‘We refuse to move!’ – LGBTQ resilience celebrated at Football Pride 2025 in Leicester
Spirit of defiance radiates at third annual summer event from Football v Homophobia; LGBTQ fan groups, EDI professionals, academics and personalities unite for a day of queer culture and conversations in the game…
LGBTQ people and allies in roles across football must continue to show determination in difficult times, having already demonstrated the community’s durability in the game.
Changemakers who gathered for the annual Football Pride event, organised this year in Leicester by Football v Homophobia, left the city with renewed feelings of solidarity after productive discussions and a programme of queer cultural delights.
The panel chats explored not just the progress made for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people from grassroots to elite, but also where protest and activism are still essential.
Guest speakers at The Y Theatre included Josh Cavallo, who recently began a new chapter in his career after moving to play in the U.K. from Australia. His advocacy and visibility as an out gay man in the professional men’s game continue to inspire people worldwide.
The 25-year-old took part in an illuminating conversation with co-host Jack Murley, fellow footballer El Finneran, PhD researcher Dr Beth Burgess, and Player Care Group founder Hugo Scheckter, focused on working in the game when you’re LGBTQ.
Read a recap of the ‘Life A Pitch?’ panel chat on Outsports; or listen in full on the Jack Murley Sports Show Podcast
Equally enthralling was a discussion reflecting on the first decade of Pride in Football and assessing new challenges facing the LGBTQ supporters group movement.
Joining Murley were PIF co-chair Joe White and the alliance’s membership officer Jo Bailey, who is also co-chair of West Ham group Pride of Irons; the Football Supporters’ Association’s head of women’s football, Deborah Dilworth; and Dr Jack Lopez, the EDI manager at Sheffield United FC.
Current concerns include the provisions of toilet facilities in British stadiums in light of the Supreme Court ruling; apathy from clubs, leagues and governing bodies linked to the political climate and general pushback against EDI initiatives; and international pressures, such as tournaments being held in places that are unwelcoming or unsafe for LGBTQ people, plus the prospect of more ‘cash-in’ club games being played abroad.
“We’re going back to a point where groups will have to disagree with their clubs once more,” says White, who feels even basic LGBTQ fan engagement is now being put into the “business case” bracket.
“As soon as you start saying ‘business case’ around human rights and dignity, in being able to go and watch the team that you support, you’re fighting a losing battle,” they explained.
“At all levels, it feels like everyone’s retreating from talking about queer issues in football and making football more inclusive.”
Bailey says she has personally experienced incidents of ‘gender policing’ when she has attended games in recent months, and that groups like Pride of Irons are more pivotal than ever in assisting gender non-conforming people to access and enjoy watching games.
“That goes for women’s football as well,” she says. “Yes, it’s inclusive, but let’s make sure everybody is getting the right education and awareness around what it means to be non-binary, or trans masc. None of this is being spoken of.
“We have some very high-profile Lionesses who are lesbians, and that’s brilliant, but let’s have that wider conversation as well.”
The FSA, which receives core funding from the Premier League and additional funding from the FA, will continue to support LGBTQ fans through its Fans for Diversity initiative and also help them “get in the room and advocate with stakeholders,” says Dilworth.
While she’s encouraged by the collaborative moves being made by WSL Football, as the fledgling organisation continues to transition away from FA control, she insists there can be no room for complacency.
“There are different challenges there in terms of intersectionality, but it feels like they are building inclusion into their policies from ground level up,” she says.
“If that’s in the core from the very beginning, it presents a different landscape to work in and a different way to support the supporters.”
From his position working at one of the Championship’s biggest clubs, Lopez is already recognising the influence that an enthusiastic fan group can have.
He says LGBTQ people in football should try to share in that same sense of purpose, even though the mood often echoes the “frustrating and horrible” political times we are living in.
“The more sad we get, the more effective and happy bigots get, because that’s their intention,” he insists.
“And while we’re taking a battering at the minute, we just have to remember – we are still here. We’re not going anywhere.
“You have a right to be in those stadiums, and on those pitches, regardless of what your gender is, or what you were born as. The belief that we have in ourselves is the most important thing.
“It’s really important that if you have an expertise or you’re ready to do the standing-up, that you do it.
“My hope comes in the fact that I refuse to shut up, or be removed from spaces, or stand by and watch that happen to anybody else.”
Plenty of variety and visibility on Football Pride 2025 programme
Lopez’s rallying cry echoed the voices on the day’s opening discussion, where Football v Transphobia campaign lead Natalie Washington assembled a panel of fellow players freshly banned from competing this season alongside their friends and teammates.
Washington was joined by Jordan Boulton (Vicky Park Queens), Billie Sky (Goal Diggers FC) and Tammy Hymas (formerly of Clapton CFC), all of whom described how exclusion had impacted their mental health and physical wellbeing.
Mixing emotive testimony with a future-facing commitment to activism, their chat was followed by a screening of the superb short documentary film ‘We’ll Go Down in History’ about the trailblazing TRUK United FC.
Stand-up comedian Andrew White, who’s a big AFC Bournemouth fan, was a real crowd-pleaser, as were the three spoken-word artists – local poet Munroop, performing the soaring ‘Proper England’ live for the first time; the captivating myndstate, who wowed the audience with his delivery and lyricism; and the official Wales poet of Euro 2025, Sarah McCreadie, whose specially-written ode ‘Let The Dolls Play’ was both heart-warming and a call to action.
Two of the stars of TV’s ‘I Kissed A Boy’, Lars Fellows and Jordan Burrow, joined co-host Becky Taylor-Gill for a goss-fuelled chat about their love lives, their sometimes rocky relationships with football, and the beauty in creating queer-centered spaces.
Also on the programme were the comedy-drama film ‘Solers United’ which drew chortles, woops and guffaws aplenty from the audience; and a rehearsed reading of part of Ethan Pascal Peters’ play ‘For Too Free Won’.
The cast delivered strong, dynamic performances which showcased the script’s sharp but also humorous analysis of the pressures facing pro footballers who are LGBTQ.
Before the Pride in Football panel, White and Bailey paid tribute to their friend and former colleague Alastair Holmes, who sadly passed away earlier this year.
Meanwhile, an impromptu queer football exhibition created and curated by Wayne Carter and Steven Crofts of Foxes Pride / Leicester Wildecats drew attendees downstairs to the Y Theatre sports hall, including Cavallo.
Highlights included banners and flags, the Leicester City ‘My City, My Shirt’ exhibition loaned by Leicester 4 All’s Terry Singh, the new FvH Scotland oral history archive, and a selection of Pride-themed jerseys and T-shirts.
Football Pride 2025 was made possible thanks to the generosity and hospitality of The Y Theatre and its staff; event sponsors the EFL, the League Managers Association, and Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO); a host of partners including local collective Queer Coffee Link Ups and LGBTQ venue Rainbow and Dove, which hosted the post-event social (an extra thank you to James Cockerill); and the many speakers, performers, guests and attendees who united to create a beauitfully queer football space where everyone could find community and be themselves.
The goal from here? To keep showing up, shining, and starting the sort of conversations that too many people in the game still prefer to sidestep or swerve altogether.
Dr Jack Lopez sums it up: “If you’re part of our rainbow or you’re an ally, you’ll understand why we need these spaces, because the baseline is inclusion.
“We need to get everybody’s head around that. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about ethnicity, disability, queerness, or the intersection of all those things.
“And it’s very difficult to argue with. Because you can’t go, ‘oh well, I’ll just pick and choose mine’… that’s just not it.
“Ultimately, it all comes back to the bottom line that we need – and it’s always inclusion.”
Want to learn more about Football Pride, and the work of FvH? Please email jon@footballvhomophobia.com with ‘Football Pride’ in the subject line.
You can follow Football Pride on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter / X.
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