A brand new Leyton Orient LGBTQ+ fan group is aiming to bring down barriers and encourage more matchday inclusivity as the O’s prepare for their annual Rainbow Laces fixture.
The ‘RainbOs’ were formed over the summer after a tweet was put out on the club’s official account appealing for interested fans to get involved.
It comes after research conducted by LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall found 72% of fans have heard homophobic abuse inside a ground while a National Union of Students study found 46.8% of LGBTQ+ students experienced sport culture as ‘alienating or unwelcoming’.
Speaking on the newly-formed supporters’ group, RainbOs vice chair James Restall said: “We want people who identify as LGBTQ+ and their allies to have a space where they can meet, get to know other fans and feel safe.
“That’s not to say Brisbane Road isn’t a safe space – I’ve been going since I was 10 and I’ve always found it a very welcoming place to go and watch football.
“But some of our members have sadly experienced instances of homophobia in the crowd.
“We also have individuals in our group who have been a bit apprehensive about coming to football and now there is a group where they can meet other like minded fans and form a community.”
The RainbOs’ first meeting took place at Brisbane Road in July where an initial agenda was set before being officially unveiled as an Orient fan group earlier this month at the home game against Newport County.
And the group is already looking forward to two major landmarks this month – helping organise an LGBTQ+ football tournament following Leyton Orient’s designated Rainbow Laces game at home to Gillingham on Tuesday night.
Rainbow Laces, set-up by Stonewall in partnership with the Premier League and EFL, encourages players to wear rainbow laces instead of their usual ones in an attempt to highlight inclusivity and help football to become a safer space for LGBTQ+ people.
And vice chair James is delighted with the impact the RainbOs has already had on trying to achieve these aims in such a short space of time.
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“I would go with my family and I’d know the people around me in the stadium but now I suddenly know 30 or 40 other Orient fans that I’d never met before – it’s fantastic!” James said.
“We have a WhatsApp group and 90% of that chat is about football, we’re not talking about LGBTQ+ issues, we’re just like other Orient fans.”
James was also quick to dispel any common misconceptions surrounding groups such as the RainbOs, wanting to promote a healthy debate and discussion over diversity and inclusivity issues.
“One big concern that is often raised is that these sorts of groups just want to ban any fan that disagrees with them: that’s not what we’re about,” James explained.
“We just want to educate people and hopefully help them understand why something that might be construed as banter by the crowd might actually be quite hurtful to the person sitting next to them.”
“However, the vast majority of the reaction from Orient fans has been fantastic. The club has been fantastic in supporting us to this point and we just hope we can continue to grow and flourish.”
To keep up to date with the RainbOs and their various events over the coming months you can follow @RainbOs_1881 on Twitter.