EE Hope United launches GayVAR to tackle online homophobic hate
EE Hope United will monitor social media across three Premier League games this weekend as part of the new GayVAR campaign to tackle online homophobic abuse.
Research commissioned by EE has found that over 70% of British people think homophobia is a problem in football. That figure rises to almost 90% among LGBTQ+ respondents, while 40% of people believe that things are exacerbated by social media.
A quarter of those surveyed said that they had witnessed online homophobic abuse firsthand with the last two years, although one in four witnesses to such abuse took no action.
The idea behind GayVAR, inspired by VAR, is that content will be posted around ‘specific moments that have been found to generate spikes in online homophobic abuse, such as bad individual player performances, bad goalkeeping, dives and losses’.
The short videos shared across EE’s social channels will ‘highlight the ridiculous and archaic nature of homophobia’ and ultimately refute the claims it is just ‘banter’.
The campaign has been created in conjunction with Football v Homophobia (FvH), an international initiative that exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football. February marks the FvH’s Month of Action, asking supporters, clubs, players and football authorities to focus their efforts on challenging homophobic attitudes.
GayVAR is being fronted by former West Ham, Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole alongside popular comedian Tom Allen.
“The fact that language associated with homosexuality is still bandied around as an insult in 2023 is frankly ridiculous, and calling it out is a big first step to removing this stigma,” Allen said.
“Gone are the days of passing it off as ‘banter’: it’s time people realised the far-reaching impact this kind of abuse can have. Calling someone ‘gay’ for example should never be a negative thing - if anything it’s a compliment, and I’m living proof of that. I’m fabulous, right?”
EE Hope United is supported by Rio Ferdinand, Lucy Bronze and Andy Robertson and shirts are available to purchase here, with all profits going to Cybersmile, a non-profit organisation committed to digital wellbeing and tackling all forms of bullying & abuse online.