Fashanu: Keep It In The Family

John Fashanu has shamefully revealed how he responded to his brother becoming the first British football star to come out as gay – by paying him £75,000 to keep quiet.

The former Wimbledon striker made the shock admission a week after it emerged two top footballers – including an England star – plan to come out.

In his first in-depth interview about brother Justin since his tragic suicide in 1998, he said: “I begged him, I threatened him, I did everything I could possibly do to try and stop him coming out.

“I gave him the money because I didn’t want the embarrassment for me or my family. Had he come out now, it would be a different ball game.

“There wouldn’t be an issue, but there was then. Things are different now. Now he’d be hailed a hero.”

John, 53, said: “I’ll never forget when Justin first told me. He called me in the evening time and said to me: ‘I’m gay’.

"Then he said to me: ‘I’m planning to go to a newspaper’. I said to him: ‘Oh heavens forbid... oh my God. We don’t need that. You’re mad’.

“He promised when I gave him the money he would not go out and say that. Two days later... bang... headlines in a newspaper. I looked like a sucker.

“For me and my family it was like Hiroshima or Nagasaki on our lives. It knocked us dead, it was a total shock.

“People might not like it, but I was trying to protect my family.

“You’ve got to remember the public’s perception of homosexuality at that time was that it was an abomination . It was taboo. Street boys were beating up gays in nightclubs.

“I give him credit for having the courage to come out and say it. But it caused a lot of confusion and animosity towards him, me, and my family.

“During matches, 30, 40, sometimes 45,000 supporters sang at me: ‘You’re big... you’re black... your a*** is up for grabs... Fashanu... Fashanu’.

“As a result of him saying what he said, my mother died because of the stress. She actually died a year later on the day of his birthday.

"She was already old, very fragile and suffering cancer.

“Then to be told her second eldest son was a homosexual was too much.”

The Gladiators presenter said of the two football stars preparing to come out as gay , which the Daily Mirror revealed last week: “If these young men feel it is the right time to come out and announce they are homosexual, please don’t anybody victimise them.

“Please be careful with words, don’t let it lead to the destruction of two men in their prime. I didn’t have that wisdom 20 years ago and it led to the destruction of my late brother Justin.

“We must accept them. I beg everybody not to make the same mistakes I made. Give them as much understanding as possible.”

Mirror.
 

Not sure what to say about this story, apart from stating the obvious; it's completely grim.

John has made the hush-money claim before, in the Independent in 2011.

See also My brother Justin WASN'T gay he just wanted attention, says John Fashanu, the Mirror, March 2012.

But his assertion that Justin invented stories for money is true.

His tabloid tryst was a Faustian pact.

In 1998, a then debt-ridden Justin was paid handsomely by The Sun for his coming out story - involving an unnamed Tory MP - though years later he admitted it was made-up to up the fee.

He'd previously tried to sue The Sunday People, the Mirror's sister paper, after they ran a front page story; 'I am not gay'.

He later sold a story claiming an affair with Julie Goodyear, who played Bette Lynch in Coronation Street, and a lesbian.

In 1994 he tried to sell the People yet more stories about 'romps' with Conservative MPs, but after being questioned by police, he admitted these were fictions

Hmm...

One wonders if John was paid for this?

Loving the supercool pay-off line; 'John, who still believes his brother was not actually gay, is a practising Christian.'

Oh, and though the Mirror hook this story on their front page last week about two premier league footballers coming out, they leave that there.

PS There's an excellent essay by Juliet Jacques, Justin Fashanu And The Politics Of Memory, on the myths that have evolved about his life and death.

Sports: Gay News!

The Advocate.

I don't know about you, but Fagburn shall never cease being thrilled by articles about teh homophobia in teh sports.
There can never be enough of these.
Justin Fashanu - boo hoo squish squish.
Tom Daley - so brave etc.
Is it the last taboo?
Or perhaps no-one gay really cares?

Gays In Sport: Swings, Roundabouts...

An amusing sidebar to a Sun article about the LGBT Arsenal supporters, the Gay Gooners.

Thomas Hitzlsperger: Johnny Allman Writes

So Thomas Hitzlsperger has come out of the proverbial wardrobe.

Yes, he is a gay.

Big deal!

Or is it?!

It is 2013 2014!

So what if he likes doing it with blokes?

I for one am totally fine with his disgusting lifestyle choice.

I'd be fine playing football with a gay fella - and wouldn't even mind sharing a hot shower after the game with a handsome muscular young man like Mr Hitzlsperger.

Thom is very brave - braver than a Resistance fighter in Occupied France IMHO - hopefully he will inspire other gay footballers like Ashley Cole to come out [Subs: Can the lawyers check this?]

And well done to young Tom Daley - I always thought he looked a bit poofy, but the wife likes him.

The times they are a-changing room!

Maybe one day newspaper columnists won't have to write cliché-ridden old crap like this.

We must never forget Justin Fashanu - a top player who took his own life after being charged with raping a teenager years of anti-gay hatred.

Let's kick homeopathy out of football once and for all!

• Johnny Allman plays for Liverpool United. He writes in a personal capacity.

Thomas Hitzlsperger: Active Or Passive?

Thomas Hitzlsperger’s principal concern for any gay footballer sitting at home wondering if he should come out is not the potential abuse from fans or team-mates. It is the responsibility, the burden, of being a crusader. “What this week has taught me,” he says, “is that it’s intense.”

He knew that his homosexuality would be a story. He just did not expect this much of a story, and it has been as big in England as anywhere, a phenomenon that cannot simply be explained by the German’s three spells in the Premier League.

We seem fascinated by a gay footballer, an old obsession with sex lives mixed, perhaps, with an eagerness to extol our own tolerance.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, yet, according to Hitzlsperger, the level of interest also highlights the challenge for any player thinking of following him out of the closet.

“If you make a statement, you are never done with it,” he told The Times yesterday. “I didn’t know how big it would be, but everyone wants to talk about it. Hopefully, with what I am doing, it will eventually become normality. Hopefully, in a few years, it’s not a big issue, but the fact is it’s caused a bit of a sensation. When you look at the last few days, you can see we have some way to go before it is just a regular thing.”

The Times.

Fagburn feels he may now be close to the time when he can spell 'Hitzlsperger' without checking...

PS The Guardian perpetuates the myth Justin Fashanu committed suicide because of a history of homophobia - though this may have been a contributory factor, in his suicide note he said he killed himself because he had been charged with a sexual assault on a teenager.

Daily Telegraph: Not Gay

The Daily Telegraph is the only British newspaper whose style guide still advises against using the word 'gay'.
So today we get a whole new word... 'non-heterosexuals'!

Can't be arsed to go through this cliché-ridden vomitorium about the gays and sport line by inane line.
But yes, the writer does use the words 'last taboo'.
And Justin Fashanu.
As ever though, the DT reader comments are an absolute hoot!

Daley didn't 'out' himself - he merely confirmed what has long been suspected. Many of the male 'athletes' in these artistic 'activities', such as diving, figure skating, etc. are homosexual, in the same way that many/most males in ballet are homosexual. In itself, this is not an issue, but when they start banging on about, then it becomes a concern. They will compete in Sochi, without hinderance on the part of the Russian authorities

Given the sexual preferences of 95% of the male population, we could call ourselves 'male lesbians', since we share the same delights and desires of our sexual partners. Does this make us more acceptable to the 'gay brigade'? atpu.

Update: "Non-heterosexuals" has now been changed to "homosexuals" - another small victory for Fagburn.

New comment; "I believe that homosexuality is wrong, un-natural & disgusting.Do not try to drown out my opinions by screaming "homophobe" at me."

TalkingSport: Generic The Gays In The Sports Article Bingo

"It was noticeable how minor an issue Cruz's sexuality was. Apart from the occasional boo when he entered the ring..."

Sean Ingle, TalkingSport for The Guardian.

Orlando Cruz. Defiance! Inspiration! Special indeed! Welcome change. Twitter. Man's world. Patronising generalisation about working-class types. So why can't football? Fans? The Media? Justin Fashanu. Sad. Homophobic chants. Quote from bogus Observer story about footballers wanting to come out. Citation from online fans survey that's about as reliable as asking whoever you met at the bus stop. Quote academic. Fascinating research. 3,000 professional footballers in Britain. None! A little strange. Anton Hysen and Robbie Rogers. Typical. Fifa. Qatar. End with a vacuous platitude eg "They should be judged only on how they perform." Fin. Send invoice.

Two points deducted for not asking; "Is [something] the last taboo?" and not mentioning the Sochi Winter Olympics.

• Image from a photo gallery on Mirror Online; Spornography! The most accidentally inappropriate sports pictures ever. Some unfortunate coincidences have formed the basis for a hilarious new picture book, Sporno!

"LOL!!! THEYS LOOK GAY!" etc.

Fagburn: From The Sunday Papers

Zionist loon Julie Burchill still likes a drink, gets drunk, admits she's written "a lot of bullshit", but doesn't regret that transphobic article in The Observer one little bit; "I’d do it again, and I’d do it bigger!” • More obligatory TV critics queuing up to give those Vicious old queens a good kicking.    "I really wasn’t prepared for quite how much I would dislike and, by the time the credits rolled, despise this hammy bitches’ dinner" AA Gill, The Sunday Times. "Forget the cast, where are the gags?" IoS etc etc • Obligatory Sunday broadsheet interview with a gay actor - this week Zachary Quinto. So brave etc etc. •  Obligatory Sundays features about The Gays and The Sports. It's the last taboo! etc etc. This week football. The Observer has not one, but two. Over in the Mail, it's cricket's turn • Obligatory article in the Mail On Sunday claiming Ukip's local election successes had something to do with gay marriage, accompanied by obligatory photo of Nigel Farage drinking a pint. Also the subject of a leader in the Sunday Express, who manfully break with tradition and show Nigel talking into a pink (!) mobile phone • Obligatory "heartwarming" lifestyle feature about having gay kids, Sunday Telegraph (Sadly there isn't one about gay people having kids this week) • Obligatory very hastily cobbled together thing explaining who Nigel Evans MP is • Obligatory Nigel Slater recipes Observer Magazine only • Obligatory token and random gay story in the Independent On Sunday that's of absolutely no interest to anyone. This week - the Finnish Eurovision entry! It's the World Cup for gays! etc etc. It's a protest song about gay marriage - except it isn't, really. Zzzz...

Justin Fashanu: Bullfighting

'Coming out by selling his sexuality to the Sun was one way to meet some of the debts he accrued in trying to fix the horrific knee injury that ended his time in the First Division. It did not, as Justin later claimed, end his career, but actually revived it: he was out of League football at the time. Wanting a high-profile yet affordable player to drive up their crowds, Torquay United newly promoted to Division Three, gambled on Justin (paying him three times more than their previous highest earner) despite doubts about how his sexuality would be received and, his fitness. He performed brilliantly – ten goals in his first season despite his club being relegated – but his realisation that he could make easy money by selling stories about his private life, whatever their veracity, ended disastrously..."

Juliet Jacques - co-founder of The Justin Campaign - writing on the New Statesman blog.
She argues that; "The narrative that homophobia in football was primarily responsible for his death forms a dauntingly negative precedent."
It's a brilliant piece of bull fighting on the mythologising of Justin Fashanu and his Faustian pact with the tabloids.
I'd go further and argue his death meant he has become fetishised - a gay footballer, imagine!
I don't want to sound cruel, his was clearly a tragic life and his last years sound absolutely wretched, and yes, homophobia clearly played a part in his demise, but it's silly to overhype Justin Fashanu as some kind of great gay saint or gay martyr.

The Footyball: Come Again?

"I have never come across a gay footballer."

John Fashanu - Justin Fashanu's in-no-way-mad brother - during what can be only be described as "a bizarre, rambling, incoherent rant" on talkSPORT Radio.

John also said; "I don’t believe he was gay. Number two, I don’t believe he had affairs with MPs and number three I don’t believe he was having an affair with one of the young ladies from Coronation Street – it was just nonsense. Showbiz."‘If you had a brother who came out and said, “Hey listen, I’m gay” we’d welcome you, say “No problem” but if you had someone who came out and said, “I’m a spaceman” when you’re not a spaceman then that’s a bit silly.'"

Thanks for clearing that up, John.
(Of 'My Gay Brother's An Outcast' fame). 

TV Review: Britain's Gay Footballers

"As you’re probably aware, ‘Britain’s Gay Footballers’ aired on BBC3 tonight. At first it seemed like classic gay documentary, misconceptions-and-cliches-drinking-game material. We got the ‘1 in 10 people are gay’ nonsense, some begrudging and dull soundbites from those in the game, and more than a few money-shots of tears courtesy of the Fashanu family. To balance the misery out, we also got to see the interior of a Swedish men’s dressing-room and Anton Hysen body-popping. For good or for ill (and it was routinely both), the programme was made by Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin, who remains the only English player ever to have come out as gay, and who committed suicide, as everyone knows. One of the benefits of his niece presenting the programme was that it ensured that we weren’t covering *exactly* the same ground as before.
"John Fashanu deservedly came across very badly..."

Amazefootyballs review from thefcf.co.uk

Now read on...

Gay Footballers: Own Goal

Good to see Monday's BBC3 documentary The Truth About Gay Footballers getting lots of press.
All the papers seem to love this subject, perhaps because of its supposed incongruity.
And they can also indulge in a bit of schoolboy tee hee-hee nudge nudge winkery.
Much of the coverage this time retells the sorry tale of Justin Fashanu, the only British professional player to have come out - the programme is presented by his niece, Amal Fashanu.
The Sun alone has managed to spin three stories out of it already.
'Joey Barton: Gay soccer stars fear the manager'

'Homophobic footie is rapped by documentary'

And in The Scottish Sun today there's; 'Tackling football’s last taboo'

It's just a shame The Sun can't "man up" and apologise for their own homophobia, or the part they played in Justin Fashanu's downfall.  

Anton Hysen: The Condensed Sun Interview

Gay Ace Hysen Is A Model Pro

...son of former Liverpool star Glenn Hysen... Swedish... enormous courage...
second professional footballer... Justin Fashanu... Steve Davies... Gareth Thomas...
wait continues for a Premier League player... sporting taboo...
plays for Utsiktens... fourth-tier team managed by his dad.... reaction extremely supportive...
'happy I did it... Don't drop the soap... has to be at least one gay footballer in England... sad...'
Ironically his father - who was also a gay icon in his playing days - was accused of being homophobic after hitting a man who groped him in an airport toilet in 2001.
'never had a boyfriend... have to like sports... quite a few proposals...'
It has certainly been a tough time for the family as Hysen's mother Helena, is divorcing her husband, who is seeing another woman.
'sad.'

Update: Nice interview with Anton on Today. His father's advice; "Just swallow it."

The Guardian: Hello!!!!!!!!!!?

"I am not gay. But then I don't feel that I should have to "come out" and say as much. It is nobody's business but my own."

So who wrote this braindead piece for The Guardian's Sportblog?
"The Secret Footballer".
Could you make it up?

Justin Fashanu: Outing The Facts

Steven Davies' coming out this week inevitably leads many to remember the sad story of Justin Fashanu.
It's often held up as a morality tale, or parable - this is what happens when a footballer comes out...
Alan Duffy of The Justin Campaign writes on Goal.com; "Fashanu’s career never went on to reach the heights it should have, with his sexuality and the reaction to it no doubt playing a major part in his very sad downfall.
"His public declaration of his sexuality in 1990 and his death in 1998 could and should have been moments when football started to confront the issue of homophobia in the game, but nothing happened."
A few points are often gloosed over in the Justin Fashanu story, some of the facts are outed in a surprisingly good piece in The Daily Mail today by Martin Samuel;
"It is commonly stated that football failed him, that homophobia and years of living a lie contributed to the fragile mental state that took his life. And perhaps it did.
"Yet, equally, Fashanu's decision to embrace the evangelical Christian faith, which disapproved of his sexual orientation, was also harmful to his well-being, as was the generally negative reaction of the black community and members of his family to his announcement in 1990.
"People remember Fashanu coming out after his retirement, yet his career continued for several years as a gay man, albeit one who often seemed to be in denial."
Indeed Fashanu once announced he was dating Coronation Street actress Julie Goodyear, a lesbian.
He was also out as a Tory.
Allan Hall who wrote his coming out interview in The Sun said Fashanu had no noble motivation; "He was only interested in the money".
This was "a five-figure sum". Many wondered why he decided to come out in a paper as homophobic as The Sun. Fashanu explained it was because it was the paper most football fans read.
(I've wondered if he came out as he'd been threatened with being outed, as has often happened with the UK tabloids. This seems unlikely as they paid him).
In 1994 Fashanu went to both The People and The News Of The World claiming to have slept with two Tory cabinet ministers, and asking for £300,000 for the story. Both thought he was lying (Profile, The Independent, February 12th 1994).
And his tragic suicide was spurred by a factor unrelated to football;
"At the time of his death, Fashanu believed he was to be charged with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old male in Maryland, USA. His suicide note protested his innocence but said he did not want further embarrassment for his family and friends."
Martin Samuel concludes; "So it is far too glib to say attitudes within football alone killed him. There were all manner of wrong turns along the way."
However Samuel, like so many journalists, omits one important part of the Justin Fashanu story - the media's own role in his breakdown, downfall and untimely demise.

World Cup 2022: The Problem Is Qatar, Not Blatter

Everyone is UP IN ARMS!!! about some bloke from FIFA making a light-hearted quip about how gay men should behave when the World Cup is held in Qatar.
'When asked if he foresaw any cultural problems, [Sepp] Blatter, apparently joking, said: "I'd say they [gay fans] should refrain from any sexual activities," BBC reports - you can watch a video report on their site.
Cue boorish laughter from some reactionary bores.
He did immediately qualify this with a more serious and thoughtful comment;
"You see in the Middle East the opening of this culture, it's another culture because it's another religion, but in football we have no boundaries.
"We open everything to everybody and I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings be it on this side or that side, be it left, right or whatever.
"If they want to watch a match somewhere in Qatar 2022, I'm sure they will be admitted to such matches...
"I think there is too much concern for a competition that will be done only in 12 years.
"But this gives me the opportunity to say that in Fifa, and this is in the statutes of Fifa, whether it is in politics, whether it is in religion, we don't want racism, and we know what this means, and neither do we want discrimination.
"What we want is just to open this game to everybody and open it to all cultures and this is what we are doing in 2022."
There were still all the usual howls of affected outrage.
This month's Fagburn Fashanu Award for the quickest that an article about The Gays In Sport mentions Justin Fashanu goes to this from The Guardian by Richard Williams;
'The ugly prejudice that casts a shadow over the beautiful game - Twenty years after Justin Fashanu came out football remains out of step with the real world'
Fagburn has written before how he feels hosting the World Cup in a state where homosexuality is still against the law, such as Qatar, is insulting and wrong, wrong, wrong, and how strange it was how some journalists acted as apologists for Qatar.
Fagburn guesses it's good that media folk are getting angry about the FIFA bloke's comment.
So why was there less ink spilled over the more patently anti-gay Qatar than there has been over Blatter?
A clue may be in yesterday's Open Door column in The Guardian.
In November The Guardian ran an appalling puff piece masquerading as "Comment" on why Qatar was the greatest country in the world and really should win the World Cup bid, Why the heat is on Fifa to give the 2022 World Cup to Qatar
The paper has had to apolgise as at no point was it mentioned that the journalist, Louise Gray, had just been on a freebie holiday to the human rights abusing but oil rich gulf state paid for by the Qatari government to get journalists to support its bid.
Oops!
If you read any further apologias for Qatar in the media, or if you see any writer getting slightly mealy-mouthed about this hellish shit state, bear in mind the hack may be thinking whilst they're writing; "I better not be too harsh, I might get a free holiday out of these cunts..."
Journalism - it's prostitution by pen.

BBC Online Archive: The Gay Rights Collection

The BBC Archive online has just added 'The Gay Rights Collection: The campaign for sexual equality'.
"In this collection, we chart the story so far for gay and lesbian equality in the UK. Many of the programmes reflect the language common at the time when they were first broadcast and illustrate the changing attitudes towards homosexuality in the last 50 years."
There are initially 30 radio and television broadcasts available including:
A 1957 press conference with John Wolfenden.
'Male Homosexual' - a 1965 radio programme containing interviews with gay men.
'Man Alive' - the two part BBC TV documentary on lesbians and gay men from 1967.
'Inside Story: Coming Out' - preparing for London Gay Pride in 1979.
'Open To Question' - on Justin Fashanu's coming out in 1992 as the first out professional footballer.
A report on Gay Pride from 1993 by Michael Gove - yes, the Michael Gove who's now the Conservative Education Minister!
'Breakfast With Frost' - Ian McKellen talks about the effects of Section 28 in 1994.
And a BBC TV News report on the first civil partnership in 2005.
Enjoy!