Cesar Azpilicueta And Others Are Helping Normalize LGBTQ+ Players In Football

It maybe 2023 but we are still fighting for football to be a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ people.

While women’s football has effortlessly become a space where every individual is accepted and celebrated, the men’s game continues to lag behind.

Chelsea Women duo Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson have become two leading voices in the mission to promote equality within their sport. As Give Me Sport reports, the two stars recently spoke with Chelsea men’s captain Cesar Azpilicueta about making men’s football a more accepting place for the LGBTQ+ community.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Their chat, broadcast on Sky Sports, demonstrates why conversations like this need to happen and why male players must use their platforms to promote a more inclusive space.

Few players have found the courage to come out. And with the lack of visibility on the biggest stages, together with how toxic football culture can often be, it’s hard to blame the players who have felt forced to hide who they are.

“We have so many amazing fans but then there is a small group of fans that are abusive and can be racist, homophobic… and it’s sad that they have so much power on how we feel,” Harder said.

Eriksson discussed the homophobic chants and comments that continue to be rife within the game as perhaps the biggest thing standing in the way of more players coming out. “Those kinds of things are still happening and I am 100% sure that it’s keeping people from coming to games because they don’t feel safe, and it’s also keeping players from coming out and being themselves because they’re afraid of what some fans might say.”

Last year, Blackpool’s Jake Daniels announced he is gay in a hugely brave move. At just 17 years old at the time, Daniels became the first male professional footballer to come out since Justin Fashanu back in 1990.

It was monumental but also a huge reminder of how far the men’s game is when it comes to opening its doors for LGBTQ+ individuals to be their true selves.

To help nudge this further in the right direction, Azpilicueta stressed the importance of the players providing an environment where everyone can feel safe and comfortable. “There is no place for any kind of hate and I hope that we can keep working on that,” he said.

The more male players who have these honest conversations and share how they are trying to make football an inclusive space, the less it is viewed as a taboo subject. Only when male players feel comfortable going public with their sexuality, without months of planning and the backing of several organizations to guarantee their safety, can we say that men’s football has become a safe and welcoming environment.

The difference between the acceptance of queer people in women’s football compared to the men’s game is massive. Women’s football has always been a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community because so many of the players and coaches we have admired over the years lead by example.

Harder said she came out when she experienced a locker room where it “felt normal to be gay and be whoever you are.” Since then, the Danish star and her partner Eriksson have become two of the leading voices in promoting equality in football.

They unintentionally became global icons when a photo of them sharing a celebratory kiss at the 2019 Women’s World Cup went viral. Since then, many fans have looked up to them as role models and the two have embraced their status by having these important conversations with leading names in the men’s game like Azpilicueta.

Women’s football also has trailblazers like Megan Rapinoe, who is constantly channeling equality off the pitch. Wherever you look in the women’s game, there is safety in knowing there is a strong, queer icon living her life as anyone else should and inspiring others to be comfortable in their own skin.

Read related myGwork articles here:

Men’s Football Isn’t A Safe Space For LGBTQ+ Players, Says Jill Scott

British Foreign Secretary Tells LGBTQ+ Football Fans To Be Cautious

MP Luke Pollard: World Cup “Not Safe” For LGBTQ+ People

Australian Football Club Condemns Fans For “Unacceptable” Homophobic Behavior

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