Football v Homophobia
Why isn't women's football celebrating Lesbian Visibility Week? with Beth Fisher and Lou Englefield
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Episode notes
"You can't win a championship without gays!" - a quote uttered by Megan Rapinoe at the World Cup in France in 2019 that has already passed into women's football folklore.
Two years later, the simple tweet "they're lesbians, Stacey" under a picture of Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis at the Tokyo Olympics quickly took on legendary status, becoming a T-shirt slogan, catchphrase and much-loved meme.
You might think therefore that Lesbian Visibility Week - held annually around Lesbian Visibility Day at the end of April - would be well supported by the women's game, as a chance to recognise inspirational LGBTQ+ role models on and off the field.
But there has been barely any LVW messaging around the professional game, or from sponsors and influencers, or in the media, and not much mention on social media either, even though the awareness week is now well established.
For this episode of the FvH Podcast, we explore the many reasons behind that. Sports reporter Beth Fisher and FvH campaign director Lou Englefield are the guests, joining regular host, Sports Media LGBT+'s Jon Holmes.
Stereotypes, tensions, urban myths, lesbophobia, nervousness around language and the complexities of being visible… they're all factors that feature in a wide-ranging conversation.
Show your support for FvH! Activate the campaign in your football space - just head to footballvhomophobia.com for info, downloads and resources, and how to contact the FvH team.
Links
Beth Fisher on Twitter - https://twitter.com/BethFisherSport
Lou Englefield on Twitter - https://twitter.com/LouEnglefield
Lesbian Visibility Week - https://www.lesbianvisibilityweek.com/
‘Why shouldn’t two opponents kiss each other after a game?’ (Sophie Downey, The Guardian, 26 April 2023) - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/apr/26/why-shouldnt-two-opponents-kiss-each-other-anna-tamminen-rosa-herreros
Just Like Us research - https://www.justlikeus.org/blog/2023/04/24/lesbian-visibility-week-research/
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