WITH Rangers trailing Celtic by 13 points in the William Hill Premiership and just 10 matches remaining, there is little prospect of the league flag being unfurled at Ibrox this year.
But seeing another standard hoisted high above the Govan ground in recent days has been celebrated by a section of their fans - and warmly welcomed by those who champion the rights of the LGBT+ community in Scottish football.
The Glasgow behemoths have thrown their considerable weight behind the Month of Action that is held every February by Football v Homophobia and flown the rainbow colours of their Ibrox Pride supporters group on the Bill Struth Stand.
They were by no means the only club in the country to take such action. Still, having one of the biggest and best-supported teams firmly on board was considered hugely significant by the campaign organisers.
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“This has been the second year in a row that both Celtic and Rangers have dedicated fixtures to our campaign,” said Munro Stevenson of Football v Homophobia Scotland.
“But we now have dedicated matches across all levels of Scottish football in February. We started off with the Partick Thistle game against Greenock Morton at Firhill at the start of the month and the Celtic match against Aberdeen at Parkhead on Tuesday night was the last. We also had a weekend in partnership with the SWF.
“But having the likes of Celtic and Rangers involved is a massive thing for us. It's really important to have the big clubs taking a stand for the LGBT+ community and against discrimination in football.
“Their reach is massive. They send out a very strong signal that homophobia and transphobia are unacceptable both at their clubs and in their stadiums. Their support is really important for us.
“It really shows the LGBT+ community that they're welcome to go along to games. It gives our community the confidence to maybe step into a stadium for the first time or go along to the pub and watch football.”
“The result of the St Mirren match was a bit unfortunate for them. But the Ibrox Pride members were cheering them on regardless and it was certainly quite a big day for us as well. Hibernian and Stenhousemuir dedicated fixtures that day as well.”
A survey of the LGBTQ+ community carried out by Out and Out Football last year underlined that awareness campaigns like the Month of Action remain crucial. Nearly 75 per cent of those polled reported experiencing or witnessing homophobic abuse at matches.
“Football has changed a lot in the last 20 years,” said Stevenson. “But if you've had a negative experience when you were younger you don't necessarily know that. There's still a work to be done going forward to let the community know that they are now welcome.
“But that's also not to say that there aren't still instances of homophobia and discrimination. It does still happen, we do still get reports of it. So there is still a lot of work to be done around raising awareness and stamping out abuse in the stands.”
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Football vs Homophobia have found that members of the LGBT+ community can be put off playing football as well as watching it due to the negative experiences they suffer at an early age. They are making strides to tackle that participation problem as well.
“What we see is members of the community stop playing sport as teenagers,” said Stevenson. “If they do ever return to playing sport, it will usually be in their late 20s and early 30s. There are probably lots of reasons for that.
“Homophobic discrimination in sport in schools can be quite intense. People tend to take two paths. They either decide that they're going to stop playing sport or they'll persevere, but will remain in the closet.
“Stenhousemuir and their community trust have done a lot of work to create playing opportunities for the community in central Scotland. They have an initiative called Rainbow Warriors and have people from all over coming and playing football. They are a really enthusiastic bunch up there.”
“Ibrox Pride are essentially a supporters group who were started up by members of the LGBT+ community who follow Rangers,” said Stevenson. “We ran workshops about setting up LGBT+ supporter groups set up and Ibrox Pride came out of that.
“They've had a bit of a resurgence over the last two seasons. They're independent from Rangers, but they've got a good relationship with their club and are well supported.
“Their main aim is to get more LGBT+ fans supporting Rangers and making sure LGBT+ fans feel comfortable supporting the team they have followed their whole lives.
“There’s maybe even more preconceptions about Rangers fans than fans of other clubs. People maybe ask, ‘Why would there be any LGBT+ Rangers fans?’ But I think it's important that there are and also that they should be visible.”
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Stevenson added: “We've got a few of these supporters groups in Scotland now. We have the Proud Huddle, a Celtic supporters group. We have groups at Hibs, Partick Thistle, Livingston and Glasgow City too and one is just getting set up at St Johnstone. They're a bridge between the community and the club are growing and widening that access.
“There's always been LGBT+ fans of football clubs. You don't necessarily choose your club, often you inherit it from your family and friends at quite a young age. But when you do come out, you don't stop supporting that club or enjoying football. It's important these fan groups exist to show visibility for the community.”
“It’s a minority, but it’s a very vocal minority,” said Stevenson. “Sadly, I think it is, in the current political climate, a growing minority as well. We have still seen negative comments on social media this month.
“The fact is the majority of the LGBT+ community still don't feel comfortable entering a football space. There is verbal abuse and even violence sometimes. People are so passionate about football, but sometimes that passion heightens and exacerbates the issues that exist in society. So there is still work to do.”
Anyone wanting to set up an LGBT+ supporters group, join an LGBT+ football club or learn how to make their club more inclusive can contact the Football v Homophobia Scotland team at info@leapsports.org
