“To not feel different for my sexuality is amazing”: GayGooners on making Arsenal a safe space
Stood outside the Qatari embassy, the GayGooners are protesting on the eve of the 2022 World Cup. Their presence has attracted more reporters than they have brought protestors.
Adorned by pride flags and placards that read “#QatarAntiGay”, protestors clad in Arsenal’s red and white link arms with human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
Yesterday, their work was shown deserved recognition as they were awarded second place in the Football v Homophobia Supporters’ Group Award.
While their more overt political activity might provide the most visible impact, at their core remains a dedication to providing a safe space for LGBT+ fans to enjoy a shared passion: football.
When he is not holding a placard, GayGooners Co-Chair Carl Fearn can be found tucked away in a bustling corner of an Islington pub. Attention now turns away from politics and towards Arsenal’s chances in their top-of-the-table clash with league leaders Liverpool.
The corner looks no different to any other part of the pub, but for those attending it represents a space where they can be themselves.
“[GayGooners] is about creating a safe space. Historically there’s been a lot of homophobia, especially in the men’s game. The atmosphere was toxic back in the ‘90s and early 2000s,” says Fearn.
“But also, it’s about interacting socially. Getting to be with like-minded people, getting to talk about football, be able to complain about referees and to feel part of the bigger Arsenal family.”
The group was founded as the first LGBT+ football fan group back in February 2013. Since then, it has grown to provide a space for around 1800 members, making them the biggest LGBT+ supporters club in the world.
From helping with steward training to ensuring members of the GayGooners are seated together at away games, the focus is always on making sure LGBT+ supporters feel welcomed.
Jacob Jefferson, now GayGooners’ Campaigns Manager, felt the group provided him with an environment where he could enjoy football without being surrounded by the macho culture that usually accompanies it.
“They made me feel welcome straight away. I was an 18-year-old, still semi-closeted and it was really special. I felt incredibly accepted,” he says.
Fellow GayGooners member Elliott feels the group allows him the ability to celebrate two of his identities, as an Arsenal fan and a member of the LGBT+ community.
“Everyone here loves football. We love it when we win, we’re pissed off when we lose. But we talk about life, we talk about football and to not feel different for my sexuality is the most amazing thing,” he tells the Sports Gazette.
“The group have always got your back. There’s a pub we always go to after a game and one time there were people singing homophobic [chants]. We told the manager and she shouted at the pub, ‘If you want to be homophobic, get out of my pub,’ very EastEnders style.
“Rather than having to put up with it, we were in a group and were confident enough to say to the manager we were not comfortable.”
The presence of the group is significant, not only in standing up to abuse, but in creating a visible signal that Arsenal as a club is a welcoming environment to LGBT+ supporters.
Valerie, a member of seven years, explains: “Having the [GayGooner’s] banner inside the Emirates is a big statement to not only supporters but also players to say, ‘We are here, we are present and we’re part of Arsenal and the supporters.’ [It says] this is a safe place for LGBT+ supporters and players.”
For GayGooners, however, the very fact their presence is still needed suggests there is still work to be done. While seemingly counterintuitive, the aim of their group is to not exist. In men’s football at least, that goal remains a long way off.
“We’ve achieved a lot. It’s our eleventh anniversary this month, but we’ll still be here in another eleven years,” says Fearn.
“Football is wrapped in this bubble from the rest of society. We need to burst that bubble so that it doesn’t matter how you identify, what your gender is, what your sexuality is, what your religion is, what your ethnicity is. It shouldn’t matter.
“But there is this bubble that seems to shield a tiny toxic element in the support that makes our lives difficult at times.”
LGBT+ fans of men’s football still have much to contend with to find a place where they belong in the sport. While improving, homophobic chanting in the terraces still persists at football stadiums across the country and comments about players often harbour homophobic undertones.
“Just hearing homophobic comments out of the corner of your ear or people casually commenting something like, ‘He’s fallen over like a girl’. I don’t think the people saying it are being intentionally discriminatory, but it contributes to a feeling where you don’t necessarily feel comfortable being yourself,” explains Jefferson.
“When you feel like football is your home and football is a place of solace, you don’t want to feel like you’re suddenly unwelcome once you realise [you’re gay].”
Perhaps, creating an environment where LGBT+ supporters feel welcome in men’s football is GayGooners’ greatest political action. Since 2013, they have allowed people to be themselves where that once never felt possible.
As the pioneers of LGBT+ supporters’ groups, for Fearn, recognition in the form of award for the GayGooners’ work is long overdue.
“We’ve never really had any formal recognition so I for one think it’s about time. We’re not paid, it’s all run by volunteers but it’s all for the joy of being in the group,” he smiles.
While men’s football continues to grapple with its own problems of homophobia, LGBT+ supporters’ clubs across the country continue to carve space back in pubs and stadiums across the country.
For the GayGooners, a corner of a pub in Islington will forever be a safe space and their banner will continue to ensure the Emirates remains a place where everyone is welcome.
