Gay football team help kick homophobia out the game in new BBC documentary
By Will Stroude
The world of professional sport is an increasingly welcoming place for gay people in 2017, with high profile athletes like Tom Daley, Nicola Adams and Gus Kenworthy all coming out while at the top of their game over the last few years.
There remains one sport in which gay players remain conspicuous by their absence, however: football.
As the world continues to wait for a Premier League star to take the plunge and come out publicly, a new BBC documentary is getting to know one of London’s top gay football teams in an effort explore the effect homophobia continues to have on the sport.
We Are Gay and We Love Football Too follows amateur club London Titans FC as they come up against “lad culture”, playing a game against a straight team with reservations about efforts to include LGBT in the beautiful game.
The documentary sees the squad’s players open up about their own personal stories and experiences of homophobia as they discuss their efforts to promote acceptance in the beautiful game.
“I joined London Titans because I found out about it through Facebook and I wanted to join a football club where I wouldn’t be judged,” explains Callum, one of team’s players.
Another, Charlie, adds: “It’s just a safe environment for you to be who you are, instead of playing for a team where you have to hide part of your personality – or part of you, really.”
London Titans FC’s first team competes in the FA affiliated Middlesex County FA Saturday league, alongside entering teams into a number of LGBT leagues.
Watch We Are Gay and We Love Football Too in full here.
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