How gay soccer players can kick homophobia.
The week's news at a glance.
United Kingdom
Johann Hari
The Independent
Gays can get hitched in today’s Britain—but they still can’t be role models, said Johann Hari in London’s Independent. Despite the increasing acceptance of homosexuality, gay teens still often feel deficient, and they are six times more likely to commit suicide than straights. “The best way to show these gay kids they are normal is for some of the deities of our national religion”—soccer—to come out of the closet. But gay athletes are fearful, largely because Britain’s only openly gay player, Justin Fashanu, “was hounded and pilloried” until he killed himself, in 1998. To change the culture, we have “to kick homophobia out of football with the same force as racism.” Top straight players could make anti-homophobia videos to be shown before the games, for instance, just as anti-racism videos were shown 20 years ago. Designated games could raise money for charities that work with gay teens. Of course, even if we do this, it will still take “a brave, ballsy footballer to come out.” The rest of us will have to show him it was worth it.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material
-
'More must be done'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day