Lesson Five: Homophobia and Sport Cultural Diversity In & Through Sport

Lesson Five:Lesson Five:Homophobia and SportHomophobia and Sport

Cultural DiversityCultural Diversity

In & Through Sport In & Through Sport

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By the end of the session you should be able to:

•Describe the term homophobia

•Identify how homophobia is manifested using sporting examples

•Examine own attitudes towards homophobia

•Explain the consequences of prejudice and discrimination

•Identify ways in which attitudes can be challenged

Learning OutcomesLearning Outcomes

• Heterosexual - A person who is attracted to a person of the

opposite gender within a binary gender system

• Heterosexism - The attitude that heterosexuality is the only valid or

acceptable sexual orientation

TerminologyTerminology

• Gay - A person who is attracted only to members of the same

gender. Although it can be used for any gender (e.g. gay man, gay

woman, gay person)

• Lesbian - A woman who is only attracted to other women

• Bisexual - A person who is attracted to both men and women

Definitions of Sexual Definitions of Sexual OrientationsOrientations

• What is the stereotypical image of a gay man and gay woman?

• Are they true?

• Where did they come from?

• What is the stereotypical image of a sportsman and sportswoman ?

• Do you know many gay people?

• What sports would they play?

Task: Homosexual Task: Homosexual StereotypesStereotypes

Working in your groups

• Name as many gay sportsmen and

women as you can

• Identify the sport that they play

• Why do you think there not more

‘out’ gay sports people?

Task: Gay SportspeopleTask: Gay Sportspeople

Gold Medallist, Matthew Mitcham, was one of Australia’s first openly gay athletes to compete in the Olympics

Inside Sport: BBC DocumentaryInside Sport: BBC Documentary

• Inside Sport: A look at “sport’s last taboo”:

Click here.

Working in groups, define homophobia.

• Try to give some real life example of homophobia (you don’t have

to use real people’s names)

Task: Define Task: Define ‘Homophobia’‘Homophobia’

• An irrational fear or intolerance of

homosexuality, or behaviour that is

perceived to uphold and support

traditional gender role expectations.

• People who are perceived to be gay

or lesbian, or who have gay or

lesbian friends, can also be the

targets of homophobic behaviour.

Homophobia: DefinitionHomophobia: Definition

• A definition of a homophobic incident used by the police and the

criminal justice system is ‘any action which is perceived by the

victim, or any other person as being motivated by homophobia.’

• A victim of homophobic crime does not necessarily have to be

lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) themselves, but

considered to be so by the offender.

Homophobia: Legal Homophobia: Legal DefinitionDefinition

In groups discuss how is homophobia expressed:

• Try to give some real life example of homophobia (again, you don’t

have to use real people’s names)

Task: Group QuestionsTask: Group Questions

1. Verbal: aggressive abuse or verbal abuse in work or social situations:

– Using offensive language, name-calling, making fun of someone or

taunting them, telling homophobic jokes, or threatening them.

•Can you think of any real life examples?

Expressions of Expressions of HomophobiaHomophobia

2. Physical: ranges from bullying to serious violence:

– Can manifest itself in gangs who go out with the express intention

of beating up gay people.

– At its most extreme, it can even result in murder.



3. Emotional: Openly treating someone differently because of their sexual

orientation:

– Refusing to sit next to someone, work or talk with them and

organising others to do the same,

– putting them down, looking at them in a cold or threatening way,

harassing them, damaging their property

– sending hate mail, texts or emails, abusive phone calls and/or

posting internet threats or abusive material, or graffiti.



4. Institutional: when an organisation discriminates against lesbian

and gay people:

- Refusing to employ them or discriminating against them for

promotion.

• Can you think of any real life examples?


All these behaviours have things in common:

•They are bullying

•They are ignorant

•They are wrong

•They are not wanted


In groups discuss your experiences of homophobic behaviour:

• Have you ever seen or heard homophobia in action? If so, what

happened?

• Why do you think people are homophobic?

• If football is the UK’s national game, why are there no openly gay

footballers currently playing in the Premier League?

Task: Group DiscussionsTask: Group Discussions

Homophobia in football:

• Anti-gay abuse is all too common on both terraces and pitches

• This abuse almost always goes unchallenged.

• Fans believe that it is this abuse, from fans, players and teammates

that deters homosexual people from playing football and creates a

culture of fear where gay players feel it is unsafe to come out.

• What do you think?

Sources of HomophobiaSources of Homophobia

• Fans feel that the lack of any visible action by the Football

Association (FA), football clubs and their partners in tackling

homophobic abuse which has allowed it to fester on the terraces

and in changing rooms across Britain.

• Football fans are also adamant that they want this to change and

believe that football would be a far better sport if homophobic

abuse was eradicated.



• Many young men and women go to great lengths to avoid association

with lesbians and gay men by monitoring their appearance,

mannerisms, and relationships with peers.

• In women's sports, the ‘lesbian label’ is often used to discourage

women from challenging inequities between men and women.

• If women fear being called lesbians, this can be an effective way to

intimidate women into accepting less than equal treatment.



• Prevention is always the best way to address name-calling or put-

downs of any kind.

• Coaches should make it clear as part of team policies that name-

calling of any kind by anyone is unacceptable.

• Coaches and parents can also set a powerful example by avoiding

name-calling or put-downs to motivate athletes.

Combating HomophobiaCombating Homophobia

Sepp Blatter, FIFA President

• Urged gay footballers to come out and not be put off by football's

"macho" atmosphere in 2008. "There are gay footballers, but they don't

declare it because it will not be accepted in these macho organisations.

“

• When asked about the concerns of gay football fans after the 2022

World Cup was awarded to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, Blatter

advised gay fans to "refrain from any sexual activities" during the

tournament.

Call for More Gays in FootballCall for More Gays in Football

It is as follows:

“…..to continue with working with key stakeholders who genuinely

represent the voice of the LGB community, to educate and raise

awareness through stewards and referee training, to engage with fans

through forums as part of the on-going debate, to promote widely how

to report abuse and discrimination and to look at innovative

approaches of promoting football equality.”

The FA’s PositionThe FA’s Position

• The FA recognises that Wembley National Stadium should lead by

example and be an exemplar of good practice.

• Wembley will be implementing a Code of Conduct in respect of all

visitors to the Stadium.

• From a crowd safety aspect, homophobic chanting is taken very

seriously and would result in ejection from the Stadium and

criminal prosecution.

Wembley’s Code of Wembley’s Code of ConductConduct

Some national campaigns include:

• Kick it Out: www.kickitout.org

• International Day Against Homophobia

and Transphobia, 17th May:

www.homophobiaday.org

Anti-Homophobia Anti-Homophobia CampaignsCampaigns

Kick it Out Campaign suggests:

• Respond to incidents of homophobic abuse

• Where possible, get support for yourself from other witnesses

• Challenge homophobic stereotypes

• Challenge homophobic language

• Report or remove graffiti

• Keep a record of what is happening

• Provide support to the target of the attack.

Kick it Out CampaignKick it Out Campaign

• As part of the drive to tackle homophobia in sport, sport bodies in

every part of the UK jointly signed up to the Government Equalities

Office (GEO) Charter on Homophobia and Transphobia in Sport.

• The aim of the charter is to make sport a welcoming environment

for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

• The charter outlines the importance of creating an environment

where everyone is able to participate and enjoy sport, whoever

they are and whatever their background.

• It also pushes the agenda of fairness, equality, respect and dignity.

Government Charter Government Charter (UK)(UK)

Thought for the DayThought for the Day

• A provocative advertisement from the FA and Kick it Out:

Click here.

Documents

Lesson Five: Homophobia and Sport Cultural Diversity In & Through Sport