BBC news about the gay chants.

[Mackenzie]

I give a shit, and it is completely different to what scousers are called.

Are you a parent, do you take your kids to the game?

How would you feel if a group of fans asked if you 'passed your son around'

How would you explain to your son or daughter that you are not 'aids ridden scum'

Do you just laugh it off when you're asked 'if you take it up the arse' in front of your children?

Think of it through the eyes and ears of a parent and tell me it's just harmless banter.

If someone said that to me they'd get a smack in the teeth for their troubles.

 

[LABHA]

It's called banter Jesus Christ, when they sung does ya bf know your here or whatever Bha fans give them a clap, then they shut up,don't people ever say, sticks and stones.......

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

It's called banter Jesus Christ, when they sung does ya bf know your here or whatever Bha fans give them a clap, then they shut up,don't people ever say, sticks and stones.......

Yes. Someone said "BANTAA".

I'm happy now

 

[pork pie]

He's fecking nails as well mate...ex marine!

I will take your word for it. I guess you checked? lol

 

[Twinkle Toes]

I will take your word for it. I guess you checked? lol

 

[Willy Dangle]

Can you have a word with my missus please.....

Already have and she luvved it.

Sorry but you asked for that.

 

[Willy Dangle]

Firstly, the point is that mock outrage and political correctness are actually counter productive to positive change.Brent Council and Bernie Grant didn't get the lyrics to 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' sheep changed but Rosa Park sitting in the white person's part of the bus, Nelson Mandela getting released from prison and, more relevantly, good English players with black skin (Cyril Regis and John Barnes spring to mind) exposing their experiences of racism from the terraces first hand have made sea changes in race relations. We should be putting the fathers who are asked if their kids are passed around and gay fans who feel too intimidated to go to games in front of the Argus and BBC, not some old lady in a bobble hat claiming to be outraged on behalf of Brighton fans about some 16 year old chavs singing 'we can see you holding hands'. Something concrete might get done then instead of a few boxes getting ticked and a quite embarrassing story appearing on a quiet news day that will be forgotten in a couple of days by every one except the away fans.

Secondly part of what attracted me to watching football - as opposed to playing - in the first place was precisely that it was male, edgy, that there was banter and a sense of belonging. I'm not ashamed of that. Sanitise football too much and you'll be left with just another game. Football never was that to me. I don't condone blatant homophobia any more that I condone blatant racism but these chants are pathetic and should just be laughed off. Where do I draw the line? At the attacking of individuals be it the aforementioned mouthing off to and about someone's kids or chucking a banana or making a monkey noise at a black player. Until today I thought anyone with half a brain cell could tell the difference instinctively but I guess I under estimated how peoples desire for a bit of small time local publicity can override their ability to think sanely.

I'm not reading all that. But I do agree with whatever it says

 

[Guinness Boy]

He's fecking nails as well mate...ex marine!

The hardest, scariest bloke I've ever known was gay. Hung around the Zap Club in the 90s & had a sobriquet that referenced his work with the mafia on the Iberian peninsula. So muscular he had to pretty much stand in a posture that resembled a circle. On one hand it's a shame we don't talk any more as setting him on some Palace Ultras would be freakin hilarious. On the other hand I never want to meet the geezer again.

 

[Willy Dangle]

The hardest, scariest bloke I've ever known was gay. Hung around the Zap Club in the 90s & had a sobriquet that referenced his work with the mafia on the Iberian peninsula. So muscular he had to pretty much stand in a posture that resembled a circle. On one hand it's a shame we don't talk any more as setting him on some Palace Ultras would be freakin hilarious. On the other hand I never want to meet the geezer again.

Why? Next time lube up.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Why? Next time lube up.

Good banter.

*phones Costa and Watts*

*cries*

 

[Puppet Master]

Reading through that report is actually quite saddening/sickening. **** off is it "banter". I can't imagine what it must be like to be a gay supporter hearing that crap and no one should have to feel like that.

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/38d8d5e8ac4afcc7ebb76a252/files/Report_into_abuse_at_BHA_games_March_2013.pdf

 

[wellquickwoody]

Reading through that report is actually quite saddening/sickening. **** off is it "banter". I can't imagine what it must be like to be a gay supporter hearing that crap and no one should have to feel like that.

Get over yourself, player rubs his hands up and down his backside in front of Brighton fans, FFS.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Exactly. Where do you draw the line? Where will terrace banter be in 10/20 years time? I dread to think. You can't call Ipswich the tractor boys!! That's discrimination.

Liz Costa you do NOT speak for me that is certain

it's all over , proper fans being gagged for the satisfaction of a FEW martyrs ,really shocking if you ask me.
regards
DR

 

[London Pompous]

I agree that the definitions of 'Homophobia' in & around football are certainly not as cut & dried as some people attest to, but I think that one of most important issues - which you have illustrated above - is how specific language (& indeed accompanying actions & context) makes individual supporters & fellow members of society feel.

By choice, I seek to keep my own sexual preferences to myself the vast majority of the time & I'm not ashamed to say this is partly due to prejudice. I have been threatened & verbally abused on a number of occassions by both Albion-supporting individuals & opposing supporters, and every time it's been purely down to their perception of my non-heterosexuality. Regardless of my ability to respond effectively & decisively, it always ****ing horrible; unwarrented & upsetting. It might well be a far cry from a bit of "We can see you holding hands", but it's clear to me that more needs to be done to allow folk to go to the football without fear of being abused because of who they might be attracted to or where they might live.

It's all well & good for the various authorities to pontificate about takling homophobia in and around football, but most of the time their actions fall well short of any aims & objectives. I'm sure those who know me on here would never describe me as a killjoy or somebody who doesn't love the combative nature of actively supporting a football club, but it doesn't mean that I also have to be at odds with what acceptable or not. I live by the rule that if it makes you feel like shit, it is shit: & that goes for all of us in our multitude of lives & guises. Anyways I've had my say now, so hopefully anybody reading this didn't nod off after the first line!

Milk and two sugars darlin'

You can rest assured that HACC are gents and will look after you, unless of course we get Palace in the play offs and then we will be up to some old school naughtiness.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Milk and two sugars darlin'

You can rest assured that HACC are gents and will look after you, unless of course we get Palace in the play offs and then we will be up to some old school naughtiness.

Is that a teabag LP, or have you finally got a taste for the loose-leaf after Vern shelled-out on that huge box of 'snuff' (from those geezers auctioning-off the bargains on Peckham Market)?

ps No worries about your nawtee clandestine plot to "give it" to the Nigels in the PO's. As you can imagine, I'll be strictly lo-pro myself on the day - although I will be 'tooled' with a large box of hair-grips should things turn ugly. Oh, & if you need a steady hand to wind them Battling Tops before you Top Boys go toe-to-toe, send me a coded smoke signal when OB least expect it.

Gawd bless Andy 'Nightmare' Frain & all who slop out with 'im.

 

[Triggaaar]

It's called banter Jesus Christ, when they sung does ya bf know your here or whatever Bha fans give them a clap, then they shut up,don't people ever say, sticks and stones.......

Sticks and stones? So all homophobia/racism etc is fine?

The reports have been ridiculous. I'm not embarrassed by them, I didn't contribute to them, but they are completely ridiculous. It said on SSN that Brighton fans come to matches in fear of receiving homophobic abuse. Obviously nonsense. But despite that, homophobia shouldn't be accepted.

 

[Brovion]

I am not gay and I find it offensive.

And people do not "choose" to be gay. They either are or they are not. It is not something that can be "cured", as some of the more nutcase religious groups (or others) might have you believe.

You're a sensible chap, why are you offended? Is it the perceived homophobia or the language that's used? I'm really trying to get to the bottom of this blind spot that most 'offended' heterosexual fans have about the 'gay' chants. From reading the many, many posts there seems to be quite a large amount of hypocrisy. Most say they don't mind the 'mild' chants but draw the line at the 'disgusting' ones (Mild and disgusting being subjective terms that vary from person to person, often depending on personal experience).

 

[Commander]

You're a sensible chap, why are you offended? Is it the perceived homophobia or the language that's used? I'm really trying to get to the bottom of this blind spot that most 'offended' heterosexual fans have about the 'gay' chants.

I expect he's offended on behalf of the gays.

From reading the many, many posts there seems to be quite a large amount of hypocrisy. Most say they don't mind the 'mild' chants but draw the line at the 'disgusting' ones (Mild and disgusting being subjective terms that vary from person to person, often depending on personal experience).

And this is the bit that is so ridiculous. People say they don't mind the 'mild' ones such as "Does your boyfriend know you're here?", yet in the same argument they'll say that homophobia is the same as racism. In which case they should have no objection to a 'mild' chant of "You're just a bunch of gollywogs" to a London team like Arsenal with a large black following.

People need to take a step back, stop, and think for themselves, rather than just repeating what they have read / been told they should think. Is homophobia really the same as racism? Is "Does your boyfriend know you're here?" really homophobic? If the answer is yes, then there can be no middle ground, there can be no 'mild' chants. After all, we're told that even the mildest, light-hearted perceived bit of racism is the most heinous crime known to man and must be punished by public flogging. Footballers get an 8 game ban and a £40,000 fine for making a racial slur in the heat of the moment on the pitch, where as they only get a 3 game ban for head butting someone or breaking someones leg and ending their career with a horror tackle.

I 100% believe that if we say it is unacceptable for opposition fans to mock Brighton fans for the city having a large gay population, then we have absolutely no place mocking any other team for being pikeys / inbreds / jobless northerners etc. There is NO difference. And if you take that out of football then it will be the final nail in the coffin of the game, and it will finally have succumbed to the Americanisation and sterilisation that it's been dying of since 1992. And that would be a crying shame.

 

[dougdeep]

You can't have stewards saying that this gay chant is ok but that one isn't. It has to be all or nothing.

 

[Brovion]

And this is the bit that is so ridiculous. People say they don't mind the 'mild' ones such as "Does your boyfriend know you're here?", yet in the same argument they'll say that homophobia is the same as racism. In which case they should have no objection to a 'mild' chant of "You're just a bunch of gollywogs" to a London team like Arsenal with a large black following.

People need to take a step back, stop, and think for themselves, rather than just repeating what they have read / been told they should think. Is homophobia really the same as racism? Is "Does your boyfriend know you're here?" really homophobic? If the answer is yes, then there can be no middle ground, there can be no 'mild' chants. After all, we're told that even the mildest, light-hearted perceived bit of racism is the most heinous crime known to man and must be punished by public flogging. Footballers get an 8 game ban and a £40,000 fine for making a racial slur in the heat of the moment on the pitch, where as they only get a 3 game ban for head butting someone or breaking someones leg and ending their career with a horror tackle.

I 100% believe that if we say it is unacceptable for opposition fans to mock Brighton fans for the city having a large gay population, then we have absolutely no place mocking any other team for being pikeys / inbreds / jobless northerners etc. There is NO difference. And if you take that out of football then it will be the final nail in the coffin of the game, and it will finally have succumbed to the Americanisation and sterilisation that it's been dying of since 1992. And that would be a crying shame.

Precisely. In addition the 'comeback' chants that Brighton fans use (We're gay and we're beating you, 1-0 to the nancy boys, etc) are themselves homophobic as they imply that a load of limp-wristed, effete homosexuals can't possibly play a real man's sport like football, and thus losing to these people is something to laugh at.

So before we moan at other teams Liz Costa and the Supporters club should take a stand against the vile homophobia spewed out by Brighton fans in a pathetic attempt to be witty. Let's get our own house in order first.