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Gay rights: Gay former NBA basketball player John Amaechi described the FA's anti-homophobia video as 'offensive' and 'vulgar'
Peter Tatchell
Tatchell: FA's anti-homophobia commitment in 'disarray'
Peter Tatchell, of LGBT rights group OutRage, has claimed that the Football Association's decision to cancel the screening of a much-heralded anti-homophobia video had thrown its "commitment to tackling homophobia into disarray".
The video, in the form of a 90-second advert, was produced by advertising agency Ogilvy to a brief agreed by the FA, football diversity campaign group Kick It Out and OutRage, and was due to be launched on February 11 at London's Wembley Stadium. It would then have been released as a viral video on YouTube and the FA's website.
It shows a man abusing his workmates, tube passengers and a newspaper vendor with anti-gay insults, before doing the same at a football match. Follow up captions make the point that since homophobic behaviour is not acceptable outside football grounds, it should not be acceptable within them either.
Unease about its content had been growing in some quarters, but became public when gay former NBA basketball player John Amaechi, who was involved with the project, criticised its "cheap" £10,000 budget and described it as "offensive" and "vulgar" on his blog.
He wrote: "Football can't shock fans out of being bigots - this process requires a highly strategic, multi-modal approach, not to mention a significant investment. Ninety seconds of bad language that will only be seen on the internet is not a solution to the problems faced by football and the concept of trying to create a 'viral video' to combat homophobia in football feels crass at best.
"The reality is that this advert, like the organisations that spawned it, lacks a true understanding of the issues or any sense of nuance or proportion."
Tatchell said that Ogilvy's approach to the issue was effective but that he would have preferred a more "uplifting, MTV-style" video featuring high-profile players and criticised the FA for not doing more to recruit them.
However, he said: "The ad agency's advice was that shock tactics were the most effective psychological device to expose and shame bigoted fans into stopping their homophobia. They are professionals and experts in these matters."
"This last-minute cancellation is a big disappointment," he added. "It has thrown the Football Association's commitment to tackling homophobia into disarray.
"Contrary to what the FA is now saying, the video and strategy was agreed nearly two years ago. This postponement comes on top of the FA's dissolution of the broad-based Tackling Homophobia Working Group."
He credited the group with helping to implement many constructive initiatives to eradicate homophobia from football, but said that members had now been replaced by a "hand-picked, much smaller and less representative group" which "no longer includes all interested shareholders".
The FA said in its cancellation statement on Friday that it had "decided to take some more time to strengthen our strategy in this area of work", adding that it would consult with its advisory group and test the film with "broader audiences".
