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| Justin Fashanu |
JUSTIN FASHANU
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| John (top) & brother Justin (bottom) Fashanu |
Justin Fashanu was the first openly gay famous
footballer and he played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. After
getting accused and arrested of sexual assault in Maryland, USA in 1997/98,
Justin moved back to London and unfortunately couldn’t handle the accusations
and pressure anymore and committed suicide. Justin’s story is very important
because he came out back in the 90s and even after killing himself nothing big has
really happened as a result of this, in terms of the acceptance of gay
footballers, which is shocking.
There has been a documentary on BBC Three already
called 'Britain’s Gay Footballers', which
was made after Justin came out, about the lack of publicity gay professional
footballers receive. The government charter against homophobia and transphobia
in sport which was launched in June 2011 and all 20 Premier League clubs (at
the time) joined. As Justin committed suicide in 1998, 2011 was way too late
for the recognition of gay footballers to come about. The government should
have done something sooner, even in the early 2000’s, this would have been a
more appropriate time to put out there about homophobia in football.  |
| Anton Hysen |
“It sends a
really strong signal when clubs in the best league in the world say enough is
enough.” - Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone.
This is also what Anton Hysen believes in. Anton is a
footballer from the Swedish league who came out to the world with the hope that
someone in a top Premier League team will come out proving that your sexuality
shouldn’t be a problem in what you choose to do with your life.
LONDON UNITY LEAGUE
The London Unity League is an amateur football league
based in London, designed to unite footballers from all different backgrounds
in a competitive but friendly football environment. The league was formed in
2006 and is entering its twelfth season this August (2017) and it is still
growing. The league prides itself on welcoming players and teams of all
abilities and skills. They help make football accessible for everyone with the
help of other organisations in London and the UK.
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| London Unity League |
The London Unity League website wasn't very helpful. Under their headings 'news' and 'sponsors' it says there isn't any information available, I will try my best to find out more about them through another source of information.
- McLaughlin, J. (2012). Premier
League clubs unite against homophobia in sport following BBC Three documentary.
Available: http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/030267393-premier-league-clubs-unite-against-homophobia-sport-following-bbc-three.
Last accessed 22nd March 2017.
- League Website. (2015). About
Us. Available: http://www.leaguewebsite.co.uk/londonunityleague/Home. Last
accessed 22 March 2017.
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