Stonewall: Let's Give Homophobia a Career-Ending Tackle

The number of fans who think homophobic remarks within sport are acceptable has almost halved in the past five years, new research from Stonewall and ICM/Walnut has revealed, with a drop from 25 percent in 2017 to 14 percent in 2022. But 31 years since Justin Fashanu came out as the first gay male professional footballer, Blackpool’s Jake Daniels remains the only player comfortable enough to come out in the current game. And other statistics from the research reveal that just 40 percent of sports fans think competitive sport is welcoming for gay and bi men, with the figure at 43 per cent for lesbian and bi women, and just 29 per cent for trans people. So to step up its campaigning and shed more light on this issue in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar — and the host nation’s well-documented persecution of LGBTQI+ people — Stonewall has reunited with Lucky Generals to create a campaign aimed at reminding people that while Rainbow Laces continues to change the game, we haven’t won it yet. Called 'Lace up to keep it up' the new work features a number of executions using clever plays on classic football idioms and phrases to drive the point home. These include 'Let’s boot the homophobes off the park, 'Let’s give homophobia a career-ending tackle' and 'Let’s send homophobia for an early bath'.