The Countdown To Football v Homophobia 2012 Begins!

Dear Supporter,

Five weeks until Football v Homophobia 2012

I’m writing to remind you about this year’s football v homophobia. There have been some important developments this year in the Justin Campaign, and I’d like to tell you a bit more about them, as well as invite you to take action this year for FvH.

Website

At the end of January this year we will be launching our new FvH website. The website will provide a much improved level of support to a wider audience. It will also be easier to donate through the site, and to purchase merchandise. Thank you to those of you who sent in case studies of the fantastic work you did last year for FvH. These will be live on the site in February.

In the meantime, our current site is up and running as usual until the launch of FvH v2!

You can of course also find The Justin Campaign on our Facebook page here and details about Football v Homophobia here. You can also follow us on Twitter at @JustinCampaign, so make sure you check in for up to date information.

Week of action

We are changing the way that we think about and promote FvH. As you know, it began as a day of action on the 19^th February, Justin Fashanu’s birthday. This has worked well, but with the growth of FvH and our developing partnership with the FA, we feel that there is a need to make FvH more accessible and to strengthen it’s impact. We therefore intend to make FvH a year around initiative, with a focused week of action around the 19^th Feb. The focus of FvH will continue to be about empowering people to take action to make a difference, whilst the Justin Campaign will continue to have a wider remit of raising awareness and encouraging a range of activisms. Having a week of action for FvH instead of a day will:

• Allow more people to put on events or take action
• Allow us to nurture commitment to FvH by the professional game
• Ensure that FvH gets more attention and makes a bigger difference

Professional game

Several professional clubs have already committed to being involved in FvH’s weeks of action this year. We are also sending out letters in the next week to all professional clubs telling them more about what they can do to get involved.

What you can do

There are a range of things that you can do this year to get involved. More detail will be available on our new website.

• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – get up to date information and help us get the message out
• Take part in our ‘Me v Homophobia’ photo action – take a photo of yourself and your gang with a Football v Homophobia sign and upload onto our Facebook page – help us demonstrate support for FvH
• Take part in our ‘My club v homophobia’ campaign – take a photo of yourself in your club paraphernalia, with a Football v Homophobia sign, and start a petition to your club to get them involved with FvH
• Buy an FvH t-shirt of hoodie and wear it during the week of action – help raise funds for the campaign and spread the message
• Wear pink or black or an FvH shirt to a football game during the week of action – show solidary at your club
• Put on an event for FvH – we are here to support you in whatever way we can. Check out our new site for new and improved event guidelines and a map of events around the country, as well as case studies of best practice from FvH 2011

Please get in contact to tell us about events you would like to organise or to talk more about how you can get involved. We look forward to continuing to work with you to make football welcoming, inclusive and safe for everyone.

Best wishes,

Megan Worthing-Davies

Director of Football v Homophobia

info@thejustincampaign.com

www.thejustincampaign.com

www.footballvhomophobia.com

The Justin Campaign statement on Oxford City’s Decision To Terminate Player’s Contract.

The Justin Campaign was very interested to hear the news that Southern Football League Premier Division club Oxford City has sacked striker Lee Steele over homophobic remarks he posted on Twitter recently.

The remarks, made in relation to the openly-gay Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas’ appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, read: “I wouldn’t fancy the bed next to Gareth Thomas #padlock my a**e”.

While it is never pleasing to see someone lose a position in a club or company, we fully applaud the club’s decision to terminate the player’s contract.

For far too long homophobic comments like the ones Steele made have been defended using the erroneous argument that such remarks as simply harmless “banter”. However, we no longer accept racist “banter”, and likewise, we must never accept homophobic “banter”. These kind of comments, in which being gay or bisexual is used as joke, have immense power in dissuading members of the LGBT community from either playing or watching football.

Oxford City’s brave decision shows us that things are, slowly, moving in the right direction and that football is starting to take homophobia, biphobia and transphobia seriously.

Here is the club’s statement in full.

“The Oxford City board have decided to release Lee Steele in view of his recent comment via social media which is considered seriously contrary to the ethos of the club.”

The 2011 Justin Fashanu Cup A Huge Success

Teams from across the UK got together to play in the Justin Fashanu Cup 2011. In this year's tournaments we had people that had travelled from London, Brighton, Bristol, Trowbridge and Cambridge to play in the five a side tournament being hosted by the Justin Campaign and the Trowbridge Tigers. On Day 1 teams played up to four 24 minute games and in the evening took part in Darts and Pool competitions at the Prestbury Sports Bar in Warminster.

On day 2 of the competition, the final standings were established after another round of games. The Easton Cowboys edged past Sister Act to win the women's competition, in the men's division the Prestbury Tigers ran away with the league with the Trowbridge Tigers team finishing second.

At the presentation evening trophies were presented to the winning teams and medals given to the winners and runners up in both divisions. There were also trophies for the top goalscorer and the player of the tournament. All of the trophies were kindly paid for by RRUK (Rainbow Rooms UK).

Click here for more photos of the event.

Happy New Year from the Justin Campaign!

Just a short message to wish all our supporters, volunteers and partners a happy New Year from all of us here at the Justin Campaign.

Looking ahead to 2012, we want to make sure that we build on the firm footing that has been established in the fight against homophobia in football.

In particular we are looking forward to:

1) Building on the success of Football v Homophobia 2011 to make the 2012 event on February 19 bigger and better;

2) Working with football authorities and supporters groups to raise awareness about inequality in the world's beautiful game;

3) Using football as a way to build equality for all members of the LGBT community throughout society through workshops, education classes, talks and exhibitions.

Finally thanks to you for all your continued support.

Exeter City striker to coach Devon's only gay-friendly team

Exeter City Football Club striker John O'Flynn will take on a new role this Sunday.

O'Flynn, in his role as Exeter FC's One Game One Community (OGOC) ambassador, will run a training session for players from the Devon Lions football team on Sunday in Exeter.

The Devon Lions are Devon's first and only gay-friendly football team. The team represent Devon in the Gay National friendly league.

The training session, which will be held in the city, has been organised by Exeter City's OGOC group, which operates under the umbrella of Exeter City's Supporter's Trust.

The aims of the group are to address all strands of equality including race, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs. The group works closely with Exeter City FC and its Community Trust to promote a positive and inclusive outlook.

This approach has been endorsed by O'Flynn, who said: "Football should be about bringing people together whatever their backgrounds."Let's help make Exeter City a true community club welcoming to all be they young or old, black or white, male or female, gay or straight, disabled or able-bodied, with faith or without."As they saying goes - united we stand; divided we fall."

Exeter City FC marked its commitment to equality and diversity in October by making its clash with Rochdale its OGOC/Kick it Out fixture. Kick it Out is a national organisation aimed at ending racism and other prejudice in the game.

Devon Lions was formed in February 2009 and since then has provided a non-judgemental environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and heterosexual players to enjoy playing football.

The club takes pride in promoting equality and social inclusion whilst fighting prejudice in society.

It has worked with The Justin Campaign, which opposes homophobia in football.

Richard Cowell, Devon Lions Secretary said "This is such a fantastic step forward to have a Football League club helping make a stance against the homophobic prejudice still seen in the game.

"Exeter City have been incredibly welcoming of our prospect and cause and it sets an example to the rest of footballing world: that we can make a stand against the abuse regularly seen at clubs up and down the country".

Devon Lions FC are always on the lookout for new players, supporters or volunteers, so no matter how experienced you are, you will be made to feel welcome.

For further information about Devon Lions please contact the committee on committee@devonlionsfc.co.uk

The Justin Campaign Is Recruiting! - Head Of Professional Game

Head of professional game – Voluntary – part time approximately 8 hours a week

About the Justin Campaign

The Justin Campaign (JC) is the FA’s adopted campaign to tackle homophobia in football. We challenge discrimination and prejudice against LGBT people in order to create welcoming and inclusive football environments. We aim to see football and wider society value the contributions made by LGBT people. The JC is a fast-growing organisation working with partners at the highest level of football, both domestically and internationally. We focus our efforts on four key areas of work: grassroots football, arts, education and Football V Homophobia (FvH).

About your role

With the adoption by the FA of our key initiative Football v Homophobia, we will see a large increase in contact with professional clubs over the forthcoming years. Your role is to manage the relationship with professional clubs, and to ensure a joined up approach on behalf of the campaign. This will involve working closely with the director for FvH, and the directors of other campaign areas to ensure that we offer the most appropriate support to help professional clubs tackle discrimination and prejudice against LGBT people.

The Key responsibilities of the role include:

· Developing a strategy to ensure the JC supports football clubs to achieve our vision

· Developing a clear approach to professional clubs to get them involved with FvH and other campaign work

· Managing contact with professional clubs and their representatives

· Working with the director of FvH to ensure that FvH works for professional clubs

· Recruiting, organising and managing volunteers to fulfil various functions within the professional game team

About you

You will have a keen interest in both football and the social justice agenda. You understand the importance of the work of the Justin Campaign and are keen to get involved. You have excellent people skills and are good at communicating over email and telephone to build relationships of trust and support. You also have the ability to manage several tasks and projects at the same time, knowing that you will be balancing communication with up to 90 professional club over the course of the year! You are a proactive, initiative taker who would love to get your hands into this project.

To apply for this position, please send a copy of your CV and a covering letter to Megan Worthing-Davies: megan@thejustincampaign.com. If you have any questions please contact Megan on 07814 036789.

The final date for all applications is 1pm, 14^th December.

We welcome applicants from both within and outside the LGBT community. The Justin Campaign is predominantly a Brighton based campaigning organisation. Volunteers will be expected to attend some meetings in Brighton.

The Justin Campaign Is Recruiting! - Head Of Fundraising And Sponsorship

Head of Fundraising and sponsorship – voluntary – part time approximately 4- 8 hours per week

About the Justin Campaign

The Justin Campaign (JC) is the FA’s adopted campaign to tackle homophobia in football. We aim to see football and wider society value the contributions made by LGBT people. The JC is a fast-growing organisation working with partners at the highest level of football, both domestically and internationally. We focus our efforts on four key areas of work: grassroots football, arts, education and Football V Homophobia.

About your role

This is an exciting role that will involve you working creatively and with initiative to secure funding for the Justin Campaign. This includes a significant role guiding the board about future funding options and possible charitable status. The role provides an opportunity for someone with initiative and ambition to make a real contribution to the future success of the campaign.

Your key responsibilities will be:

· To develop a funding strategy and increase the funding for the Justin Campaign and it’s key initiative Football v Homophobia

· To review the legal/charitable status of the campaign and advise best future options

· To research and target potential funders including charitable trusts, government grants, donor contributions, corporate sponsorship, supporter giving and other opportunities

· To work with the Director of Communications and PR to produce supporting materials such as posters, websites and newsletters to promote, market and advertise funding opportunities and events

· To work with other directors to identify funding needs and options, and to develop short- and long-term plans and budgets for the fundraising program and its activities, monitor progress, assure adherence and evaluate performance

· To recruit, organise and manage volunteers to fulfil various functions within the fundraising team

About you

It is desirable that you have experience, qualifications and/or training in this area. You are an ambitious and motivated person who enjoys finding solutions to problems. You are excited by the scope there is to develop the funding portfolio of the campaign and for the opportunities there will be to use your own initiative to make a difference. You see the potential that exists to take the campaign to the next level of impact and influence through financial growth and are confident in your ability to meet the challenge.

To apply for this position, please send a copy of your CV and a covering letter to Megan Worthing-Davies: megan@thejustincampaign.com. If you have any questions, please contact Megan on 07814 036789.

The final date for all applications is 1pm, 14^th December.

We welcome applicants from both within and outside the LGBT community. The Justin Campaign is predominantly a Brighton based campaigning organisation. Volunteers will be expected to attend some meetings in Brighton.