The launch of the One Game, One Community weeks of action will see the perennial taboo of homophobia explored in an open access event at the FA's headquarters.
‘Homophobia – Football's Final Taboo’ is an event aimed at discussing homophobia in football, involving gay rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell.
Tatchell explained: “All bigotry is ugly. It has no legitimate place in any sport. Homophobia is not, or should not be, any more acceptable than racism. I’m delighted to be involved in raising the debate with Kick It Out as part of their weeks of action.”
The panel discussion, which takes place on Thursday (16 October) will bring together the FA and the Gay Football Supporters Network(GFSN) to discuss how homophobia in football can be addressed.
Panel members will include Peter Tatchell, FA Equality Manager Lucy Faulkner, Kick It Out director Piara Powar, Barney Efthimiou of GSFN and Jason Bartholomew-Hall of the Justin Fashanu Campaign.
The topic has been put back at the top of the agenda in recent weeks with England international Sol Campbell being the target of homophobic abuse.
Kick It Out Director, Piara Powar, said: “We’ve been campaigning to rid our game of discrimination for some years now. And we’ve made significant headway; black players are well represented and ethnic minority communities are getting closer to the game, but there are still no openly gay players and casual abuse of many players has homophobic overtones.
"We exist to, among other things, help raise all issues of discrimination in football. We want to use this event to pose some questions and unearth some answers, as to why the world of professional football remains hostile to the openly lesbian, gay and transgender sections of the population.”
The event takes place at the Football Association Media Centre, Soho Square, London, W1D 4FA on Thursday 16 October from 7pm.
The event is open to all and is free to attend. Please contact Kick It Out on 020 7684 4884 for more information
