Come join us at our Circa-Club monthly events including Drinks Parties & Art Exhibitions. Social Events for 200+ gay professional men and their friends in central London. Complimentary Glass of Wine on arrival. Click for more details
In this roundtable discussion, which will mark the launch of Birkbeck Sports Business Centres own Dr Andy Harveys new text Boys will be Boys? An Interdisciplinary Study of Sport, Masculinity and Sexuality, we will ask whether we are seeing the last of the last taboo in football or whether there is still a long way to go before full equality is achieved. The relationship between male team sports and the LGB&T (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) community has historically been marked by exclusion, mistrust and violence. That history, which has its antecedents in the late nineteenth century, ran to a lesser or greater degree throughout the twentieth century. The popular, catch-all term for the phenomenon is homophobia in sport. Even as significant progress was made in the late twentieth century on legislative rights and acceptance of LGB&T people into different walks of life, including politics, business and entertainment, male team sports were often figured as a last bastion of heteronormative masculinity. As a result, sports, and especially football, were seen as off limits to the LGB&T community. It was an exclusion that was very often embraced by LGB&T people and gay men in particular, many of whom regarded football with a large degree of contempt. Football wanted nothing to do with the LGB&T community, who, by and large, were happy to oblige. This scenario held (more or less) true until the recent past, since when significant and far-reaching changes have been observed in large sections of society, including sports. New research from academic sociologists, including one of our panellists at this seminar, has shown that the culture of homophobia that was prevalent in the pre-millennium years has not only begun to fade but to be replaced by a more open, inclusive masculinity among younger men that embraces difference and refuses to be figured as homophobic. Other surveys, notably from campaign groups such as Stonewall, also represented on the panel, acknowledge that significant steps towards inclusion have been made. However, in contrast to the academic studies, they still find unacceptable levels of homophobia throughout society, including sports. This seminar will help to shed some light on these divergent findings.
Tickets : £ Free Tickets
Address : Birkbeck, University of London
Room 417, Main Building Malet Street
London
WC1E 7HX
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- 01 Dec – Matthew Shepard (1976–1998), American student
- 01 Dec – Takeda Shingen (1521–1573), Japanese daimyō & Buddhist monk
- 02 Dec – Gianni Versace (1946–1997), Italian fashion designer
- 02 Dec – Jason Collins (1978–), American basketball player
- 04 Dec – Cornell Woolrich (1903–1968), American crime writer
- 06 Dec – Tom Hulce (1953–), American actor & theater producer
- 06 Dec – William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849), Dutch monarch
- 07 Dec – Willa Cather (1873–1947), American writer
- 07 Dec – Hurd Hatfield (1917–1998), American actor
- 08 Dec – Brendan Burke (1988–2010), Canadian hockey player
- 08 Dec – Norman Douglas (1868–1952), British writer
- 10 Dec – Tommy Kirk (1941–), American actor & businessman
- 10 Dec – Mark Takano (1960–), American Democratic congressman (California)
- 11 Dec – Jean Marais (1913–1998), French actor
- 12 Dec – Brandon Teena (1972–1993), American trans man, subject of the Academy Award-winning Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
- 13 Dec – Anton Hysén (1990–), Swedish soccer player
- 14 Dec – Jobriath (1946–1983), American rock musician & actor
- 14 Dec – Amini Fonua (1989–), Tongan swimmer
- 15 Dec – Nero (37–68), Roman emperor, 54–68 AD
- 16 Dec – Noël Coward (1899–1973), English playwright, composer, actor & singer
- 17 Dec – Paul Cadmus (1904–1999), American painter
- 18 Dec – Brian Orser (1961–), Canadian figure skater & coach, 1987 World Champion
- 19 Dec – Jean Genet (1910–1986), French novelist, playwright & political activist
- 20 Dec – Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902–1942), British royalty
- 21 Dec – Michael Tilson Thomas (1944–), American conductor, pianist & composer
- 22 Dec – Marc Allégret (1900–1973), French screenwriter & film director
- 24 Dec – Galba (3 BC–69 AD), Roman emperor, first in the Year of Four Emperors
- 25 Dec – Albert Cashier (1843–1915), Irish-American trans Union Army soldier
- 25 Dec – Quentin Crisp (1908–1999), English writer, raconteur & gay icon
- 25 Dec – Ismail Merchant (1936–2005), Indian-born film producer & director
- 26 Dec – David Sedaris (1956–), American humorist, comedian, author & radio contributor
- 27 Dec – Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016), German politician & former Vice Chancellor of Germany
- 29 Dec – Billy Tipton (1914–1989), American jazz musician, bandleader & talent broker
- 30 Dec – Titus (31–81), Roman emperor, 79–81 AD
- 30 Dec – Paul Bowles (1910–1999), American expatriate composer, author & translator
- 31 Dec – Orry-Kelly (1897–1964), Australian costume designer
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