James Laley set up Rainbow Blades for LGBT+ supporters and allies with substantial help from Sheffield United; fans group features in new short film released by Premier League to mark Rainbow Laces campaign's annual activation
Friday 4 December 2020 13:41, UK
The worldwide visibility given to the Rainbow Laces campaign by British football sends "a huge message", says the founder and chair of a fans group featured in a new short film released by the Premier League.
James Laley approached Sheffield United a year ago and asked for the club's backing for Rainbow Blades, with a view to bringing LGBT+ people and allies together and fostering a sense of community.
Since then, the group has been officially launched with full support from staff at Bramall Lane, and has flourished despite all the difficulties posed by the pandemic.
The official Premier League film features Laley, Sheffield United's engagement manager John Garrett, and fans from both Rainbow Blades and West Ham's equivalent group Pride of Irons on a pre-match video chat.
"I feel very proud watching the film," Laley told Sky Sports. "It bowled me over when the Premier League contacted me - having that dialogue and creating the video with them for a global audience.
"It's going to have a big impact for us. We're close to hitting 200 Rainbow Blades members now and most of them do take part in the socials. It's helping to give them more confidence and is making them fully part of the Bramall Lane family.
"The whole experience has just been a shining light in what has been a pretty dark year for all of us around the world. The film shows that positivity, and demonstrates there are good things that are happening out there."
Laley hopes the Rainbow Blades story will inspire other clubs to work more closely with their LGBT+ supporters, and assist them with community building in their local areas and further afield through the interaction that virtual socials can provide.
There are now over 50 LGBT+ and allies fan groups affiliated to UK football clubs and Laley is encouraged by the progress. However, from having worked closely with Garrett and Liz McGrael - the club's first dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, appointed earlier this year - he knows collaboration is critical.
"It's extremely important to me that Rainbow Laces isn't seen as a thing you almost have to do, just to fall into line," he says.
"When that happens, you're not going to achieve what you want to achieve. It won't have that inclusive feel.
I live in South Wales but my family are in Sheffield. Even though I'm far away, I still get the banter with them... I'm the only Blade in my village!
"Clubs should be supporting the campaign but also underpinning it with a working relationship with their LGBT+ and allies fans groups, and visibly highlighting that extra work - online, in the matchday programme, or elsewhere.
"Sheffield United are going above and beyond. It's not just about a few players wearing some Rainbow Laces for one match out of the whole calendar.
"We've now got this video, and we've lit up the stadium in rainbow colours for the first time ever - that image was posted on Thursday night on social and it had overwhelming positive reactions, but also some negativity as you might imagine."
The Blades host Leicester on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, but with Sheffield and the whole of South Yorkshire in Tier 3, there will be no supporters inside Bramall Lane despite fans returning to stadiums in limited numbes in other parts of the UK.
Nevertheless, Laley knows the power of Premier League broadcasting will take the message of the club's community support much further.
"What's hugely important to me is that the club is changing all the flags above the stadium for this match - it's not just the rainbow flag, but also other flags from the LGBT+ community - trans, bi, and so on. That's sending a really positive message too that all are welcome.
"The players are also going to be wearing Rainbow Blades T-shirts in the pre-match warm-up. It's a shame we don't have fans in the stadium to witness this, but the game is being televised to a global audience and demonstrates that Sheffield United are going above and beyond."
The Rainbow Laces campaign began in men's football back in 2013 as a way to show solidarity for any players in the professional game who are gay or bi and who might be afraid to come out publicly.
It was relaunched by the charity Stonewall in 2016 - backed by Sky Sports and other TeamPride partners - as an all-sports initiative, to raise awareness of the challenges all LGBT+ people might face in sports environments and provide visibility for the community more generally, in a bid to generate productive conversations and actions around inclusion.
Some have questioned the effectiveness of the campaign in reducing homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, particularly for young people, but Laley believes Rainbow Laces does contribute considerably towards tackling anti-LGBT discrimination in a variety of ways.
"If Rainbow Laces didn't exist, we wouldn't be in the position we're in now, not just with our group but sport more widely, in terms of inclusion," says Laley.
"Sport is a massive platform to get that message out there and keep those conversations going.
"Let's imagine we didn't have the campaign at all. We'd have less people in elite sport feeling confident to be their authentic selves and to be role models to other LGBT+ people.
"We wouldn't have had the education and awareness training we have at football clubs and their community foundations, with staff and players. I know this work happens, because I've seen it.
"And we wouldn't have allies necessarily understanding the discrimination that LGBT+ fans experience. We have a lot of allies who are part of Rainbow Blades because they want to be supportive but also because they want to learn more, get involved, and help make a change.
"Homophobic language and behaviour in football has been happening for decades. If you do nothing, nothing will change - that's obvious.
"But I'm a Blade and I'm an out gay man, and the visibility and support you see now makes me feel way more comfortable going and being my actual self in the football stadium than I would ever have done five years ago."
Sky Sports is a member of TeamPride which supports Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign. If you'd like to help inspire others in sport by sharing your own story of being LGBT+ or an ally, please contact us here.
