On behalf of the Rainbow Hatters, it’s great to see Luton Town, Matt Bloomfield and the squad, making Saturday's game against Sheffield United the Rainbow Ball game for football against homophobia.
The EFL and Puma have revealed the new ball this year to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and serve as a reminder that football is for everyone. The ball will be used this afternoon and across games in all EFL divisions between 6-17 February.
Any kind of discrimination should not happen anywhere, especially at football grounds – a place we all see as our sanctuary.
Unfortunately, it still happens and in recent times there has been an increase of anti LGBTQ+ rhetoric across society as a whole.
New research for Football v Homophobia’s Month of Action shows 74.4 per cent of LGBTQ+ fans have experienced or heard anti-LGBTQ+ abuse while watching football, despite 81.2 per cent saying they love the game. Only 23.3 per cent reported the abuse, showing a lack of trust in current reporting systems.
But now is the time to make sure we are all doing our part to make sure that football is for everyone, and all enjoy the wonderful Hatters together.
Please do take a moment to read over the important information on how you can play your part by visiting www.footballvhomophobia.com.
It is important for us at this pivotal time to stick together and at a crossroads with politics playing a big part of how LGBTQ+ may be seen in the future.
It’s good to see that the FA will continue to allow Trans Persons to continue to play football on a case by case basis. We at the Rainbow Hatters hope this does not change with pressure, as everyone should be entitled to play the wonderful sport we all love.
The Rainbow Hatters have started to grow now having 15 members as members of the LGBTQ+ community or allies, as well as many more now following us on Bluesky at [email protected].
As well as joining the Leeds LGBTQ+ Group Marching Out Together at their Rainbow Laces game at Elland Road back in November, we have also now been added to being recognised as a supporters club with prideinfootball.org.
Although these are small steps, this does start to increase our visibility across the football spectrum.
Over the coming months we will continue to build on our relationship with the club and all the supporters groups, increasing our exposure to continue to grow and fight for equality within the game and stamp out homophobia in football.
If you would like to find out more and join the Rainbow Hatters please join us by filling out the form here.
If you hear, or are offended by, any discriminatory abuse of any kind at any Luton Town home game, report it immediately by contacting your nearest steward or by emailing [email protected]. You can also contact the Rainbow Hatters directly by emailing [email protected].
Finally, let’s get behind Matt and the players. Let’s get those important three points on Saturday and let’s fight against homophobia in football.
David Stronell
