NEWS | THE SOUTHERN LEAGUE x FOOTBALL v HOMOPHOBIA

Committed to making football more inclusive for the LGBTIQ+ community

The Southern League is pleased to be supporting the Football v Homophobia 2026 campaign.

We have joined hundreds of other clubs, Leagues and organisations within the game to back this initiative, which is committed to making football more inclusive for the LGBTIQ+ community.

February is LGBTQ+ History Month and as part of this Month of Action, events have been organised far and wide to spread the message and acknowledge the journey and progress made by the community both within football and society as a whole.

This is why it is important to back the Football v Homophobia campaign:

• Results of a 2024 survey showed 74% of respondents - all LGBTQ+ - said they had experienced or heard anti-LGBTQ+ abuse when watching men’s football. Less than a quarter of those people said they had reported the incidents, suggesting a lack of confidence or awareness of available reporting channels (Out and Out Football, 2024);

• FvH is aware of various proven charges for anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in non-league football (Steps 1 to 4) in recent seasons;

• However, at the time of writing, no official data is being made public by the relevant authorities relating to such incidents, whether allegations, charges, or proven charges;

• For comparison purposes, data is produced for the men’s grassroots game (Step 5 and below) and shows more proven charges for homophobia than for any other form of discrimination (The FA, 2024);

• Across football, reports of transphobia received by Kick It Out doubled last season (KIO, 2025);

• Lesbian, gay and bisexual young people are less likely to take part in team sports. Research shows gay boys and young men taking part at less than half the rate of straight/heterosexual men (UBC, 2017);

• More than half of trans people (54%) feel excluded from sport or feel they have to give up sport at some point because of their gender identity (Outsport 2019).

The Southern League believes that LGBTIQ+ people deserve a place in football and that clubs hold the key to making football welcoming and inclusive of LGBTIQ+ people.

We have supplied our member clubs with rainbow Captain’s armbands as a visual way of showing support and we are always keen to hear about other ways in which our clubs have engaged with this campaign.

Please send details and photographs to Southern League Director Stephen Hyde, via: sfl.diversity@gmail.com