The matchday programme for yesterday’s fixture against Aston Villa featured as the subject of its regular We all follow the Chelsea feature, Snake Denton, an LGBTQ+ journalist, presenter and lifelong Chelsea supporter who has been collaborating with Chelsea Foundation across the Rainbow Laces campaign.
Here is what Snake had to say on the programme page about his experiences supporting the club…
I’m a Chelsea fan because my dad is a Chelsea fan. He was going in the Nineties when it was Zola, Di Matteo – that team. I was really young at the time and he would tell me stories about these amazing Italian players that Chelsea had.
When I was eight years old, he took me to my first game: against Man United in 2004. It was Jose Mourinho’s first game. We won 1-0. Gudjohnsen scored. My Dad got me a season ticket in the East Upper and I didn’t see us lose for three years when we went on that massive unbeaten home run. That set the bar quite high. Being the best is amazing when you’re a kid, but it’s also given me some warped expectations.
Going to Stamford Bridge as a boy was like stepping into a different world. I was eight or nine, and I was walking into a world of men. There was an edge, which was exciting. The stuff that sticks with me was anything that was slightly on the line, slightly taboo, like hearing naughty chants and picking up swear words.
Some of those chants were homophobic. Back then, I wasn’t old enough to question things like that (I didn’t even know what the chants meant), but I suppose I internalised those values and behaviours. Homophobic language is so normalised in football. If a player is seen to be diving, he’s “soft” or he’s a “fairy”. These are loaded words, and I think most fans don’t think twice about their connotations. I certainly didn’t.
It’s weird to reflect on, now that I’m in my twenties and I’ve come out of the closet. For a long time I found it hard to accept my sexuality because I had internalised a lot of homophobic beliefs (some of that comes from going to football, and being in environments that are hostile towards queer people).
In terms of LGBTQ+ visibility in the men’s game, I don’t think much has changed, which is why campaigns like Rainbow Laces are so important. There’s still no ‘out’ player in the top flight of English football, and there hasn’t been since Justin Fashanu. That doesn’t surprise me, either.
Something I hear a lot is, “Surely, the first player that comes out is going to get huge commercial opportunities. Why wouldn’t they come out?” But I totally understand why they wouldn’t because they’d be sticking their head above the parapet. These are young men who are just trying to do their job – a really high-pressure job – and if one of them were to come out, they’d open themselves up to homophobic abuse every weekend. Football fans will seizeon any perceived weakness you show (and unfortunately a lot of fans still see queerness as a weakness).
As much as I’ve said I’m not surprised there isn’t an ‘out’ player in the Premier League, I do hope it happens soon because it could create so much change. For young people who are trying to navigate their sexuality or gender identity, visibility is key. I know I would have come out much sooner if I had some queer role models in football. Growing up, I looked at prominent gay people in the media and I didn’t see myself in them. I know it’s a cliché, but if you can’t see, you can’t be. A top-flight player coming out would also be powerful because it would force clubs and fans to confront homophobia in football. Yeah, there would be backlash and abuse, but the game would have to address that. It would be a watershed moment.
The “Chelsea rent boys” chant is symptomatic of some of the issues with homophobia in the game. Maybe to your average fan, it’s just a bit of banter – and before I understood my sexuality, I might have shared that opinion. But for a group of people, it’s not a laugh – it’s personal and it will make them feel isolated, targeted and unwelcome at games. It’s hurtful and damaging, and it’s now a criminal offence. If fans understood the implications of the chant, maybe they wouldn’t sing it.
If you think about how many boys like myself grow up going to games and don’t even realise that they’re picking up all those tropes and learned behaviours. I think the value that underpins that chant is that it’s alright to mock gay people. If we can challenge those things, and maybe change them, you won’t have a generation of boys growing up hard-wired with casually homophobic beliefs.
I’ve made so many friends through Chelsea, and through football. Most of them are straight, and were really accepting when I came out. My experience has been good – the people I go to football with don’t see me any differently.
Most Chelsea fans probably sit within earshot of someone who’s queer. I think you’ll find that you have so much more in common with these fans than you might think. We’re just people – it’s not that deep. We’re not here to sanitise the game or demand that you treat us differently. It’s just about being a little bit aware and respectful. We’re all here because we love football, we support Chelsea, and we want to go to the game with our mates. That’s the bottom line, and I think that’s much more powerful than the things that divide us.