At the Falcons we've always been keen to bring gay, straight and bi players together, rather than living in separate worlds.
Today the Huffington Post features an article by Steve Wardlaw of Emerald Life which profiles the club manager, Pete Ransom, and chairman, Matt Hall. They discuss their experiences of playing in both straight and LGBT teams and throw some positive light on being accepted regardless of their sexuality.
Commenting on his experience of coming out in a straight team, Matt said, "It was a year later, on our tour in Munich in 2004, when I thought I was actually coming out, that it turned out everyone had taken me at my word the previous year and knew I was gay. The sky didn’t fall and no one was immature about things like getting changed together and I count myself lucky in choosing a club with such nice people in it.”
Reflecting on his time as manager, Pete commented, "A number of times we’ve taken part in or been approached for media appearances where we’ve spoken at length about how we’ve fostered a close-knit, diverse football team at the Falcons, only to see that the only angle they were interested in was one of poor, helpless gays being unable to compete properly. That’s not us and it never will be. We’re a regular set of guys with strong, fun personalities who just get on and play football. Things are getting better every year. Let’s celebrate that and use it to push for a position where gay and bi players are fully accepted at every level of the game, free from any discrimination.”
You can view the full article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/steve-wardlaw/why-we-need-lgbt-football_b_17916436.html