Shining a light on the 'Marching Out Together' campaign from the Leeds United LGBT+ Supporters Group, we spoke to Andrew Tilly on the work they're doing to eradicate discrimination from the game. Setting an example for the global game to follow, their mission one for the entire football community to support.
Tell us about Marching Out Together, Leeds United’s LGBT+ Supporters group, how long has it been going?
"My friend Drew Harrison and I travelled up to Elland Road a year ago to meet with the club to discuss forming an LGBT+ fan group and to ask whether the club would support us. Given the history of homophobia in football we arrived with some level of uncertainty, but we need not have worried. They welcomed the idea and backed us with social media coverage when we launched. A year later we have a brilliant board (David, Jade, Mick, Katrina, Stephen, Lorna, Drew and I) who have ensured we have achieved so much - and we now have over 2000 followers on social media and over 160 members. Drew and I amusingly still can’t agree who came up with the name “Marching Out Together” - but Leeds United’s anthem is “Marching On Together”, so its origins are pretty clear."
What would you say is your main message?
"We want to ensure that Elland Road is a ground where everyone feels welcome - and of course that includes LGBT+ fans, their friends and families. Our message is one of inclusivity - we are all part of the Leeds United family. We also want to play our role in challenging LGBTphobia in the sport generally and to encourage Leeds United to be seen as a leading light in securing changes within the sport."
What has the response been like from the club?
"The club have been great. Angus Kinnear (Leeds United’s CEO) is a big supporter of the group and what we are trying to achieve - as are all the other members of staff we have worked with. When Angus was at Arsenal a number of years ago, he ensured they were early supporters of Kick It Out’s anti-racism campaign - and he recognises there are challenges regarding homophobia in football which need to be addressed today. Whilst we achieved some great progress in our first year, we still have much to achieve, which will require the club’s continuing backing."
What about Leeds fans generally, how have they responded and have you had the chance to work with other supporter groups within the club to spread a positive message?
"One of the huge positives for us over the last 12 months has been the great support we have received from the club’s fans. On a very few occasions there have been some horrid homophobic messages on social media - but our straight allies within the fan base have responded robustly, supporting us and saying such outdated sentiments are not welcome."
"The club’s famous fanzine, The Square Ball, published a really positive article about us. Fan groups such as the Leeds United Supporters Trust (LUST) and the Leeds United Disabled Organisation (LUDO) have supported us, and we are hoping to announce becoming associate members of certain fan groups in the next few months."
"We are represented on the official Supporters Advisory Board, and every other member of the board (representing families, BME, older, younger fans, and other supporters groups) have also welcomed us."
How often do you meet and what are the aspirations for the group?
"A few of us meet up for drink before home games and we organise the occasional social event. We met up with LGBT+ fans from a few other clubs (home and away) last season, but hopefully this year we will manage to meet fans from even more clubs. But whilst the social side is great fun, our aspirations are wider than that - we interact with other groups (such as Pride in Football, Three Proud Lions, Football Supporters Federation & Stonewall) to work towards securing changes in the game. As I mentioned earlier, we also have two representatives on Leeds United’s Supporters Advisory Board and engage with the club directly on a regular basis."
So what do you see as your main achievements in the first year?
"It’s been a fantastic year. Inevitably there have been some frustrations and some things have taken longer than we would want, but we are delighted with what we’ve achieved. Marching at Leeds Pride - which Leeds United sponsored for the first time - was a massive day and represented a great first birthday for us."
"We recently published our first newsletter of the new season, and highlighted these as our other key achievements:
• HELPING 2 FANS COME OUT (A TEENAGE FAN & A MIDDLE AGED FAN)
• LEEDS UNITED SUPPORTING RAINBOW LACES
• SPONSORING NEW ARMLEY FC - STRAIGHT ALLIES
• PARTICIPATING IN A 5-A-SIDE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT
• MEETING LGBT+ LEEDS FANS AND ALLIES BEFORE HOME GAMES
• MEETING AWAY FANS FROM OTHER GROUPS
• RUNNING A WORK SHOP AT THE PIF CONFERENCE
• FILMING A TV DOCUMENTARY WITH GARETH THOMAS
• APPOINTING ROBBIE ROGERS AS PATRON
• ESTABLISHING A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
• SECURING POWERFUL MEDIA COVERAGE
• GETTING THE CLUB TO SUPPORT THE FIGHT AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA
• HAVING A HUGE FLAG FLYING IN ELLAND ROAD EVERY GAME
• HAVING OUR OWN STONE INSTALLED IN BREMNER SQUARE"
It's a very welcome addition to football supporters groups, do you think you can inspire fans of other clubs to do the same?
"Actually, we were inspired to set up the group by Di Cunningham, who was the founder of Pride In Football (PiF), an umbrella group for the growing number of grass roots LGBT+ fan groups around the country. In the last 12 months there has been a rapid growth of clubs with LGBT+ groups and I think it’s only a matter of time before every club has a group like ours."
What needs to change in football to help your cause?
"Things are starting to change. The Premier League has promoted the support of Stonewall’s rainbow laces campaign, which the EFL also supported for the first time last year. Sky Sports have been strong advocates, led by the great work of Jon Holmes (@jonboy79). But Gareth Thomas’ recent BBC documentary (Hate in the Beautiful Game) showed how much work is still needed within the FA and clubs generally."
"The biggest indicator of the prejudice remaining in the game is the face that there is no openly gay/bi player in the professional men’s game. It is sad that players are working in an enviroment where they don’t feel comfortable being open about their sexuality. It’s hard to think of another walk of life where an industry is so behind the rest of society. The footballing authorities, football clubs and media need to work together to help ensure that footballers understand how well supported they will be by the footballing world when they personally feel it’s the right time to come out."
"Kick It Out have developed a code of conduct to help address racism, which has been adopted by all clubs. A similar code needs to be introduced and embraced to deal with homophobia - and Angus Kinnear (our CEO) and Marching Out Together want to ensure Leeds United is a leading force in formulating, adopting and promoting a new code. I am confident that attitudes will continue to change for the better and that, for example, incidents of homophobic chanting when teams play Brighton will become unacceptable in grounds."
What more can we all be doing to ensure that the LGBT+ voice is being heard and listened to in the game?
"Any code of conduct would ensure that LGBT+ fans have a designated contact within their club, stewards would receive training to ensure they know how to deal with homophobic incidents, that grounds include signage stating that offensive and discriminatory behaviour will not be tolerated, and ideally clubs would appoint a player ambassador to be an advocate for the LGBT+ supporter group within their club. But progress will be limited until gay/bi players become known and accepted within the game. We hope that any LGBT+ player contemplating joining Leeds United will know that fans and the club will welcome and support him. And that every time he walks onto the Elland Road pitch he will be greeted by our huge flag, proudly and prominently displayed in the ground."
If anyone wants to join your group or support you in any way, how do they get in touch?
"Thanks for asking! We always welcome new members and followers - including our valued straight allies (around 25% of members currently). It’s free to join the group! You can sign up using a form on our website here or at our social media sites on twitter, Facebook (Marching Out Together) and Instagram. Worth saying too, any sales of our badge and mug will help us raise funds to continue our campaign to eradicate discrimination in the game we love."
