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...

Steven Davies: Not Not Out

I’d always known I was gay, but for a long time it wasn’t an issue. It helped that I was good at sport, because at school that was a route to popularity. But when I started touring with England, the dynamic changed. I couldn’t face long trips away from home trying to hide my sexuality the whole time. So before the last Ashes series, I made sure my team-mates knew.
That was 2½ years ago. And it was the best decision I’ve ever made — even if it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done... 
The process has been surreal at times. When the story broke, I went to buy the papers at my local garage, and could see my face on the front pages from 30 yards away. That was an uncomfortable time. But it turned out to be the right thing to do. Now, I just want to be recognised as a good cricketer. If people aren’t mentioning my sexuality by the time I retire, I’ll be happy with that. 

Steven Davies - one of two British professional sportsmen who is out - talking to The Times. 

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.

The Sports: A Cricketer Is A Gay!

Newsflash: Someone who plays the cricket is gay!
Here's Steven Davies's "coming out" interview - on video on The Daily Telegraph online.
Even an old cynic and sportsphobe like Fagburn who has absolutely no idea who he is has to go "Aww..."
"Aww..."


Update: All very positive coverage. As the Telegraph broke the story, they really went to town on it. Most over-used word "brave".
Update: Though the Telegraph are guilty of some appalling class prejudice; "That the England set-up was so supportive and understanding was of little surprise. This current squad is as decent and well-rounded a group of professional sportsmen as you are likely to find...
"It is elsewhere in the game that problems might lie. If there are bigots and homophobes out there, they are hardly likely to announce themselves now. They will bide their time.
"I worry in particular about Twenty20 crowds. They are not exactly your typical cricket gatherings. More like football in fact, a sport in which homophobia is hardly unknown..." Steve James: 'Cricket respects Steven Davies's brave announcement he is gay but Twenty20 crowds could be tricky', Telegraph online.
This is a subtext to much of the coverage of Davies' coming out; nice middle-class cricket folk, aren't like nasty rough football hoi polloi...
See for example The Guardian's take on it; 'Football Urged To Get Onside As Ashes Star Comes Out'