Highlights: Yoann Lemaire, a 41-year-old former footballer, himself homosexual, has been working since 2016 with his association Foot ensemble to raise awareness among young footballers against discrimination. Lemaire: "The subject of homophobia is very taboo, very delicate with them. Especially since these are boys who have only been among themselves for years" "There is an ambient virilism, a lot of toxic masculinity, sexism, this idea of always having something to prove as a man," says Lemaire.

Last weekend, in France, a handful of football players did not want to wear a jersey flocked with a rainbow, symbol of the fight against homophobia, as part of the annual campaign...

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Fighting homophobia, a "subject still very taboo and delicate" for young footballers

Players from AS Monaco and Lille Olympique Sporting Club (LOSC) pose in front of the campaign banner against homophobia of the Professional Football League, May 14, 2023 in Monaco. © CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP

Text by: Louise Huet

8 min

Last weekend, in France, a handful of football players did not want to wear a rainbow-flocked jersey, a symbol of the fight against homophobia, as part of the annual campaign of the Professional Football League. Yoann Lemaire, a 41-year-old former footballer, himself homosexual, has been working since 2016 with his association Foot ensemble to raise awareness among young footballers against discrimination, in training centres or amateur clubs. And for him, on this World Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, there is still a long way to go.

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RFI: How is your training for young amateur players or in training centers?

Yoann Lemaire: The educational referents of training centers around the France call our association to carry out an awareness action with teenagers in clubs and poles of hope. On site, we exchange with the young people during 2-hour workshops. Concretely, we do not tell them right away that we are going to talk about homophobia so as not to block them from the start. We explain that we are going to address the subject of discrimination. We try to decipher, understand, and raise awareness. They are asked a lot of questions: "What is discrimination? What discrimination do they experience? We talk about racism and then we branch off on homophobia. According to their answers, we adapt the media we use: excerpts from our documentary "Footballer and homo, at the heart of the taboo" made in 2018 for France 2, videos, surveys, questionnaires, games, scenarios. They can also be asked to do an artistic creation, an eloquence contest or a report on homophobia. The goal is to get them to talk about the subject.

What reactions do you get from the young boys you meet? Are they receptive, reluctant?

It's complicated. The subject of homophobia is very taboo, very delicate with them. Especially since these are boys who have only been among themselves for years. The group effect is very strong and you can see the difference when you talk to them collectively or individually. But I must admit that there has been an evolution in recent years. Obviously, there is an ambient virilism, a lot of toxic masculinity, sexism, this idea of always having something to prove as a man, that we are strong, powerful, "that we are not gonzesses". But most remain receptive, they want to discuss this theme. They have a lot to say, as they see the media coverage of some players who refuse to wear rainbow jerseys. They have an opinion. But when I ask them, "What if there's a gay man on your team, how do you react?" The responses are mixed.

📍 We intervened in Troyes at the ESTAC Training Center to exchange with young players of several age categories of the club on homosexuality and homophobia ⚽️🏳️ 🌈

Thank you to the Trojan club for the welcome 🤝🔵 ⚪️ (1/2) #ESTAC #TeamESTAC pic.twitter.com/G3An20Avcv

— Foot Ensemble (@EnsembleFoot) September 29, 2022

The weight of religion is also increasingly important. At present, I am obliged to work with theologians to find out how to answer them, so much they constantly invoke it as an argument. So, I question them, I push them to their limits, I point out their inconsistencies so that they question themselves. I also mention my own background as a former gay player. Sometimes it works, they understand better. Sometimes they engage in provocation. It has already happened to me to leave a workshop as it was so hard to hear some of their comments.

How do you manage to start a discussion on this subject with them?

Part of what works with them is to be moderate, not militant. They can no longer stand the permanent injunction and the immediate insinuations that they are homophobic. These are kids who are sometimes no more than 14 years old. You have to start by listening to them, even when they say. You have to be very patient, calm, and start a discussion. For them, homosexuality is something distant. They very quickly invoke religion, then the disgust of seeing two men together, and the fear of seducing a gay teammate.

For example, for last year's Idrissa Gueye case, they said: "He was too right not to wear the jersey, he's a star." So I say, "You don't want to be famous for being good in the field, behaving well and being a role model for kids in colleges who are harassed, abused, who may even commit suicide for their homosexuality?" They love provoking them. I also make them understand that maybe, among them, one of their teammates is gay and must be hiding. This is where I bring the idea that "it may be your attitude that prevents some from announcing their homosexuality, maybe the climate is not benevolent enough". And I often conclude with, "Put yourself in that teammate's shoes for five minutes." There, they have a downtime.

Do you feel supported by the Professional Football League (LFP), the French Football Federation (FFF), the clubs?

The LFP, no doubt. She supports us more and more, and we are also more and more solicited for this type of intervention with young boys. I even had to refuse some in 2022, so much there was demand. And our awareness is not limited to young people. We also intervene with the management and employees of the clubs. The problem is that on the side of training centers and clubs, the referents are not trained at all. Almost every time, educators and bosses thank me for coming because they themselves do not know how to handle the problem. They tell me: "We are unable to know how to talk to them about homophobia, sexism, anti-Semitism, secularism, problems of racism, sexual violence..." Because the training provided to them by the FF never focuses on homophobia.

🆕👕 Gay or straight, we all wear the same jersey https://t.co/vpOfutDP4m

👦👧 #MHSCFCL and #MHSCHAC will be played with a new
🖱️ 🌈jersey
➡️ On sale Monday at 10am in our points of sale#JouonsLaCollectif pic.twitter.com/97vbFGk6vp

— MHSC (@MontpellierHSC) May 13, 2023

In addition, once the supervisory teams are aware and interested in the subject, things move. I saw it with the PSG training center, which made a huge leap: after the impetus of Virginie Megnin, the school coordinator and socio-educational referent, who wanted to work hard, I intervened six times, in addition to other associations. And a year later, it wasn't the same thing at all. Everything was not won, but the young people no longer had the same speech. And that's a victory.

Same for Montpellier. We trained and sensitized everyone there: the pro players, the boys in training, all the management, the educators, the employees of the club, even the supporters! And today: it is the only club that has made its own LGBT+ shirt for this weekend of May 14, and all its players wear it without problem. Hat.

For these young people, should we have figures of professional players who set an example and seize the subject?

Of course. But it is extremely complex to have well-known French players who openly commit themselves against homophobia. There is a crying need for exemplarity, that's why seeing a Kylian Mbappé wearing a rainbow jersey without any difficulty also serves to convince these kids. But that's not enough. The real work is on the ground with associations, social-educational referents, supervisors, coaches, and even sponsors. Increasingly, they are telling players who oppose LGBT+ signs: "This is discriminatory behaviour, so you won't be able to wear my brand anymore.

And understanding the consequences of his actions, that's what we try to convey to these young footballers. This controversy around rainbow jerseys is in a way a good sign, because it shows that society is evolving and no longer accepts certain things. There are 700 players who have put on the jersey, five or six who have refused, and three coaches who have had astonishing remarks. Obviously, it gives the impression that it is getting worse, but on the contrary, I think that it is freed and that certain behaviors no longer pass.

Paris Saint-Germain's French player Kylian Mbappé wears a shirt flocked with the LGBT+ flag during a PSG match against Stade de Reims at the Parc des Princes on May 16, 2021. © FRANCK FIFE / AFP

Do you have any hope that the mentalities of these young people will also change? And if it's so complicated, why do you keep running these workshops?

I often ask myself this question. How many times I told the LFP that I was stopping! But I do it because I have struggled personally. Then especially because in 2017, when I started the association, a kid came to talk to me at a game and said: "That's what you're doing, but it's still not enough." Three weeks later, this boy hanged himself. I also do it because if I don't go, no one else will talk to these kids about all this.

What if I have hope? Everything will depend on the action plan of the Minister of Sports to act against homophobia in football, which she must present this Wednesday, May 17 to the French National Olympic Sports Committee. For three years I have been saying that we must mobilize theologians to deconstruct arguments related to religion. So if there is no ambitious action plan, where all the actors concerned are mobilized, we are badly barred.

Fighting homophobia, a "subject still very taboo and delicate" for young footballers

Fighting homophobia, a "subject still very taboo and delicate" for young footballers

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