Homophobic Leicester fans

[Eeyore]

So some of our fans can sing the cringe-worthy 'Leicester's a sh*t hole....' and then complain when a bit of stick comes back takes some neck.

The point is that being gay should not be mocked or subject to derision. It is demeaning. It is not banter. It is subjecting a person's natural disposition, to mockery for someone else's merriment. No-one should need to get a thicker skin. The perpetrators should get a wiser mind. It is not allowed on race grounds, disability grounds and, now, not grounds of sexuality.

Quite why people are disappointed in this is beyond me. Is it not possible to attend a sporting event and avoid such practices ? If not, why not ?

You only have to see what the Leicester City fan said. But that's okay. They should 'man up'- because others cannot cope with not being allowed to impart such upsetting ridicule. It's not the fan who needs to make the adjustment. Not in a civilised society.

I used to think that the 'holding hands' chants were just banter because it was likely that those who sing them weren't actually homophobic. Perhaps they weren't. But now I realise that to allow this sort of thing is to neglect attitudes that see gay people as somehow different and to endorse deeper homophobia by lack of address. I now support the zero tolerance approach. Call me a 'snowflake'. It doesn't bother me.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

My years spent living in Leicestershire taught me that City fans, for the most part, are a load of chavs .....and they make sore losers when things do not go their way.

 

[Beach Hut]

.and they make sore losers when things do not go their way.

Just like most fans then

 

[Murray 17]

I am astounded that there are people on this thread that think chanting about sexuality, race and probably religion is banter.

If you said anything like this in the workplace or street, you would be in big trouble.

I wonder if they think that other laws don't apply in a football stadium?

Unbelievable.

 

[The Fifth Column]

Leicester is a very diverse city with a large Asian population. I wonder what the reaction of the police and stewards would have been had Albion fans sung back, "Town full of P***s you're just a town full of P***s etc". The point is, homophobic chanting (whether viewed as 'top banta' or not) is no less offensive or acceptable that that clearly offensive and deliberately racist chant. Anyone chanting such stuff should be equally dealt with but we all know after years of hearing it on a regular basis that nothing really ever gets done and when it does its just a token gesture. The too difficult light comes on for every steward and most police officers when you try and engage with them and complain about it and I understand the difficulties of trying to deal with, eject or arrest anything from 10-2000 fans all singing the same thing but if we've successfully stamped out large scale chanting of racist abuse then we need to look at how that was achieved. This isn't just a football problem it's a social problem and whilst the issue should be given more importance and led from the very top of the FA with compulsory buy-in from every professional football we need the change largely to happen amongst wider society the same way overt and casual racism has reduced since the 1970s. What will help is the eventual coming out of openly gay footballers and the formation of LGBT supporters groups which is already happening. It will happen eventually but those of us that remember bananas being lobbed on the pitch towards black players and the disgusting racist abuse they had to endure even from their own fans at times! can only hope that the same change happens and homophobic chanting is stamped out in the same way racist chanting has been.

 

[snedger]

In my limited Lestah experience - 3 years - I have heard virtually no homophobic abuse, but have been shocked by the level of spoken racial hatred and so little integration.
On the terraces, so much adolescent chanting attacks lowest point - Chelsea chanting murderers to Liverpool is I think about the worst.
Chanting back the too ugly 2b gay refrain is so unbelievably ignorant.
Over the years I've met a lot of closeted angry people who have shouted out against gays - my favourite fictitious illustration being in the filum American Beauty.
I did think about suggesting to chant back pretty latent to Sex pistols, but there are probably an awful lot of people struggling with their sexuality and abusing them would be no better.
We see signs in pubs stating that drug taking will not be tolerated, maybe add signs to state about that homophobic, racist, sexist comments will result in being barred?

 

[Durlston]

Or "a town full of bombers". Unfortunately Leicester would have turned that chant around to something that sounds very similar.

If the BBC, Sky, papers or media don't do anything then there needs to be some sort of protest to make them stand up and take notice. What that is I really don't know but something needs to be done and soon.

 

[Buzzer]

The point is that being gay should not be mocked or subject to derision. It is demeaning. It is not banter. It is subjecting a person's natural disposition, to mockery for someone else's merriment.

Completely agree. What's different this time is that there was a gay person in the crowd who was unhappy with the chanting and he did try to do something about it, got a volley of abuse back from his own fans and has decided to go public. FvH is spot on when they've quoted him with the byline "this is what it's like to be a gay football fan".

The annoying thing is that there was "banter" between the 2 sets of fans that was quite funny at times esp. when Knockaert came on.

 

[soistes]

not sure if already mentioned, but there are plenty of more balanced Leicester fans discussing this on here
https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/113108-homophobic-chanting-at-brighton-fans/

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

In my limited Lestah experience - 3 years - I have heard virtually no homophobic abuse, but have been shocked by the level of spoken racial hatred and so little integration.
On the terraces, so much adolescent chanting attacks lowest point - Chelsea chanting murderers to Liverpool is I think about the worst.
Chanting back the too ugly 2b gay refrain is so unbelievably ignorant.
Over the years I've met a lot of closeted angry people who have shouted out against gays - my favourite fictitious illustration being in the filum American Beauty.
I did think about suggesting to chant back pretty latent to Sex pistols, but there are probably an awful lot of people struggling with their sexuality and abusing them would be no better.
We see signs in pubs stating that drug taking will not be tolerated, maybe add signs to state about that homophobic, racist, sexist comments will result in being barred?

Hang on. Why do you think the 'too ugly to be gay' chant is ignorant ? I see it as Brighton fans being supportive of and aligning ourselves with gay fans over ignorant bigots.

 

[cunning fergus]

It's just so BORING isn't it? I'm not gay so can't say it offends me, although I do cringe at these thickos (usually from grim northern towns) and just how narrow minded and stuck in the 1980s they are. But my overriding feeling is how dull, predictable and unfunny it is. You just know the scum who sing it think they are at the cutting edge of modern day wit, when the reality is it's just the same old drivel week after week.

It really needs a high profile incident to occur at one of our games this season and for the media to justifiably make a big deal of it. Publicly shaming the club that gets caught out in front of the cameras might just be the best chance of stopping this tedious and outdated nonsense everywhere.

The way our season could turn out maybe we should be doing our upmost to encourage it, points deductions could be our secret weapon!

How about blue and white feather boas for Watford........then something really saucy for ARSEnal.

Thinking caps on people.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Not asking how it should be treated, it should be stamped out. Asking how it actually makes people feel?

My best mate is gay. He likes d*ck. Quite frankly, I don't care what he likes as he's my best mate. But I know how he feels when he hears homophobic chanting at a match and it appalls me that the police let sections of every supporter group get away with it.

So I stand by my original statement. Homophobic chanting, which is a criminal offence, should be treated as such and arrests should happen. That the police are too scared to do so is a damning indictment of our society and the lack of real progress we've made. This isn't faux outrage - such things have incredibly detrimental effects on many people that are affected by them and the law should be strong enough to stand up to the bullies and cowards that sing such songs (and yes, there are Brighton fans that do such things, to my disgust).

 

[Nixonator]

Hang on. Why do you think the 'too ugly to be gay' chant is ignorant ? I see it as Brighton fans being supportive of and aligning ourselves with gay fans over ignorant bigots.

It's baffling isn't it?

'Too ugly to be gay', 'don't knock it til youve tried it' and 'you're skum and you know you are' were heard and all good responses in my opinion.

Football fans aren't songwriters, it's the best we have and represents that we accept what they consider abuse and and are proud of it, with undertones that gay men are more likely to look after their appearence. I won't make a blanket statement that it doesn't offend anybody, but the two gay albion fans I know think it is an appropriate and amusing response to the abuse.

Maybe some would prefer we stood there in silence with shocked and surprised faces which would surely encourage opposition fans to do it more often.

 

[Withdean Chappy]

Spot on. We seem happy to respond with the chant of 'you're too ugly to be gay' which some would argue is homophobic chanting itself.

What winds me up is a small section of our support that give it the large, scream obscenities yet are the first to complain about abuse when they get it back.

TOO true

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

NOTHING will happen as this has been going on for years and, er, NOTHING has happened. It does not help when so many of our fans do not see the harm in it and almost seem to enjoy it, very odd. It is wrong on every level and we have had this debate hundreds of times but it seems to me no one in authority seems to think it is a serious issue and will continue to do the square root of sod all to stop it

 

[Bry Nylon]

Football fans aren't songwriters, it's the best we have and represents that we accept what they consider abuse and and are proud of it, with undertones that gay men are more likely to look after their appearance... Maybe some would prefer we stood there in silence with shocked and surprised faces

Like this? That might not help...

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

My best mate is gay. He likes d*ck. Quite frankly, I don't care what he likes as he's my best mate.

Wth all due respect and all that, there is so much wrong with that statement. You don't care what he likes as he's your mate implies you otherwise might care. None of it needed to be said, it's like you're almost bigginng yourself up for what a right on liberal guy you are rather than your other option - viewing him as a dick sucking ******. Does he go around telling people that you like clitorus, but that's okay with him because you're his mate? I appreciate none of that was your intention in writing what you just did, but it comes across as almost latent homophobia.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Wth all due respect and all that, there is so much wrong with that statement. You don't care what he likes as he's your mate implies you otherwise might care. None of it needed to be said, it's like you're almost bigginng yourself up for what a right on liberal guy you are rather than your other option - viewing him as a dick sucking ******. Does he go around telling people that you like clitorus, but that's okay with him because you're his mate? I appreciate none of that was your intention in writing what you just did, but it comes across as almost latent homophobia.

Wow. You've done a cracking job of taking a tiny portion of a post, taking it out of context and misconstruing it to fit an incredibly warped point full of faux outrage. Which is funny, because by the nature of your post you've ended up looking like the "right on liberal guy" you've accused me of trying to be by looking for homophobia where it absolutely isn't.

As to your wider point, I am slightly biased in regards to this thread and the actions that should be taken against homophobic fans (Brighton ones included) because I have someone I care about deeply who has been affected by these things. If that much wasn't clear from reading THE WHOLE of my post (sorry for doing an Ernest), then I apologise and in future I'll make it blatantly obvious (which I'd thought I'd done) so that no one can misconstrue the point.