Growing up with a love of football, Katy Smith hoped to have a future in the game – but sexism and homophobia saw her drift away from the pitch in her early teens. However, getting into coaching a few years later and the celebratory mood generated by England’s triumph at the Euros have reignited her passion. She explains why everyone should get to benefit from the momentum of women’s football…
Ryan Atkin and Stacey Pearson are among the match officials who are representing their community in the sport on a new industry network group; the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective was launched on June 16 and is open to all in the game who want to drive inclusion; Atkin hails “great strides” made by PGMOL and The FA in recent years…
LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective starts up – go to lgbtqfootball.com; players, coaches, match officials, and ED&I professionals among founding members; “considerable expertise and experience” already in group, which offers “safe space”
Simon isn’t just super talented at football – he’s also sensational at voguing, but he keeps his dance skills secret. His best friend Les wants him to break free from the conformity of his team – but can Simon really embrace both ballroom and his true self? A new short film will show us, but first the project needs your support on Kickstarter…
Watch a replay of our Pride Month event and listen via the Football v Homophobia Podcast; our partnership with the FWA continues with panel discussion, supported by FvH; Tim Thornton, Erin Williams, Jay Lemonius and Nancy Frostick talk through the takeaways for journalists, fans and others from one of the year’s biggest football stories…
Arthur Webber – Twitter’s @BernieTranders – is the author of the latest ‘Queer Gaze’ column, which goes out in the QueerAF newsletter; we love the newsletter and are sharing it with our mailing list this weekend; Arthur’s written about the impact he’s seen online after Blackpool’s Jake Daniels shared the news that he’s gay…
A prolific scorer for Blackpool at youth-team level, Daniels is freeing himself from the weight of the closet in readiness for his pro career; sharing his story is courageous and will help other male footballers who are gay or bi; role of media again under scrutiny after player’s personal news was indelicately trailed in advance by a tabloid newspaper and other outlets
On a new episode of the Football v Homophobia Podcast, Zack Leader – whose coming out story in sport made headlines back in 2018 – discusses how anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in a local league game in January affected his mental health and describes the disciplinary process that ensued…
To mark their fifth anniversary, Brixton-based club Brockwell United have been kitted out in a stylish new strip designed by illustrator Donatella Esposito; players from the club went down to nearby Champion Hill for a photoshoot; the Swans are breaking down barriers to get more women and non-binary people playing the game…
A few months ago, NRG joined several other inclusive women’s clubs playing in a tournament in Georgia in support of Fare’s #FootballPeople campaign. Now the Kyiv-based team’s players are scattered across Ukraine and wider Europe. Co-founder Anna Tregubova tells Sports Media LGBT+ how the spirit and sisterhood of NRG is a source of motivation amid the horror of war…