While the women's game fully embrace inclusivity with a number of openly gay players, there are no such male counterparts; watch The Women's Football Show on Sky Sports Football at 6pm on Friday.
Tuesday 16 March 2021 10:27, UK
Men's football should take a look at the women's game to improve LGBT+ inclusivity, Kick It Out's Tony Burnett has told The Women's Football Show.
While the women's game fully embraces inclusivity with a number of lesbian, gay and bi players, there are no such male counterparts in the men's game.
Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness recently spoke out on the issue, believing a number of difficulties still persist in the men's game on LGBT+ inclusion, such as homophobic language and behaviour in dressing rooms, and fears they or their clubs may potentially lose lucrative sponsorship deals.
Kick It Out's newly-appointed chief executive also believes outdatedly held beliefs are one of the fundamental factors in holding the men's game back.
Speaking exclusively to The Women's Football Show, Burnett said: "One of the things I love about the women's game is that inclusivity does not even come up as a topic of discussion because people are just able to be themselves.
"Belonging and being who you are is fundamentally part of the women's game and I think the men's game has a long way to go on that.
"The difficulty is that the game is so established that some of the traditionally held behaviours are so ingrained that we have to unpick them.
"We can certainly learn from the women's game in terms of the culture of belonging that has been created - that it is OK to be you.
"That is a fundamental part of the game which is brilliant and something that should be used to develop the men's game with the same level of maturity.
At the moment, San Diego Loyal midfielder Collin Martin is the only male professional footballer currently playing the game to have publicly come out as gay.
Positive steps are being made though with the Premier League recently signing a new two-year partnership with the equality charity Stonewall to make LGBT+ inclusion a key element of their player care and support programmes.
The commitment is part of a focus on education, with the introduction of new resources and programmes for coaches, teachers and leaders in schools and communities to help promote positive attitudes towards the LGBT+ community.
Reading and Wales' Angharad James appreciates the inclusive women's environment which has made her feel comfortable enough to be open about her relationship with Manchester United's Amy Turner.
"We're fortunate to be in such an inclusive environment where we can be ourselves," Angharad James told The Women's Football Show.
"Things are definitely moving in the right direction and I think the only way we can force change is by being proud of who we are.
"We're lucky that there is so much that we can do and hopefully by just putting it out there and making everyone aware it might just help one person and if it does that then I'm happy."
Watch The Women's Football Show on Sky Sports Football at 6pm on Friday.
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Kick It Out is football's equality and inclusion organisation - working throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices, and campaign for positive change.
