[Football] Paddy Power Pride Ads

[Badger Boy]

Just a thought, maybe no Premier League players are actually gay.

As Paddy Power themselves have said, it's a "statistical anomaly" that there are no openly gay players. It seems impossible that there aren't any gay footballers but it is possible that there aren't. It's not the case though - of course there are. And eventually they will be comfortably speaking publicly about it.

I really think it will change opinions very quickly. Even the biggest homophobes will mellow when their favourite player comes out as being gay. It really doesn't change anything, when they score the occasional goal, they'll be loved.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

I always find the stance of "Yeah, but we don't need to know what a player's sexuality is" as amusing as it COMPLETELY misses the point. It's completely true but that's not the reason people feel a player needs to 'come out' to progress the game.

No one CARES if the player is straight or gay. The reason people feel it needs to be broken is because there is clearly a fear factor in the game. Players are unable to truly be themselves in the 'football world' for fear of being 'found out'.

And if you don't think that's the case then why do we never see gay players standing with their partners at awards ceremonies or walking onto the pitch with their partners at the last game of the season? There is a stigma and it's halting players from feeling they can be honest and open, which is madness.

It's absolutely nothing about the public needing to know or wanting to know. It's about halting fear of discrimination in the game over sexuality.

 

[Chicken Run]

I’m more than certain it would be tough being openly gay in The Royal Marines however there were several marching at London Pride.

Any way few more days and all these pride related threads will dissolve and the footy season starts, then we can look forward to the next moot subject which will be plastic paddies on St Patrick’s Day 2019 at around the time we are no longer in the EU....

 

[Badger Boy]

I always find the stance of "Yeah, but we don't need to know what a player's sexuality is" as amusing as it COMPLETELY misses the point. It's completely true but that's not the reason people feel a player needs to 'come out' to progress the game.

No one CARES if the player is straight or gay. The reason people feel it needs to be broken is because there is clearly a fear factor in the game. Players are unable to truly be themselves in the 'football world' for fear of being 'found out'.

And if you don't think that's the case then why do we never see gay players standing with their partners at awards ceremonies or walking onto the pitch with their partners at the last game of the season? There is a stigma and it's halting players from feeling they can be honest and open, which is madness.

It's absolutely nothing about the public needing to know or wanting to know. It's about halting fear of discrimination in the game over sexuality.

100% right. They should be comfortable to be their full self. In my opinion, I think there's every chance players won't play as well as they could do, or achieve what they could achieve if they don't feel completely at ease with themselves. I think that we would be the best club for a player to come out at, because it wouldn't be something that bother the majority of our fanbase - it would certainly bother some, and they would be vocal, but I think we're the best placed club to support a player.

And I really don't think the majority of people would care, and those who do would get over it, quickly.

 

[Birdie Boy]

100% right. They should be comfortable to be their full self. In my opinion, I think there's every chance players won't play as well as they could do, or achieve what they could achieve if they don't feel completely at ease with themselves. I think that we would be the best club for a player to come out at, because it wouldn't be something that bother the majority of our fanbase - it would certainly bother some, and they would be vocal, but I think we're the best placed club to support a player.

And I really don't think the majority of people would care, and those who do would get over it, quickly.

I would think there would be quite a hoohaa if the first player was playing at Brighton! It would not bother me but the press and the away fans would be pretty incessant for quite a while.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

If anything, these adverts are making it more difficult for any gay players to come out - just a lot more pressure on them than there otherwise would be. To be honest I don’t really understand why anyone wants to know someone else’s sexuality other than want to do something with the information. Just leave people alone to get on with their lives however they want to live it. There are far more important issues in the world today than worrying where the first modern day gay footballer is coming from?

 

[The Large One]

I always find the stance of "Yeah, but we don't need to know what a player's sexuality is" as amusing as it COMPLETELY misses the point. It's completely true but that's not the reason people feel a player needs to 'come out' to progress the game.

No one CARES if the player is straight or gay. The reason people feel it needs to be broken is because there is clearly a fear factor in the game. Players are unable to truly be themselves in the 'football world' for fear of being 'found out'.

And if you don't think that's the case then why do we never see gay players standing with their partners at awards ceremonies or walking onto the pitch with their partners at the last game of the season? There is a stigma and it's halting players from feeling they can be honest and open, which is madness.

It's absolutely nothing about the public needing to know or wanting to know. It's about halting fear of discrimination in the game over sexuality.

One of the reasons any given player won't or hasn't come out is because some do care - adversely.

It's one thing a few hundred airheads shouting 'you're gay and you know you are' at thousands of us, and we'll just dish it back with interest.

It's another thing entirely when all of the attention of the airheads then goes to one single player on the pitch. One can imagine that would be quite lonely and frightening. And let's face it, there many clubs with fans not so enlightened as ours.

I am sure that when the first player(s) do come out, they will do so knowing they are blazing the trail for others. After a while, the abuse will be as taboo as racist chanting, and the self-policing will soon kick in. But it's whether a player is prepared to take the dregs of society on in order that others don't suffer - that (for me) is the big stumlbing block.

In summary, both Paddy Power and Stonewall make valid points.

 

[The Kid Frankie]

They are amazingly forward thinking. Of all the industries out there it is fair to say you would expect a bookies largely associated with football not to be at the forefront of championing LGBT rights.

They actually donated £10,000 to LGBT charities every time Russia scored a goal during the World Cup.

https://news.paddypower.com/world-c...-10k-gay-goals-paddy-power-charity-world-cup/

 

[Pavilionaire]

It does seem women in sport are far more brave and open about their homosexuality than their male counterparts.

Isn't that in part because there are so many lesbians / bi participating alongside hetero women? I played softball to quite a high level and the GB women's team was c. 50% lesbian. Back in the day there was also a high proportion of lesbian's in women's tennis, also hockey.

 

[TSB]

Just a thought, maybe no Premier League players are actually gay.

You have the ability to think and yet that's what you came up with?

 

[The_Viper]

I agree with Stonewall. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ewall-criticises-paddy-powers-pride-bus-stunt

I don't. At all. PP did good here, IMO.

 

[The Large One]

Isn't that in part because there are so many lesbians / bi participating alongside hetero women? I played softball to quite a high level and the GB women's team was c. 50% lesbian. Back in the day there was also a high proportion of lesbian's in women's tennis, also hockey.

It helped that women's sport had role models who were prepared to fight back against bigotry. Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova spring to mind, knowing that they had a support network behind them.

 

[Me and my Monkey]

I really don’t think the PP campaign is intended in any way to pressurise gay footballers to “come out”, rather that they are trying to help create an environment, whereby men feel less stifled and obliged to “stay in” in order to avoid all the hoohah that will inevitably go hand in hand with them coming out or being “found out”. Of course it’s no-one’s business what a person’s sexuality is, but I can imagine that it must be horrendously claustrophobic and depressing having to keep that part of your life secret, not being able to do a lot of the things other couples take for granted, just to protect yourself and your partner from the inevitable ensuing hullabaloo. One day a player will take the plunge, it will be a strong individual who decides to do so, but I am 99% certain that the vast majority will laud him as a trail blazing hero. God knows what effect it will have on his playing ability or career, but I suspect that once all the fuss has died down probably not much.

 

[BN9 BHA]

You have the ability to think and yet that's what you came up with?

But it could be 100% correct, none of us know.

 

[BN9 BHA]

As Paddy Power themselves have said, it's a "statistical anomaly" that there are no openly gay players. It seems impossible that there aren't any gay footballers but it is possible that there aren't. It's not the case though - of course there are. .

You say " of course there are " But unless you actually know any players or friends and family of players, how do you know?

 

[nickbrighton]

You say " of course there are " But unless you actually know any players or friends and family of players, how do you know?

whilst it is indeed possible that there are zero gay professional footballers in the top 4 divisions, it is very unlikely.

Approximate membership of the Professional Footballers' Association is 4000.

There are examples of players retiring and then coming out ,in 2008, ex-Premiership footballer Paul Elliot estimated that at least a dozen Premiership footballers were gay but were afraid to "come out" for fear of a negative reaction.


The accepted figure for being gay or bisexual is 5-7 percent. So apply that to the 4000 professional footballers then there are probably around 200 . So the probability is that there are around 25 gay footballers in each of the divisions. Just think of the impact it would have if just a tenth of them came out. Sadly they only way anyone will would be if they are hounded into it in the same way Justin Fashanu was- and look how that turned out!

 

[The Large One]

whilst it is indeed possible that there are zero gay professional footballers in the top 4 divisions, it is very unlikely.

Approximate membership of the Professional Footballers' Association is 4000.

There are examples of players retiring and then coming out ,in 2008, ex-Premiership footballer Paul Elliot estimated that at least a dozen Premiership footballers were gay but were afraid to "come out" for fear of a negative reaction.


The accepted figure for being gay or bisexual is 5-7 percent. So apply that to the 4000 professional footballers then there are probably around 200 . So the probability is that there are around 25 gay footballers in each of the divisions. Just think of the impact it would have if just a tenth of them came out. Sadly they only way anyone will would be if they are hounded into it in the same way Justin Fashanu was- and look how that turned out!

Quite. It's another thing to consider the spectre of Justin Fashanu may still loom large over men's football. One would hope not, and that society has moved on. But not far yet, it seems...

 

[Lady Whistledown]

You say " of course there are " But unless you actually know any players or friends and family of players, how do you know?

Because, logically, whether you see them or not, there are LGBT people in every walk of life. In banking. In retail, theatre (what? Who knew??), In call centres and cricket teams, in the police and the fire brigade and in the NHS. There are gay firefighters and soldiers and sailors, gay scaffolders and steelworkers and rugby players, gardeners and company directors, teachers and engineers, lesbian builders, graphic designers, plumbers, electricians, journalists, golfers and roofers. I've no doubt there are even gay funeral directors.

Why on earth would football be any different? Gay people were prohibited from being in the military for a long time, yet still silently joined up. So there is no reason whatsoever to imagine talented gay footballers would all reject the chance of a career, even if it meant denying their true selves for a few years (or being very discreet about their private lives).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BN9 BHA]

Because, logically, whether you see them or not, there are LGBT people in every walk of life. In banking. In retail, theatre (what? Who knew??), In call centres and cricket teams, in the police and the fire brigade and in the NHS. There are gay firefighters and soldiers and sailors, gay scaffolders and steelworkers and rugby players, gardeners and company directors, teachers and engineers, lesbian builders, graphic designers, plumbers, electricians, journalists, golfers and roofers. I've no doubt there are even gay funeral directors.

Why on earth would football be any different? Gay people were prohibited from being in the military for a long time, yet still silently joined up. So there is no reason whatsoever to imagine talented gay footballers would all reject the chance of a career, even if it meant denying their true selves for a few years (or being very discreet about their private lives).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was taking that post seriously until I read ' gay scaffolders ' the laddish of lads in the building game? No way

I have not said and I'm not saying there are no gay PL footballers.
All I'm saying is there may NOT be any, I and you don't actually know for a fact.

I don't know about Paddy Power, they may have inside info.