Rugby’s rulers promise to take lead on stamping out homophobia

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/16/rugby-rulers-promise-stamp-out-homophobia-james-haskell

Version 0 of 1.

World Rugby, the international governing body, has vowed to take a lead on stamping out homophobia in sport in the wake of a major study that showed the extent to which gay athletes and spectators risk abuse and discrimination.

World Rugby’s chairman, Bernard Lapasset, has reiterated its stance in the buildup to this autumn’s World Cup, while Wasps and England’s James Haskell has called on more high-profile players to speak out against homophobia. Meanwhile, a new alliance of LGBT football fan groups in England has called on authorities to do more to combat the problem of homophobia within stadiums.

The moves comes after the largest international survey into homophobia in sport, published in the Observer last week, which revealed 85% of those questioned believed openly gay spectators would not be safe in the stands at a sporting event in the UK. More than two-thirds of those questioned for the Out on the Fields survey believed homophobia was more prevalent in sport than the rest of society.

“It is one thing paying lip service to it but it needs people to make a stand. It is difficult for people across the world to be comfortable with their sexuality. We need more education and awareness,” said Haskell. He believes education is required to demolish stereotypes and teach younger players about the potential damage caused by casual use of homophobic terms in the dressing room or on the pitch.

“Statistically, there have to be more gay men in rugby than we know about and I would hate for them to be going home from training and feeling depressed or feeling like they need to live a lie,” the Wasps captain told The Observer. “I want to support them and say the more people stand up and say this doesn’t matter, the better it will be.”

The former Welsh international Gareth Thomas and the international referee Nigel Owens have previously spoken of their hopes that they can act as an inspiration for others after coming out as gay.

In March, World Rugby signed a memorandum of understanding with a global organisation, International Gay Rugby, to codify the rights of any player, official or spectator to be involved in the sport “without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or identification”. It also promised to pursue “the common goal of inclusion and the elimination of homophobia in rugby”.

Lapasset said publication of the new research meant inclusivity was “fundamental” and that World Rugby was committed to working with International Gay Rugby to “promote inclusivity, equality and friendship on the field, in stadiums and in life”.

Jeff Wilson, the chairman of International Gay Rugby, said: “Unfortunately there are still alarming rates of discrimination in sport and we have a lot more work to do than we expected. However, despite its tough and macho image, rugby is very well placed to become the most inclusive and tolerant sport in the world.” He said that a key challenge was stamping out use of homophobic terms that could be considered “banter” but had the potential to create a hostile environment for LGBT players.

Haskell, along with the Wales winger Alex Cuthbert and former Australian rugby player John Eales, has backed an anti-homophobia campaign that will be promoted on Sunday, International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. “Gareth Thomas’s story has helped us all become more aware of the effects of homophobic language and banter,” said Cuthbert. “Society has changed and I don’t think this kind of language has any place in sport or anywhere else any more.”

Pride in Football, a new umbrella organisation for LGBT fan groups, said urgent action was required to stamp out homophobia in the English game. It pointed to incidents involving Arsenal and Ipswich Town fans in the past month.

“It’s time to end tolerance of homophobic abuse in football. We want to see individual clubs invoke sanctions against homophobia conducted by supporters even if they’re en route to or from a game and not at a stadium, and we want to see consistent signage and regular training of club staff,” said Pride in Football’s chair, Chris Paouros. “We want football’s administrators – the FA, the Football League and the Premier League to commit to action to change the culture of football in this country.”

The FA has stepped up its efforts to deal with the problem and recently held two workshops for clubs, leagues and county FAs on handling LGBT issues. It also points to rule changes that have enabled it to sanction 38 players in grassroots football.

By working with Brighton & Hove Albion, whose fans are routinely targeted with homophobic abuse, the FA said it had helped reduce instances of abuse at their away matches from 72% to 5% over a season.