are asking budding designers to create an emblem for the Sports charter campaign that helps spread the message that hate of any kind in sport is not acceptable. Sports clubs, fans and players across the country will then use this logo to show they back the campaign.

The competition is targeted at young people but is open to anyone with creative flair.

The competition closes on Wednesday 18 January 2012 at 5pm. Rugby Union star, Ben Cohen will shortlist the top entries, which will then be put on our Facebook page for a public vote.



Ready to submit your design?

Email us your entry by sending it in a digital format (e.g. PDF, powerpoint, jpeg) or by post on an A4 piece of paper to Nancy Tenenbaum at Home Office, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.

Don't forget to include your name, date of birth, and contact details, together with a brief description of your idea behind your design - and remember it needs to work across all sizes, even when it's as small as a ten pence piece, so please keep it simple and bold.

Please help us spread the word by telling your friends, colleagues, team mates and local clubs about the competition. More information is in the competition leaflet.

En français / Reportage de TF1 sur l'homophobie dans le sport

Sport et homophobie : où en est-on ?

Assez exceptionnel, ce reportage de TF1 (mais c'est Claire Chazal la présentatrice, alors...). On y voit notamment Yoann Lemaire, Philippe Liotard, et Fabien Bou. On voit également une séance de sensibilisation destinées aux éducateurs sportifs. Très bien !

Manchester football team signs UK Charter Against Homophobia in Sport

From the Pink Paper:

Greater Manchester football club Hyde FC became the first Blue Square Bet North team [a semi-pro level English football league] to sign up to the Government's charter against homophobia in sport, earlier this week.

The move comes after their 4-1 home win against Eastwood.

Manager Gary Lowe and player Gianluca Haveren (pictured) added their signatures to the charter – committing the club to challenging homophobia and taking a zero tolerance to any anti-gay abuse within the game.

The team, nicknamed The Tigers, also welcomed Lindsay England [a speaker at the recent FSGL conference on homophobia and sport, in center in photo] from football’s LGBT campaigning organisation Just A Ball Game? as a guest for the home fixture.

The club have also stated they will look at hosting a celebrity match or training session and invite LGBT players to attend to help celebrate LGBT History Month in February of next year.

Until stepping down early this year, former Director of Hyde FC, Julie Whitehead, was the only out lesbian involved in the semi-professional game in a senior managerial role, proving Hyde FC are one of the most inclusive teams in the country.

Hyde FC win first Manchester equality award for support of charter against homophobia in sport

Via Linday England:

The [Hyde Football Club] Tigers have received the award in recognition for the club’s exceptional work in becoming the first non-league team to sign up to the charter committing the football club to challenging homophobia and taking a zero tolerance approach to any anti-gay abuse or chanting within the game.

Manchester Credit Union sponsors the award as part of its recently launched partnership with the Manchester Football Association. The credit union sits on the Equality Action Group which was set up earlier this month to identify good work within Greater Manchester and ensure that equality is embedded into all that Manchester FA does.

Chris Smith from Manchester Credit Union said: “The credit union’s values and principles draw us close to projects such as this and we want to reach out to people in the Manchester area and bring ethical, low-cost savings and loans to help families through football. This is an excellent aware to launch.”

Pictured above are Allan Kenyon, the chairman of Hyde FC, Chris Smith, a director of the Manchester Credit Union, and John Hurst, the social inclusion coordinator at the Manchester Football Association.

En français / Entretien avec Laura Flessel sur le comité national de lutte contre les discriminations dans le sport

La LICRA Sport a publié ces vidéos d'un entretien avec Laura Flessel, présidente du comité national de lutte contre les discriminations dans le sport, auquel participe la FSGL, membre de la FGG :

En français / Entretien avec Christelle Foucault de la FSGL

Ci dessous un extrait d'un entretien avec Christelle Foucault, présidente de la FSGL, paru sur le site de l'association Contact, groupe analogue de PFLAG aux Etats-Unis :



Plusieurs clubs sportifs, LGBT* ou non, ont demandé à ce que leur Fédération respective signe la Charte contre l’Homophobie, croyez-vous que ce type d’action encourage la vigilance des instances sportives pour lutter contre les discriminations ?

C'est un premier pas. La signature d'une charte en soi n'est ni une fin, ni une garantie que les discriminations vont disparaître dans le sport, que l'homophobie ne sera plus qu'un mot du dictionnaire et non plus une réalité. Mais c'est un pas important, car imposé et encadré par leur autorité de tutelle, le Ministère des sports, cela représente un engagement. Cela place un peu sous les feux des projecteurs les fédérations qui doivent maintenant être vigilantes à ce qui se passe dans leurs rangs et à l'image que pourrait véhiculer "telle ou telle affaire" d'homophobie dans le sport. Mais l'important commence maintenant : le suivi de cette charte et les mesures qui seront prises pour contrôler la bonne application de cet engagement, le respect de ces valeurs et éventuellement les sanctions pour le non-respect de celui-ci.


Lors de la nomination de David Douillet comme Ministre des sports en remplacement de Chantal Jouanno, les médias ont rappelé la phrase malheureuse qu’il avait eue des années auparavant et souligné le scepticisme de bon aloi quant aux positions et mesures qui seraient prises contre les discriminations dont l’homophobie. De façon générale, estimez-vous que le positionnement des journalistes a changé ?

Je ne sais pas trop. D'une part on voit des premières pages sur des sujets "homos" dans de grands médias généralistes : la couverture de l'équipe Magazine avec le coming Out de Gareth Thomas est dans ce sens une quasi révolution et une bonne surprise. De l'autre, les journalistes sont les premiers à étiqueter tel ou tel athlète par son orientation sexuelle avant sa carrière ou ses performances et semblent plus attirés par le côté "people" et la possibilité de ventes dopées par ces annonces que par une défense des droits, un respect de l'autre, une quelconque action militante. En même temps, les journalistes qui côtoient les sportifs tout au long de l'année sont bien placés pour savoir qu'il y a aussi plus de sportifs homosexuels dans le haut niveau que la peau de chagrin de ceux qui l'ont dit et ils respectent cette intimité jusqu'à maintenant.

Continuer à lire ICI.