Gay Male Football Fans’ Experiences: Authenticity, Belonging and Conditional Acceptance

Abstract

The relationship between English football and homosexuality has changed significantly in recent years. However, research examining this area of study has predominantly focused on the attitudes of ostensibly heterosexual men. By drawing on semi-structured interviews with 35 ‘out’ gay male fans, this article is the first to focus explicitly on LGBT fans’ sense of place in English football. Contrary to previous research, these gay male fans represent ‘authentic’ notions of fandom through their passion for football and respective clubs. The recent emergence of LGBT Fan Groups has provided sexual minority fans increased visibility, and a sense of belonging and community. Finally, despite ongoing concerns about football stadia’s hypermasculine and heteronormative environment, these fans believe that they have become an increasingly inclusive space. Accordingly, this article demonstrates that sexual minority fans are central to English football and argues that future research must acknowledge their increased prevalence.

Fan attitudes towards sexual minorities in German men’s football

“…To examine this empirically, this article draws on data collected from an online survey with 212 fans to measure attitudes towards homosexuality in German professional football. Consistent with research across Western Europe and North America (e.g., Anderson et al, 2016;Cashmore and Cleland, 2012;Magrath, 2018Magrath, , 2021a, our findings show that 95% espoused support for homosexuality and 81% for an out gay male professional player. Despite this, however, 90% of participants also believed that homophobia was still a major problem in German football, as evidenced by a lack of out gay male players and the continued use of homosexually themed language inside stadia.…”

“…Moreover, Cleland et al's (2018) analysis of fans' online response to Thomas Hitzlsperger's coming out showed that "just 2 percent of 6,106 comments contained pernicious homophobic intent" (p.91). Finally, confirming this positivity, Magrath's (2021a) research on the experiences of gay male football fans in England showed that all but four of his participants believed that football had become increasingly acceptant of homosexuality in recent years.…”

“…Football has historically been a hostile institution for sexual minorities. However, a significant body of recent research has documented how it has become increasingly tolerant and inclusive of homosexuality (Anderson et al, 2016;Magrath, 2017Magrath, , 2018Magrath, , 2021aCashmore and Cleland, 2012;Cleland et al, 2018). Consistent with these findings -and research which points towards inclusive attitudes towards sexual minorities more broadly (e.g., Kranjac and Wagmiller, 2021;Watt and Elliot, 2019) -95% of survey respondents were overwhelmingly supportive of homosexuality and same-sex social and legal rights.…”

“…Even research on events and sports fandom has documented the acceptance of homosexuality, with most fans preferring to judge an athlete by their on-field performance (Magrath, 2018;Cashmore and Cleland, 2012;Cleland, 2015). Although sexual minority fans still comprise a significant minority at sporting events (Sykes and Hamzeh, 2018;Allison and Knoester, 2021), some evidence has suggested that this is increasing, with LGBT+ 1 Fan Groups providing increased visibility and community for this group of fans (Magrath, 2021a). But despite this body of evidence documenting increasingly inclusive attitudes, sports fans -especially those 3 in European football -are still often blamed by sections of media and activist organisations for a lack of 'out' gay male professional players (Jones, 2014;Meuser, 2017;Stonewall, 2016).…”

Mental Health, Crime, Sport, Community, and Island Life: The Post-Retirement Struggles of a Fiji Soccer Hero

“…Some mid-teen English academy players interviewed by Adams and Kavanagh (2018) expressed inclusive attitudes towards gay peers, but in the presence of homophobic attitudes tended to stay passive, creating a 'balancing act of masculinities' (319). Supporting the IMT hypothesis of a general movement towards inclusive masculinities, Magrath (2021) found that 31 out of the 35 'out' gay football fans he interviewed believe that English football has become increasingly acceptant of gay men in recent years; whilst 26 out of 35 felt safe attending matches and believe that previous feelings of being intimidated have declined. Cashmore and Cleland (2012) surveyed 3,500 fans from 35 different countries and found that 93 percent of respondents reject homophobia and support players who 'come out'.…”