Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas is making a call in Parliament for urgent action to end homophobic chants at football matches after a report showed the extent of the problem facing clubs like Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Green MP has co-sponsored an Early Day Motion submitted by South Manchester MP John Leech (Liberal Democrat) calling on the Police, clubs, supporters and the Football authorities to work together to stamp out homophobic chanting.

Last month, the Gay Football Supporter’s Network (GFSN) and Brighton and Hove Albion Supporter Club (BHASC) published a report which stated that Brighton had faced homophobic abuse at over 70% of all games.

Caroline Lucas MP, who has spoken out in the past in support of The Justin Campaign, set up in memory of footballer Justin Fashanu to tackle homophobia in the game, said:

"While real progress has been made in tackling racist abuse in football, homophobic chanting in the stands remains rife.

"There’s clearly still a long way to go towards changing such deeply offensive behaviour, and I pay tribute to the work done so far by BHASC and GFSN in highlighting this important issue.

"With such an anti-gay atmosphere in some clubs and amongst some supporters, it’s not surprising that footballers like Robbie Rogers feel they can no longer stay in the game once their sexuality becomes known.

"Today we are urging politicians, the police, football clubs and supporters to come together and look at ways to eradicate homophobic chanting from the sport for good.”

ENDS

Notes

The EDM states:

That this house welcomes the report from the Brighton and Hove Albion Supporters’ Club (BHASC) along with the Gay Football Supporters’ Network (GFSN) that details evidence and a log of the level of homophobic chanting at both home and away matches; recognises the extent of the problem when Brighton fans have been subjected to homophobic abuse by at least 72% of opponents they have faced this season; agrees with the report that although chants differ from what would be considered to be mild to much more offensive, if  these words relating to a person’s sexuality were replaced with words relating to someone’s race or skin colour, appropriate action would be taken; further recognises the good work both the BHASC and the GFSN has done in highlighting this problem, and calls for the clubs, the football authorities, police and relevant authorities to work with them to eradicate this abuse.

Photo:
Caroline Lucas MP and Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty, Deputy Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, join members of The Justin Campaign on Brighton seafront