Ten years ago, I made a documentary about gay footballers, inspired by my uncle, Justin Fashanu, the first openly gay British footballer. My uncle’s career was marred by homophobia and racism both on and off the pitch. He died by suicide in 1998. My film unearthed a litany of systemic barriers to making football a more open and welcoming place.
My uncle was desperate to pave the way for others in the game to live authentically. The news about the Blackpool player Jake Daniels coming out has shown just how different the world is now. There has been an outpouring of love and support for Daniels in the press and across social media – something that would have been hard to imagine in days gone by. Change may not have come as quickly as we had hoped, but Daniels’ experience shows we’re on the right path.
Recent years have seen a collective rejection of injustice in all its forms. We’ve marched for George Floyd and players have taken the knee in support of Black Lives Matter. The real test will now be how fans adapt. As more and more sportspeople open up about their mental health and personal struggles, supporters have too often lagged behind in accepting this new status quo. The tide is turning on these bigoted views and, by hook or by crook, we will reach zero tolerance.
Football has always been a tight-knit community. Even when Justin came out in the 1990s, his teammates rallied around him. As part of my uncle’s legacy, the Justin Fashanu Foundation counsels players suffering from discrimination, including those who are ashamed or scared to speak publicly about their sexuality. I have always had the utmost respect for their privacy, and will continue to advocate for them even if they haven’t found their voice yet. But I want to keep campaigning so that future generations won’t even need to ask themselves whether it’s safe to come out and be who they are. I don’t want any player to feel like they have to live a double life on and off the pitch.
I often tell players that it is a safer time to be gay than in my uncle’s day. There is always more to be done to tackle homophobia and racism, and it would be foolish to claim we live in a world of sunshine and rainbows – especially when Stonewall research shows that 72% of football fans have heard homophobic abuse. But where we are succeeding is in creating space for these conversations to happen, so that when footballers do come out, which they will continue to do, people are already mindful that gay footballers exist. I promised Justin I would keep doing this job until a Premiership player comes out. Daniels plays for the Championship, so we’re nearly there, and I hope in the next years we will see a gay Premiership footballer embraced by the nation. We know they exist.
Daniels wasn’t one of the footballers we were supporting, but his bravery will inspire others who are still in the closet. They will be carefully taking in today’s reactions, analysing attitudes, watching fans and judging the atmosphere. Hopefully, in time, they will see that they too can be their authentic selves. We owe them that. We could be missing out on the next Cristiano Ronaldo because he’s gay and doesn’t want to come out – how can that happen? This year has shown we are ready to stamp homophobia out of football – maybe not completely, but we are as ready as we’ve ever been.
Amal Fashanu is a presenter, journalist and activist against homophobia in sport
In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org