Canal Street Blues LGBT Supporters Group 2014

[Helmet Cole]

I don't recall suggesting I was going to join it or do anything other than 'let the members be', but I'm not going to pretend I think it's great that the group needs to exist - even if I don't have a problem with the fact that it does. As others have said I'm probably gay, or a repressed gay myself, so surely my opinion should count for something - unless of course there is only one acceptable opinion? If that's the case then please accept my apologies.

 

[Blue Is the Opposite of Blue]

I know you're probably "only having a joke" when you say these things, but even saying things like:

I'm off to sniff some poppers and lube up my butt-plug while I give it some more thought.

Doesn't help your argument.

It's a fair-cop, I probably am gay to be fair, still don't think it's great that we need a separate supporters group though. All the (mostly well reasoned) arguments for it's existence boil down to a problem with acceptance in the wider community. For that reason alone I think the formation of a sexuality specific supporters group is not in itself worthy of celebration, but rather a damming indictment of how far we still have to go as a society. I suppose we may have to agree to disagree.

It isn't great that we need a separate supporters' group - but that's society's problem, not the members of the LGBT group. The group has been set up in order to preach the message that, in the end, we're all football fans regardless of sexuality or gender.

Sexuality and gender shouldn't matter when someone enters a football stadium, but the sad fact is that for some people it does matter a great deal, and for all the wrong reasons. As soon as a drunk bigot (of which there are a fair few in football stadiums) finds out that the person stood next to them is trans, homosexual, bisexual or anything that isn't a cishet white bloke, they're going to make an issue out of it until someone stands up to them.

Members of the public standing up for trans people is something that rarely happens. If a trans woman or man is beaten up in public, bystanders tend to do just what their name suggests: stand by, and watch it happen, probably through their phone screens while they video the whole thing. Until that stops happening, support groups need to be set up for members of the LGBT community in order to feel safe in some capacity.

Suffering from gender dysphoria is bad enough for some people, but imagine feeling like your only release from it would lead to you being beaten up in the street? LGBT groups are needed for support. I know someone, who won't be named, suffering from gender dysphoria. Every night they overdose in the hope they don't wake up because their parents are transphobic morons and nobody will employ them simply because they are trans. Imagine living like that just because you dare not to be happy in your own skin.

Support groups are needed to support the common cause, whether it's in football stadiums or society.

 

[dobobobo]

I don't recall suggesting I was going to join it or do anything other than 'let the members be', but I'm not going to pretend I think it's great that the group needs to exist - even if I don't have a problem with the fact that it does. As others have said I'm probably gay, or a repressed gay myself, so surely my opinion should count for something - unless of course there is only one acceptable opinion? If that's the case then please accept my apologies.

Here's my opinion/suggestion on how your post should of been written in terms of respect:

It's a fair-cop, I probably am gay to be fair, still don't think it's great that we need a separate supporters group though. All the (mostly well reasoned) arguments for it's existence boil down to a problem with acceptance in the wider community. For that reason alone I think the formation of a sexuality specific supporters group is not in itself worthy of celebration, but rather a damming indictment of how far we still have to go as a society. I suppose we may have to agree to disagree.

 

[Helmet Cole]

It isn't great that we need a separate supporters' group - but that's society's problem, not the members of the LGBT group. The group has been set up in order to preach the message that, in the end, we're all football fans regardless of sexuality or gender.

To be honest I've never met a blue who I think would disagree with this, but the bit in bold is what pisses me off tbh. Strangely I think we are actually sort of agreeing here, but if I want to be preached to I'll go to church thanks - not the footy. If I want to show my support for gay blues I'll do it by standing up for them if I witness bigotry in the stands ect. - not by pretending that I think the supporters group is a great idea. Sad that it's needed in this day and age.

 

[80s Shorts]

I don't recall suggesting I was going to join it or do anything other than 'let the members be', but I'm not going to pretend I think it's great that the group needs to exist - even if I don't have a problem with the fact that it does. As others have said I'm probably gay, or a repressed gay myself, so surely my opinion should count for something - unless of course there is only one acceptable opinion? If that's the case then please accept my apologies.[/quote

Helmet eh ?

 

[Blue Is the Opposite of Blue]

It isn't great that we need a separate supporters' group - but that's society's problem, not the members of the LGBT group. The group has been set up in order to preach the message that, in the end, we're all football fans regardless of sexuality or gender.

To be honest I've never met a blue who I think would disagree with this, but the bit in bold is what pisses me off tbh. Strangely I think we are actually sort of agreeing here, but if I want to be preached to I'll go to church thanks - not the footy. If I want to show my support for gay blues I'll do it by standing up for them if I witness bigotry in the stands ect. - not by pretending that I think the supporters group is a great idea. Sad that it's needed in this day and age.

"Preach the message" wasn't the right phrase to use. Spread the message would have been a much better term to describe how it'll function.

It is sad that a LGBT supporters' group is needed in the 21st century - but the fact remains that while it is needed, we should celebrate and support its every positive move in order to help society progress and ensure the safety of the group's members, both inside football stadiums and society.

I'm a white, heterosexual male from a Western country, aged between 19-55 - I'm born with a default privilege in that nobody questions anything I do. I'm not persecuted no matter how stupid my decisions are, I can walk down the street without anything being said to me and I'm fairly certain that I'd be supported by a large group of people if I were to attack or chastise anybody that was different to me. That is wrong.

It is only fair that I then use this privilege to make sure other people like myself understand and accept that we are all the same and should be free to live life without the fear of being murdered for their sexuality or gender. This is also the message which is spread by LGBT support groups in and outside of football. They share my beliefs and I support their ideology, regardless of how upsetting it is that the group's existence is necessary.

"If a man has the chance to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself." If we don't all accept that LGBT support groups are necessary then they will always be necessary.

 

[Bodicoteblue]

It isn't great that we need a separate supporters' group - but that's society's problem, not the members of the LGBT group. The group has been set up in order to preach the message that, in the end, we're all football fans regardless of sexuality or gender.

To be honest I've never met a blue who I think would disagree with this, but the bit in bold is what pisses me off tbh. Strangely I think we are actually sort of agreeing here, but if I want to be preached to I'll go to church thanks - not the footy. If I want to show my support for gay blues I'll do it by standing up for them if I witness bigotry in the stands ect. - not by pretending that I think the supporters group is a great idea. Sad that it's needed in this day and age.

I don't think it was set up to preach anything .
It appears to have been set up for LGBT people to meet each other in , as I said in a previous post, a place of tolerance and shared experience, away from places full of people making sniggering references to their sexuality.

 

[shazzell]

It isn't great that we need a separate supporters' group - but that's society's problem, not the members of the LGBT group. The group has been set up in order to preach the message that, in the end, we're all football fans regardless of sexuality or gender.

To be honest I've never met a blue who I think would disagree with this, but the bit in bold is what pisses me off tbh. Strangely I think we are actually sort of agreeing here, but if I want to be preached to I'll go to church thanks - not the footy. If I want to show my support for gay blues I'll do it by standing up for them if I witness bigotry in the stands ect. - not by pretending that I think the supporters group is a great idea. Sad that it's needed in this day and age.

I don't think it was set up to preach anything .
It appears to have been set up for LGBT people to meet each other in , as I said in a previous post, a place of tolerance and shared experience, away from places full of people making sniggering references to their sexuality.

+1

 

[80s Shorts]

It isn't great that we need a separate supporters' group - but that's society's problem, not the members of the LGBT group. The group has been set up in order to preach the message that, in the end, we're all football fans regardless of sexuality or gender.

To be honest I've never met a blue who I think would disagree with this, but the bit in bold is what pisses me off tbh. Strangely I think we are actually sort of agreeing here, but if I want to be preached to I'll go to church thanks - not the footy. If I want to show my support for gay blues I'll do it by standing up for them if I witness bigotry in the stands ect. - not by pretending that I think the supporters group is a great idea. Sad that it's needed in this day and age.

I don't think it was set up to preach anything .
It appears to have been set up for LGBT people to meet each other in , as I said in a previous post, a place of tolerance and shared experience, away from places full of people making sniggering references to their sexuality.

Canal Street ?

Tolerant it is not.

 

[secondtoughest]

Sometimes it's as simple as having something in common with someone. People from Levenshulme travel together or drink together, it's the same with this group. Most of my friends support other teams and are straight, but sometimes I like hanging out with other gay people and other City fans. I'm relatively easy going but sometimes I don't like having to explain to the people in the pub next me why I'm so invested in a football match, and no I don't have a boyfriend and yes, this is my girlfriend and yes I do support City and no it wasn't only since the Shiekh took over. It's not about 'pushing it in people's faces' because hey guess what, it's not about them, it's about us - and more importantly it's about supporting City.