Fans would accept gay footballers
Reuters - Tuesday 27 July 2010, 12:02
LONDON - A new generation of British
football fans would be tolerant about professional footballers
admitting they were homosexual, according to an online survey
conducted by Staffordshire University in England.
The survey of 2,000 supporters found that
only seven percent believed that football had no place for
homosexuals.
It was conducted by culture, media and sport professor Ellis
Cashmore and senior sociology lecturer Jamie Cleland.
"The big surprise was that we got what I suppose you'd call
a counter-intuitive response and that was that 93 percent said
they felt there was no place for homophobia in football and it
should be stomped out and they felt that it brought shame on
football," Cashmore told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"There was a call for greater transparency. A lot of people
said they would prefer it if gay footballers came out because
they don't think they would have to put up with that much
abuse."
Only one professional footballer, England international
Justin Fashanu, has revealed he was homosexual during his
career. Fashanu committed suicide in 1998 at the age of 37.
Players in other sports have been equally reticent. Former
Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas revealed in a newspaper last
year that he was gay, saying: "It's pretty tough for me being
the only international rugby player prepared to break the
taboo."
Thomas's candour prompted sympathy from British former
National Basketball Association (NBA) player John Amaechi, who
announced he was gay after retiring in 2007, plus a warning that
homophobia was still present in sport.
Former England rugby coach Clive Woodward was more positive,
saying he expected the sport to take Thomas's announcement in
its stride, while Welsh media reported recently that Hollywood
actor Mickey Rourke was considering portraying Thomas in a film.
HEAVY BURDEN
"The question remains when will a gay football player come
out?," Cashmore said.
"The fans themselves are of the opinion that, yes we know
there are gay players and when we watch football every week we
know we are watching gay players but actually it doesn't matter
to us."
Cashmore said homophobia now was equivalent to the racism
which blighted British football during the 1970s and 80s.
"Football fans who have for long been characterised as
Neanderthal types, the knuckle-dragging kind of macho type who
believe homosexuality is still taboo; actually they have changed
as well," he said.
"We have a new generation of football fans - managers,
coaches, players themselves, I class them all as fans in some
way.
"They don't actually care very much about a person's sexual
orientation. But of course the players are living with a legacy
and the legacy has become a heavy burden for football.
"It's going to make it extremely difficult for the first
living footballer to come out. For a footballer to come out
after his career is over, in a sense that is the path of least
resistance.
"It's still enormously difficult but not as difficult as
they think."
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