Advocacy

In 1996, the EGLSF was invited to the International Conference of the European Council in Amsterdam as the only delegate of the gay and lesbian community. This conference, “International Round Table on Sports, Tolerance and Fair Play”, accepted a declaration that stands for fair play and tolerance and condemns discrimination in all forms. This declaration is supported by the EGLSF as a step in the right direction. However, the EGLSF expressed its disappointment that the discrimination of gay and lesbian athletes was not explicitly mentioned. In 1999 the EGLSF organised a conference called “Building Bridges Between Regular Sports and Gay / Lesbian Sports” and gave a summary on the integration of gays and lesbians in regular sport. Due to the “Building Bridges” conference the Dutch Sports Ministry granted a subsidy to enable the EGLSF to work with European institutions and regular sports associations. In 2001 the EGLSF was invited by the Council of Europe to participate in a special Ministers’ Conference on“Sport, Fair Play & Tolerance” at the recommendation of the Dutch authorities. In 2002 the Council of Europe officially granted the EGLSF consultative status by which the organisation was acknowledged as an expert on homosexuality in sports. In 2002 the EGLSF initiated a motion for a recommendation on the problematic situation of lesbians and gays in sports in member states in the Council of Europe. Since September 2002 the EGLSF has been working together with other NGO- sports organisations in the field of anti-discrimination in sports in the FARE-network (FARE, Football Against Racism Europe). There is more to do than fight racism alone; homophobia needs to be tackled as well. As a result of this co-operation, the German organisation of football fan groups, BAFF, has adopted a 7-point action plan against homophobia. [...]

In Football the silence of fans, players, coaches, clubs, and associations or the negation and invisibility of homosexuality are serious expressions of homophobia. When the opposing team or the referee is called “gay,” most people do not even notice any abuse. Homophobia and sexism are often understood as being part of the cultural logic of football. To establish an atmosphere of acceptance of gays and lesbians in the world of sports should be a normal duty for sport organisations and their leaders. To counteract the silence on homophobia and to combat the discrimination on sexual orientation in football, first of all, all football authorities have to acknowledge the existens of lesbians and gays. While we keep waiting for the coming-out of a top player, a lot of work can be done. By transforming established structures of male bonding into a new form of solidarity, a new atmosphere may be created both on the pitch and on the terraces, in which the decision for diverse life-styles is entirely up to the individual, who will not be left alone with possible unpleasant consequences, however.

At the UEFA conference “unite against racism” in Barcelona in the beginning of 2006 a workshop on homophobia was held by EGLSF. For the first time ever UEFA acknowledges the existence of homophobia in football. The workshop was a big success. Delegates from many European Football Associations did participate in the workshop. Speakers were John Blankenstein (UEFA referee), Lucy Faulkner (English FA), Marianne Meier (Swiss Development), Tanja Walther (EGLSF). The workshop was chaired by Pepe García Vázquez (EGLSF). The support from FARE made it possible to create a paper on homophobia in football: KICK IT OUT (www.kickitout.org). The paper was presented at the conference in Barcelona. The outcome of the conference is a good practice guide for clubs Tackling racism in club football [pdf]. The guide includes 2 pages on “Dealing with homophobia and sexism”, and it is available in different languages.

Two workshops, one during the EuroGames in Antwerp and one on October 12, 2007 in Berlin were the kick off to put homophobia and sexism on the agenda of clubs and national FA’s. The new EGLSF campaigne “Football is everything” supported by FARE hopes to bring at least anti-discrimination provisions including anti-sexist passages to stadium, club and FA regulation and statutes as a fisrt step within the anti-discrimination work. July 2007: More than Playing Games – Antwerp, Belgium Conference report [pdf]; October 2007: Football is Everything – Berlin, Germany Evening against homophobia report [pdf]. In the future EGLSF wants to widen this campaign. The Advocacy plan 2007-2010 shows that the work within the football community is just the pilot project to implement a strategy to combat all forms of discrimination and to promote equality in sports.

The EGLSF is working as a partner within Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) since 2002. FARE is a European Network which was founded in 1999. The idea behind FARE is to promote a commitment to fight racism at all levels of professional and amateur football across Europe – in stadiums, on the pitch, in administration, in coaching and sport education and in the media. Therefore it is necesarry to raise awareness amongst the European football family as to the benefits of the integrative potential of football and to encourage all to take action against discrimination. FARE administration meetings are held 3 or 4 times a year so that ideas, problems and new plans can be discussed in person while most of the work is done via email. Learn more about FARE at www.farenet.org.