"It's difficult because sometimes people can feel alone."
ABOUT SUZY.
Suzy Stephen is a Girls Scholarship coach and Girls Development Pathway Co-ordinator at Peterborough United Foundation. She started playing football at 10-years-old however developed a strong understanding behind the game.
She said: ''I carried on playing from ages 10-16 then my team folded. Then my sister got involved in football so I decided to start a team at my existing club for her.''
Over the course of their early career, Suzy has coached in a voluntary role at Lincoln City before being offered a job at 17. Now, she's moved across to becoming Sleaford Town Women's Manager and for the under-14's, as well as also being a part-time coach developer for England FA.
Growing up, Suzy would have experienced forms of homophobic abuse, however womens football acts as a safe space. According to reports, there was an estimated 96 individuals openly LGBTQ+ at the 2023 World Cup. This equated to roughly 13% of the entire competition. Compared to the mens game, the difference is clear to see. In mens' professional football there are supposedly only 5 high-profile mens players who openly identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
''Football culture isn't great when it comes to anyone being different. In the mens game it's clear with how many male players are fully out about their sexuality. The women's game is different, I think it's seen as more of a family game. It's a nicer play than men's football to be LGBTQ+,'' said Suzy.
''Masculine lesbian stereotypes are the most harmful to women in football however. If you're gay and involved in football people assume this 'butch' character. Sometimes it makes you as a aleokan question: are you being too feminine for that character or too masculine for a woman, it puts a thought in the back of a lot of peoples head.''
In her experiences of observing the media coverage of LGBTQ+ individuals, she highlighted the sensationlism around a player coming out and instead believes there's a lack of real-life stories with personal experiences of coming out to loved ones as well as the broader public. In a journal written by Ting Yu Joanne Chow, Wenshu Yang and Reuben Ng, they imply that despite coverage surrounding the topic increasing over the last decade, the term 'Lesbian' connotates to 'sensationalised cinema, Gay to hate crimes, Bisexual about population surverys and Trans about challenges in transitioning as well as suicide.' (Chow, Yang, Reuben, 2024)
When asked what responsibilities media organisations and supporters each have in tackling homophobia, Suzy said: ''The media should challenge more by giving people a voice, not making assumptions on how peoples lives are affected from being LGBTQ+. Just avoid putting everyday things in headlines that are just peoples lives.''
Women's football has shown to be a welcoming environment for the LGBTQ+ community - contrary to the mens game - where homophobic chanting and abuse online continue to plague the game. Whilst coverage across football media has increased, there is a severe lack of personal experiences being covered which can directly lead to an increase in discrimination. As Suzy mentioned, a male athlete coming out shouldn't be front page, the same way someone might say an athlete announcing his new girlfriend shouldn't be worthy of front page news - which for the most part, it never does make the front page. What is front page worthy however, is those traumatic experiences faced because of sexuality, how family took it, any obstacles they had to face and persevere. More of those stories being published may help the wider public understand.
