Speaker: ‘Out’ gay footballers would be boost for equality

HOMOPHOBIA IN SPORT Gay footballers coming out would help boost the cause of equality, Commons Speaker John Bercow has said.

Mr Bercow said it would “do wonders for the cause” if players felt able to be open about their sexuality, adding that it was “wholly implausible” that there were not gay stars in the top tier of the sport.

At an event hosted by the Speaker, former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas – who came out in 2009 and has campaigned to tackle homophobia in sport – said he wanted to create a culture where players or coaching staff “wouldn’t face criticism or abuse for being who they are”.

Thomas, who also captained the British Lions, was at Westminster to back a change in the law which would make homophobic abuse at football grounds illegal in the same way that racism is.

Mr Bercow said: “I do find it really odd in football that people just don’t come out as gay.

“On the law of averages I just find it literally inconceivable, wholly implausible, that in Premier League clubs and across the divisions there aren’t gay footballers.

“I have to say I do think it would do wonders for the cause of LGBT equality if people felt they had the space and the freedom and the protection and the support... to come out and say, ‘This is who I am’.”

Asked about Mr Bercow’s comments, Thomas said: “It would challenge opinions, I’m not sure it would change opinions. I think that’s the overwhelmingly important message from today, is to create the environment.

“I don’t think any sports really are in the clear, all sport needs to try and catch up.”

Damian Collins, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, is leading efforts to amend the 1991 Football Offences Act to put homophobic abuse on a par with racism. The move would outlaw “chanting or gesturing in relation to a person’s sexual orientation or gender reassignment”.

He said there was a concern about “whether there remains an atmosphere or a culture around homophobia in football which makes it difficult for people to be open about themselves and their lives”.

“It could be one of the reasons why we have no openly gay footballers in the senior levels of professional football.”