Football video game sparks homophobic backlash over LGBT-rainbow kits
Football video game FIFA 17 introduced a rainbow kit for gamers to play in support of the LGBT community.
However, the kit has sparked backlash from homophobic players who ‘rage quit’ upon seeing people play with the rainbow kit, claiming that EA, the company behind the game, is trying to push a political agenda.
The rainbow kit was sparked by Stonewall UK’s Rainbow Laces campaign and has been praised by many people.
Speaking to Gay Star News, Matt Horwood the Senior Communications Officer at Stonewall, said:
“It’s clear from some of the responses to our Rainbow Lace campaign on social media that there is still so much work to do to make sport everyone’s game.”
“However, it’s been extremely encouraging to see sports fans echo the inclusive sentiment of posts from the likes of Premier League, FA and teams across the UK, often even calling out the hateful comments from Twitter trolls.”
EA has been vocal about LGBT representation in its video games such as The Sims, Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
The Rainbow Laces campaign hopes to raise awareness of the homophobia, biphobia and transphobia that currently remains a probelm in the sports community.
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