[Devongone]

Okay I AM gay, so if anyone is going to bring up such a topic it ought to be me.

I understand that as with many sports, football wants to stand aside from , and even above, politics. But I studied politics. The definition of politics that I came to accept was inclusive. It is remarkably easy to find a political aspect to everything that happens in human society. Hard to establish the a-political.

Once you have a complex society diverse human sexuality cannot but be an issue. Attitudes to it unavoidably shape that society. Whatever shapes the nature of a society must by definition also become political.

So my view is the "rainbow" campaign is political. You can therefore question whether embracing any particular view and publicising it should play any part in sport.

Personally I would love to see an openly gay world-class male footballer on the road to becoming an icon. Unfortunately were I now as good as I wanted to be at the game, with a temperament to match, I'd still feel very daunted about entering the dressing room and experiencing that culture every single day. For example how would I have felt about marching out to every big game, holding some random child's hand, as though the ability and desire to reproduce was all that could make me worthwhile as a man? And isn't that in itself a political act very little different from wearing rainbow laces? Politics is all around us, the very air we breathe.

BUT, if being gay and support or opposition to diverse sexuality is political, how come sport itself does not recognise that it cannot help being political? It is everywhere in our culture, it informs our lives and the way we live, it brings nations together and divides them. It presides over collisions in race, culture, religion ........ Sport is political. It makes Israel part of Europe. It makes countries which do not exist into international teams. It punishes Russia and rewards Qatar. Sport and politics ..... how do we divide them?

There is a great deal of virtue-signalling with the rainbow campaign. There is also genuine support. Players who tie their boots and think sexuality shouldn't matter, skill should.

Does all this increase awareness and tolerance or does it eventually subside, like taking the knee, to just another thing that happens pre-kick-off?

What does anyone else think? And you don't need to be sensitive to an old poof.

[Lord Snooty]

I wear rainbow laces all year round and I wish the footballers would.

As for the recent rumpus. The Ipswich lad has clearly shown he is extremely homophobic and shouldn't be allowed in a football stadium. Same with the Man Utd player who news is just coming out about. If the FA are serious about zero tolerance against homophobes, those two should be banned.

We all know though that that is never going to happen.

As for the Palace lad. What on earth are they on about? How is "Jesus loves you" offensive? That's the main point about Christianity. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves us all. Including the LGBTQ+ community.

You can't do religious messages? Stop singing God Save The King then!

The Ipswich lad is just a big fat hypocrite as well. He won't wear the rainbow armband because it's against his religious beliefs. But he's willing to turn out in a shirt emblazened with a logo of a betting company. Prick!

If he really didn't want to wear it, he should've given up the captaincy for the day.

Is the campaign working, Dev? I can't answer that. Do you feel safer walking down the street these days? Surely it must be better than when we were kids. I got beat up for being, as my attackers said, a "queer bastard". I'm not gay though, but I do support anybody who is, to live their lives any way they please.

And I would love it. Love it. If on rainbow laces weekend, every Premier League team walked out to the sound of Tom Robinson singing Glad To Be Gay.

[ritchiebaby]

To be honest, all this hoo-hah about sport and politics, and sex and gender, as well as religion just leaves me cold.

I don't want to wear rainbow laces, or particularly support the LGBT+ community, but if you want to, that's fine by me. I don't have friends who are gay, but I have a few acquaintances who are, and there's nothing wrong with them. There is one who is outrageously gay and I don't really like him, but I'd dislike an outrageously heterosexual just as much.

I appreciate that LGBT+ people can find life more difficult than most, in certain circumstances, and I do feel a lot of sympathy for them in that respect.

An interesting, caring, responsible human being is all I need around me.

[Devongone]

Yes Snoots, things are miles better now than they were in my youth. I was in my fortieth year before I dared to "come out". When I was an active sportsman I'd never have dared admit to my sexuality - nice as the people were I was involved with. It was a different world. But I did find a wonderful partner, whose passing I still grieve years on, and who introduced me to worlds and people I'd never have known without him.

Sam Morsy inhabits a much narrower world that's all. I can't help wonder about his attitude to women too, but the point for me is I don't want to condemn him or see him punished. If the rainbow campaign were entirely voluntary and players could genuinely show their support by making these gestures I'd be fully behind it. I love the thought of Snoots in rainbow laces, sitting at his keyboard! But my thought is that making it entirely voluntary makes the gesture itself political. And sport in general pretends it doesn't want that, despite often acting in a completely political matter.

Like me, I don't think Tom Robinson was entirely glad to be gay. Given the choice when I realised what I was, I'd have gone straight. I didn't realise then that it would mean I wasn't going to become me! I've had a good life, loved and been loved. And now I'm old.

I worry a bit for Marc Guehi and Jesus. Jesus was in his thirties and surrounded by MEN from all different backgrounds. Some of today's more clued-up generation might put two and two together and wonder about Jesus's own sexuality .......

No I can't condemn former Chesterfield man Sam Morsy, but if he really wants his religious beliefs to inhabit his life and his sport, he might consider behaving a bit better on the field, commiting less fouls and improving his poor disciplinary record too.

The truth is that though perhaps 10% of men might be gay, precious few would head for professional sport anyway. Many gay men have decidedly feminine characteristics, which might assist in an artistic sport like ice-skating, but don't intrinsically benefit footballers or rugby players unless they possess many other physical attributes. I don't think there will ever be a mass influx of gay men into football dressing rooms. Many of us would choose a make-up course or a dance session over a winter Saturday afternoon game of footie. And that's great.

Diversity beats compulsion any day of the week. BUT imposing rainbow laces and playing a World Cup in Qatar doesn't begin to add up.

ritchiebaby has a healthy attitude. Ideally this stuff just would BE. And it would be part of how things are ....... but lots of the world from Russia, through the Middle East and Africa would do more than disagree.

I won't close blowing kisses, that would be just too gay. Thanks for just BEING. And laughing is allowed too.

[St Charles Owl]

To be honest, all this hoo-hah about sport and politics, and sex and gender, as well as religion just leaves me cold.

I don't want to wear rainbow laces, or particularly support the LGBT+ community, but if you want to, that's fine by me. I don't have friends who are gay, but I have a few acquaintances who are, and there's nothing wrong with them. There is one who is outrageously gay and I don't really like him, but I'd dislike an outrageously heterosexual just as much.

I appreciate that LGBT+ people can find life more difficult than most, in certain circumstances, and I do feel a lot of sympathy for them in that respect.

An interesting, caring, responsible human being is all I need around me.

Completely agree with this, over here its not just sport that gets involved, it seems everyday life is always involved. The problem over here is the people who actually campaign against the existence or rights of the LGBT+ community!! Most people are like you or I, I simply don't care what you do with your life or who you love or who loves you, for starters its none of my business!! But to actively campaign to restrict these people's activities and wishes for me is horrible!!

As regards this rainbow lace or armband initiative, as Devon says its when it is forced on people to do something that we see the issues arise. Make it an initiative that is voluntary, allow players who want to show support do so and lets applaud them when they do.

[Devongone]

There are some really lovely, thoughtful posts on here. I would love it if one or two players wore rainbow laces and even boots to support the initiative whenever they they wanted. Unfortunately someone would undoubtedly come up with Palestinian flag laces and prompt an arms-race response of Star of David boots.

These things are difficult, but we are heading in that wonderful direction where sexuality might be able to raise a comment without implying judgement ..... and we could all just get on with being.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

People have many types of messages tattooed on their body.