Persistence is key

12 months ago an effort from one of the largest sports in Australian to raise awareness about homophobia drastically failed.

Well known Aussie Rules player Jason Akermanis wrote an editorial for the Herald Sun advising gay players to "Stay in the Closet".

He added: "Locker room nudity and homoerotic activities are normal inside footy clubs", but advised young gay players who are "thinking of telling the world [about their sexual orientation to] forget it."

The result of these words was to instantly put pay to the small steps taken by the
Australian Football League and its player association.

Indeed, former Aussie Rugby League star Ian Roberts - still the only male footballer from Australia's dominant sports to come out - told one magazine: "There are kids out there in the suburbs who are killing themselves because of comments like that."

It was the equivalent of Craig Bellamy or Scott Parker from penning a high-profile column in the Daily Mirror or Sunday People.

Any encouragement that ARL fans had to ditch its macho stereotypes was instantly screwed up and thrown in the bin.

It would have been very easy for the sport to shelve any plans to promote equality for a few years.

Yet, thanks to a small group of players, the issue of tackling homophobia is still alive.

In contrast with last year's high profile efforts, this year sees three players going into speak to clients of the national youth mental health foundation about the issue.

On May 17, the trio will attend an event for the day and judge a design competition with the theme "In my eyes, homophobia is out of bounds".

Their efforts have the support of 17-year-old Hannah Williams, who made national headlines in Oz last year after Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School forbade her to take her girlfriend to the end of school party.

She said: "I've heard that a lot of guys believe that it's a lot easier for girls to come out because there are a lot of celebrity girls who are lesbian.

"Guys tend to stay in the closet for a lot longer and normally don't choose to come out unless something happens."

The Justin Campaign, which runs its own educational programme, praises these players and indeed the player's association for doing such work.

High profile media stunts are important to get word across and raise awareness about topics.

But, as has been shown, it can so easily go wrong, and ultimately has no impact on the very people suffering from accepting who they really are.

Yet these three players simply talking to young people about the issue will not only raise awareness but will have a deep impact on people clearly troubled. It could in fact save lives.

Substance over style, actions speak louder than words - let's ditch the cliches and just tackle an issue which has no place in any part of society.

A statement from Croatia's Center For LGBT Equality

We thought that you should all read this statement from Croatia's Center For LGBT Equality on the recent decision by the Zagreb courts not to prosecute Croatian Football Federation boss Vlatko Markovic over his appalling remarks made last year.

HELP US STOP HOMOPHOBIA CROATIAN FOOTBALL!

We are writing to you with the intent of drawing your attention to the repeated homophobic statements given to the media by the President of the Croatian Football Federation VLATKO MARKOVIĆ and the executive president of FC Dinamo Zagreb ZDRAVKO MAMIĆ.

The facts and contents of this letter are known to relevant Croatian authorities, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Gender Equality Ombudsperson, as well as the Croatian public. Our organisations have also filed a lawsuits against Vlatko Marković and Zdravko Mamić for the violation of the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Sports Act.

The lawsuit was filed on the grounds of the statements given by the defendant Vlatko Marković to the daily newspaper Večernji list, dated 7th of November, 2010.

The statement in question is found in a Večernji list article entitled 'There's No Room for a Gay in the [Croatia national football team]', in which he responded to the reporter Tomislav Dasović's questions as follows:

„Could an openly gay player be a part of the Croatian selection?
- Not while I'm the president, certainly not!

Have you ever met such a player in your career?
- No, luckily, only healthy people play football.“

On the 16th of November 2010, after the controversial statement of Mr Marković that was relayed by numerous web portals and television broadcasts, in an article entitled 'Homosexuals Wouldn't Play for My Selection, Either' the daily newspaper Jutarnji list published a statement by Mr Mamić in which he claims that 'gay football players can't play for the selection' since, due to their 'slight build', he sees gay men as more suited to 'working in other fields, such as being ballet dancers, authors or journalists'.

Mr Mamić verified the authenticity of said article in court, adding that his words were faithfully conveyed; while Mr Marković stated that his statements had been misinterpreted.

Acting as the central authority in the elimination of discrimination, the Ombudsman has urged the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, the Croatian Olympic Committee and the Croatian Football Federation to take all the legal and other measures stipulated by the law and their regulations, in order to prevent and sanction discriminatory statements and acts.

Since to this day there have been no institutional measures taken to inspect the responsibility of Mr Marković and Mr Mamić, we have decided to inform UEFA about the situation.

Within the class action suits against Mr Marković and Mr Mamić, our organisations have requested the court ban any further appearances in the media, in a way that is discriminatory based on one's sexual orientation, and there be issued a public apology in a daily newspaper for making such statements, at their own expense.

We would like to remind you that this is not the first time a person of a high position in Croatian football openly expressed their homophobic sentiments, spread prejudice and invited discrimination against LGBT persons. In the 2004, the then national team coach Mr Otto Barić made an almost identical statement, for which UEFA took disciplinary action against him.

Kind regards,

For Center for LGBT Equality,

• Marko Jurčić
• Karla Horvat Crnogaj
• Matea Popov
• Franko Dota
• Danijela Almesberger
• Gordan Bosanac
• Zvonimir Dobrović

Court dismisses discrimination suit against “no homosexuals” football president Vlatko Markovic

Keph Senett is a Canadian writer living in Mexico who’s proudly played soccer on four continents. You can read more from her at kephsenett.com. She’s part of the Communications team for The Justin Campaign.

Earlier this week judge Jasenka Grgic of the Zagreb county court rejected one of two discrimination cases filed against president of the Croatian Football Federation, Vlatko Markovic.

The complaint comes after Markovic made the following remarks: “While I’m a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team,” he said, adding that “only normal people play football.”

The incident resulted in two discrimination suits – one by the Center for LGBT Equality and another by Center for Peace Studies. According to the Croatian Times, Grgic felt that “direct discrimination” had not been proven. Further, the judge suggested that the suit was misdirected, and that an employment discrimination suit might be filed against the Federation, but not Markovic.

“We believe that the problem is very deep because Vlatko Markovic is the head of Croatian football, and sport – according to Law on Sports – must be equally accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation,” said Marko Jurcic on behalf of the plaintiffs. The group has said they will appeal to the high courts.

The second suit is scheduled to be heard in June 2011.

Shortly after Markovic’s original remarks, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) opened a disciplinary case against Markovic, under Article 11 of its Disciplinary Code which obliges it to impose sanctions on any football association if an official “insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons”.

The matter was scheduled to be heard on November 25, 2010. If such a hearing took place, I can find no evidence of it, and in February of 2011, after a contentious election, both FIFA and the UEFA confirmed Markovic for a fourth term as Federation president.

The decisions of the courts aside, the UEFA has positioned itself as an organization with a commitment to equality. In 2008, the organization launched the Respect campaign, which “dovetails with programmes aimed at combating violence, racism, xenophobia and homophobia, as well as at nurturing fan support, intercultural dialogue, the environment and humanitarian relief.”

More recently, in mid-February, UEFA officially endorsed The Justin Campaign, a group dedicated to ending homophobia in football. The UEFA has the power and the policy to hold Markovic and the Croatian Football Federation accountable, and as a fan that’s committed to equality on and off the pitch, I want to see it happen.

Questions for the UEFA? Comments? The contact form for the UEFA is here.

Amal Fashanu Talks To The Justin Campaign

On this important day, Justin Fashanu Day, the anniversary of the death of the first, and until very recently, only professional footballer to publicly come out, The Justin Campaign speaks to Justin's niece, Amal Fashanu, a woman who has worked with the campaign to both honour her uncle's memory and fight homophobia in the game.




What kind of relationship did you have with Justin?
I have always believed I was Justin's favourite, since I am his only niece and my relationship with him was simply amazing. The best uncle I could have asked to have.

What kind of person was he?
It's difficult to write in words what kind of a person he was as I would only say an infinite list of positive things. From what I can remember he was kind hearted, generous, loving, open, friendly and very talented.

What are you fondest memories of Justin?
I remember coming back from school one afternooon and finding Justin at home. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited and after dinner Justin, my mum and I had desert. If I'm correct it was strawberrys with cream that night, and as always he decided to spice things up so we started a strawberries and cream war. We then sat in the living room as I did my home work sat on his lap. This was the last day I ever saw him and I always remember this day as if it happened minutes ago.

I think it’s fair to say that your family struggled with Justin’s sexuality at the time. How do you feel about that?
I think like any family living constantly in the public eye, it is a struggle to live with people scrutinising your personal life as well as your professional one. Who cares what one does in their private life? Who really cares? What was Justin gifted at, football. So why care about his sexual preferences?

How would you like your uncle to be remembered?
I would love my uncle to be remembered for what he really was, a super talented and brave man who faced the world without fear. He is my Hero!

Do you think Justin can be an inspiration to other footballers who are considering coming out publicly?
I don't think he can be an inspiration, I know he is and will be to many out there who have the fear of saying who they are and not caring about the rest.

In February, Norwich City, Norwich Pride and The Justin Campaign came together to unveil Justin’s banner at Carrow Road in Norwich City’s Hall Of Fame. How proud were you to know that your uncle’s memory will live on forever at the home of his first club?
Even when I read this question I smiled because of how happy and proud this makes me. Maybe now people can recognise Justin for how much of an amazing footballer he was and not by the fact that he was homosexual or committed suicide.

Are you surprised that, prior to Swedish footballer Anton Hysen coming out only recently, no other professional footballers had come out publicly since Justin?
If I am honest surprised is not the word I would use to describe it. I would say I'm more disappointed. I find it sad that some one would have to oppress themselves and who they are from others just because they fear that people will judge.

How important do you think organisations like The Justin Campaign are in the fight against homophobia in football?
I think theses organisations play a key role. Apart from raising awareness it provides a community of support for those who may feel alone or misunderstood.

Your father John was also a highly successful, top-class footballer. Have you inherited the Fashanu football genes?
I would love to say yes, but unfortunately I don't think so. Although I must say I have scored many goals playing football with my family in the past.

You can find out more about Amal on her website - http://amalfashanu.co.uk/

Justin Fashanu Day

Today marks 13 years since Justin Fashanu was found dead hanging in a garage in south London.

The life of the UK's first and only openly gay footballer was turbulent to say the least.

An amazing talent on the pitch, his career was marred by a torrent of abuse and "banter" about him publicly accepting who he was.

To mark occasion and to remember him, The Justin Campaign has organised a series of events.

A tournament yesterday including the invitational Justin Fashanu Allstars reminded people that football is a game for all to enjoy. It included Aslie Pitter MBE, of Stonewall FC, who is also a patron of The Justin Campaign.

Today, we have also unveiled a new page on the website www.thejustincampaign.com which will be a tribute to Justin.

As well as information about his career, it has tributes from top football writers such as Henry Winter, LMA's Frank Clark, Peter Tatchell and his niece Amal Fashanu.

As part of ongoing work around educating people about the subject, campaign volunteers will also be going to a speak to school children about the work we do in ridding homophobia from the beautiful game.

Justin's death was a tragic end to one of the most talented footballers of a generation.

While he and others helped raise awareness about the subject, homophobia in football is still a massive taboo.

Yes progress has been made but more needs to be done before other players feel comfortable in publicly accepting who they are.

This is why we will continue to remember Justin Fashanu.

Did you know Justin? How did his news of his death affect you? Please leave tributes and comments below.

GUEST BLOG - Musa Okwonga and "Love, Against Homophobia".

My name's Musa Okwonga, and I'm a poet, musician and football writer (and once a keen player; I played for Stonewall FC for a couple of years, as a holding midfielder who ran forward too often.) This music video, “Love, Against Homophobia”, began life as a poem that I wrote in November 2009. I had just returned from Amsterdam, which has just about the friendliest gay scene on the planet, when I read of the rape and murder of Eudy Simelane, a South African footballer and lesbian activist. I was sickened both by the story and the fact that life could be so arbitrary – that you could be subjected to such horror merely by accident of birth. And so, listening to an appropriately angry piece of music (in this case, “Beaten Metal” by Antibalas), I put the finishing touches to the poem, with Simelane’s plight firmly in mind. A year later I read of the murder of David Kato, the gay activist who hails from my parents’ homeland of Uganda, and it was around then that we set the words to music, knowing that this was a theme that deserved wider attention. (“We” were The King’s Will, a two-man outfit where I wrote the words and Giles Hayter – a multitalented schoolfriend of mine, who is a painter, producer, composer and mathematician – made the electronica that would accompany my verse.) I recorded my vocal acapella, and Giles built a beat underneath it that was subtle, stirring and choral, before surging into something upbeat and triumphal. We advertised online for an animator who could bring life to the work, and that was when we were lucky enough to find Jae Hwang, a Korean animator working in London, who created the stunning 3-D video that you can now see on YouTube. Jae’s work on this was remarkable; he completed the video in a relatively short space of time, and contacted us halfway through the process to send us some stills of the final piece, which were so beautiful that we immediately selected one of them as the cover of our debut album. We also handcuffed ourselves to him and told him never to leave us (well, that’s not true, but he’s currently making the video for the lead single of our next album).

So there you have it: “Love, Against Homophobia”. I personally felt there were too few songs of an affirming nature when it came to gay rights, and so we set about making the best one that we could. We hope that you like it.

You can watch Musa's incredible video here.

Kobe shown homophobic language not fine.

Sports stars are often held up as paragons, as inspirations to us all.

Young people copy their actions, those in adulthood rue missed opportunities oft wondering why they are not in the similar position.

All in all this makes it worrying why Kobe Bryant, one of the most recognisable sports stars in North America, if not the world, was seen apparently uttering the word "faggot" to a referee.

Such an example could very quickly be seen as being acceptable by tens of thousands of people.

English football fan's minds will immediately think of the incident involving Wayne Rooney where he uttered a number of expletives into a TV camera after scoring a goal. The result - a two game suspension.

In the Bryant case the NBA acted swiftly and fined him $100,000. For that they must be praised.

The head of NBA David Stern made the sport's position very clear in a statement.

He said: "Kobe Bryant's comment during last night's game was offensive and inexcusable. While I'm fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated.

"Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society."

Bryant himself said: "My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period.

"The words expressed do not reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were not meant to offend anyone."

These words and apology do not excuse Bryant from what was a clearly offensive comment, not just to the referee but to gay people across the globe.

The fine is welcomed but it needs to be put in perspective.

Bryant earns more than $30 million. A fine of $100,000 is hardly going to hurt him personally.

But what it will do is grab the headlines and make kids and adults know that such language is not acceptable, never has been and never will be.

From recent memory there have been no notable examples of football authorities taking similar stances.

Whether it is through lack of evidence - as such language does get uttered on the pitch and in the terraces - reluctance, or inability to track down the offenders, who knows.

Whatever the reason we hope the FA, Uefa and Fifa sit up and take note of the NBA's admirable lead.