The now-annual Rainbow Laces Premier League campaign has begun in the UK, with players, clubs and the league sporting rainbow-colored accessories to support LGBT rights. And yet again, it’s evident why such a campaign is even necessary.
The Rainbow Laces Premier League campaign is an attempt to support the LGBT community in the UK alongside Stonewall. For two weeks, the EPL will be strewn with rainbow pitch flags, ball plinths, handshake boards and substitute boards, while many players will also don rainbow captain’s armbands and the eponymous rainbow laces. It began with Cardiff hosting Wolves on Friday.
In recent months, Premier League players like Hector Bellerin and Olivier Giroud have said it’s impossible for a player to come out as gay in the Premier League given the atmosphere in England. Outsports recently put together a brilliant look at what it would be like for a player to actually come out in the Prem, and while it suggests most of the reaction would be positive, it references the impact the minority can have on a player.
A simple look at the responses to the Rainbow Laces Premier League social media posts shows how repulsive some of the reaction is to supporting the rights of human beings — and why such a campaign is still necessary.
Say no to LGBT!!!
— Congor Penguasa (@alta_samy) November 30, 2018
LGBT IS SCUM !
— MO RIZKI PRADANA (@Mo_RizkiP) November 30, 2018
this is just
there are more things to worry about than the evil sinful LGBT community
we should wake up be4 its late— The upsetter (@papikhalil1) November 30, 2018
BORN with penis? You're male.
BORN with Vagina? You're female.
If you have penis I'll prefer to you as Male.
If you have a Vagina, I'll prefer to you as Female.Don't care how much this offends the little snowflakes that identify themselves as something they aren't— Shafi'e Abdullahi (@Shafka_Gunner) November 30, 2018
Shame !!!! say no to LGBT
— Patrick kamba (@Patykamba) November 30, 2018
What color laces for us who like birds with big knockers?
— WAC7 (@Lord70163) November 30, 2018
This LGBT thing is getting out of hand. Next up they'd be advocating for incest & rape.
— Déz JNR (@OMAR__JNR) November 30, 2018
While it should be noted that the Premier League also needs to do more to promote other messages of equality such as anti-racism and anti-sexism, it’s a shame that so many people fail to understand LGBT rights as human rights.
Let the LGBT live their lives whatever way they want it but stop shoving it in our ass , stop forcing people to accept it !
— gustavorighthandpablo (@gustavorightha1) November 30, 2018
It’s sad you can’t have an opinion and you are forced into supporting a group of people that does not represent the whole
— Girouds on fire (@giroudbabe911) November 30, 2018
Imagine if someone said: “Stop forcing people to accept brown people!” or “Buddhists are scum!” People don’t choose their gender any more than they choose their skin color, and freedom of sexual orientation is every bit as important as freedom of religion.
It should be noted there were some positive responses in the mix. And, to be fair, everyone gets shat on when it comes to social media, whether you’re as woke as they come or a bumbling Twitter twerp.
But the sad fact is, it’s still far more common to see people insult the LGBT community than those based on race or creed — and in 2018 we shouldn't accept any of it.
The world has come a long way when it comes to LGBT rights in the past few decades (though the U.S. has slid back a bit since the 2016 election). As the Rainbow Laces Premier League campaign suggests, we still have a long way to go.
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