Gay Gooners celebrate with club mascot Gunnersaurus

A PLAQUE for Arsenal’s LGBTQ+ fan group has been unveiled close to the Emirates stadium.

England’s first queer football fan club, the Gay Gooners, has been recognised as part of a project to celebrate the rich queer heritage in Islington.

The group, which boasts 981 members including 90 Islington residents, is being celebrated as part of an Islington Pride scheme that is putting up 50 plaques across the borough, funded by the National Lottery.

Stewart Selby founded the fan club in February 2013 with one aim – “To make football a safe place for everybody who wants to watch, regardless of who they sleep with.”

On learning about the plaque, he told the Tribune: “I feel pride in every sense of that word. Not pride for myself, but pride that we’ve changed something, that we’ve made a difference.

LGBTQ+ people, groups and spaces that have been recognised include Stonewall, Sadler’s Wells and Chris Smith, the first MP to publicly come out as gay.

Since then, the Gay Gooners have worked closely with Arsenal to end football’s long-standing homophobia problem.

The organisation trains Emirates stewards on how to stop homophobic abuse at matches.

They’ve also inspired clubs up and down the country to set up their own LGBTQ+ fan group. There are now 50 organisations for queer football fans across the UK.

Victoria Sharkey, an officer for the Gay Gooners, said: “I know people who wouldn’t go to football, they spent years not going to football, because they felt alienated – whether that’s because they’ve been targeted because they present as openly LGBTQ+, whether they just got sick of homophobic chanting.

“But in the last few years they’ve come back to football and they’ve embraced the game and the game has embraced them again.”

The Gay Gooners is also campaigning to end homophobic chants at matches.

Although singing anti-LGBTQ+ chants have reduced since the Gay Gooners started, Ms Sharkey said they have still been heard at football games over the last month.

Jonathan Green, a Gay Gunners member since a London Pride march in 2013, said: “It’s intimidating going to a football match with 60,000 other people.

“Having somebody who can be supportive, and welcoming and say ‘Don’t worry, you’re fine. If you do get any homophobic abuse this is what you need to do’, just makes the experience so much more enjoyable.”

Seán McGovern, Islington’s Pride project manager, said: “For a lot of LGBT+ people, team sports may conjure up some difficult memories and feelings of being left out from both participation and enjoyment.

“The Gay Gooners are proudly visible in their support for Arsenal FC and embody the joy and celebration that comes with cheering on your home team.

“They have done great work in changing minds, tackling homophobia in sport and furthering inclusion. We should all be proud of them.”

Islington’s Pride are looking for inspiration for 10 more pink plaques across London.

To suggest an important part of Islington’s LGBTQ+ that should be recognised visit islingtonspride.com/contact/