Football v Transphobia

The #FvT2021 campaign kicks off the week leading up to Trans Visibility Week on March 31. Natalie Washington, campaign lead, tells us more...

Organisers of Football v Transphobia (FvT) are putting the finishing touches to plans for this year’s week of action, which takes place the week leading up to Trans Visibility Week on March 31. Natalie Washington, FvT lead, shares what they’re working on and answers a couple of questions. To keep up to date with plans, visit www.footballvhomophobia.com or follow @FvHtweets on Twitter.

• Podcasts with some trans people in football – focusing a lot more on their actual involvement in football than gender stuff, with the idea of inspiring trans and non-binary people, but also portraying us as fully rounded people with lives in the game. Hoping to have players, supporters and people involved in administering or covering the game.

• #TransFootyAlly campaign asking for wider participation on social media around the value of allies, and how the game is enriched by the presence of trans and non-binary people. Idea is to get people to share videos, images etc on social media talking about who they are, what they do in football, and, if they’re an ally, how trans people being in football has enriched their experience, and if they are trans, how being in football has enriched their life. To get involved in this part of the campaign, tweet #TransFootyAlly during the week of action.

Natalie Washington

• We’re looking to share something on the Pathway to Play – outlining the rules for gendered participation, highlighting the difficulties this poses to the non-binary community, and giving a spotlight to the LGBTQ+ and gender inclusive leagues and teams in the UK that welcome trans and non-binary people to play.

• Some sort of fun event to get some trans and non-binary people together, maybe a livestream – still working on this but check social media and our website for info nearer the time!

How has the campaign grown since its inception?

Football v Homophobia has been going for years now, but FvT only really started as a specific campaign in 2019 with the first week of action scheduled to coincide with Trans Day of Visibility. That year we did a few small awareness campaigns, some social media, and some clubs got involved with some designated fixtures, including football league match day programmes. Last year we had bigger plans, but of course the pandemic intervened, forcing us to do most of it online. This went a lot better than we could’ve imagined, as our #bintransphobia campaign got loads of people excited about filming themselves finding imaginative ways of getting a football into a bin during lockdown. This year we’re still doing the vast majority online, but hopefully next year we can have more actual football in the campaign.

FvT kit

Has trans representation in football improved in recent years?

Trans people have always been in football, but in recent years we have seen some first steps towards greater representation. We have some great trans football writers emerging, and there are a good number of trans footballers playing at a grassroots level, with one or two at a really competitive semi-pro level in England. We’re seeing trans people taking their places in the LGBTQ+ supporters groups, and beginning to feel safer to be visible in stadia (when we can go to them), as well as in administrative and support roles on and off the pitch. There’s a long way to go but seeing players like the Canadian international player Quinn being open about their identity is a huge boost. Trans people still face real barriers in getting into the game, in many countries being restricted to their sex assigned at birth, and in the vast majority of cases there is little or no provision for non-binary people. We hope by continuing to celebrate trans and non-binary identity in the game, and by providing resources to help clubs and administrative bodies to be more inclusive, that we can move in the right direction.

Get Involved

The FvT week of action will take place the week leading up to Trans Day of Visibility on March 31. During the week of action, use #FvT2021, and/or #TransFootyAlly, and tag @FvHtweets.