Laces, armbands and protests By Donald C Stewart

Date: 14th February 2026

Laces, armbands and protests

By Donald C Stewart

February is LGBT history month. Did you know? Are you going to be watching how many of your players are wearing rainbow laces during the course of this month? Or will you spot the replacement of these laces: armbands worn with pride?

In a recent BBC article, Zander Murray Scotland’s very first openly gay professional player reflected upon his coming out in 2022. When he was in Benidorm, he made a wee post on his social media, went to bed, and then woke up the next morning to an explosion of support amongst the community that he worried would shun him.

At the time he was a player for Gala Fairydean Rovers, and it was good to see that the name of the club did not end up in either memes or headlines which have lasted in the public conscience, as Murray continued his professional career under their banner.

Reflecting on the progress that has been made over the last few years it is important to note that he is still the only openly gay footballer in Scottish football. There are tens of thousands of professional footballers in Scotland. There is little doubt that if 10% of the population is gay that there’s a very strong possibility that there are gay men in dressing rooms fearing what would happen if they stood up and said, by the way lads, I’m gay.

Why should they not be open and accepted?

Unfortunately, after the last few years, it has been less acceptable to stand up and pronounce your gay life than before. Rightly or wrongly, people have found it tough. The new armbands have been interesting, with respect given to some players who’ve refused to wear LGBT symbols because of their own religious or personal views. It has led to some clubs deciding that if all are not in then all are out.

I think that is a mistake.

I would always give people the respect that they deserve for having their opinions whether they agree with me or not and allowing people to have the choice of opting in or opting out would give players that authority and agency to make their stand. It is in a sense, like taking the knee did a few years back. Some did, and some did not.

Their religious beliefs and personal views could be challenged or changed but the latent homophobia that comes from allowing people to dictate to the rest of the club just exactly how they should behave is one that I think is dangerous. And yes, I get how ironic that is to people who feel they have been railroaded into being a part of the LGBT juggernaut. People should never be forced into something they are not comfortable with – especially minorities.

I recognise that, by forcing people to promote something they don’t actually believe in, is similarly hypocritical and that is why I make the distinction, but you can’t underestimate the importance of visibility. People should feel welcomed and is a massively important element of sport particularly sport with such huge participation, as football does. I know what it felt like as a young lad walking into Somerset Park and the welcome that I got from strangers. For Zander Murray he also felt that support when he emerged from his own shadow.

Football is a small family, often described as a village given that people will move from one club to another and find new friends and relationships. It is vitally important that people who are gay feel they can be their authentic self, come out and say in a dressing room, by the way lads I’m gay because until that happens more regularly, as a sport, we’re always going to struggle to prove to everybody that we are a welcoming community.

I hope that this month is one that makes people reflect and think about where they are, reach out to those people who they might know as struggling with their sexuality and give them a thumbs up and say that it’s alright to be who you are.

Then we can all rest easy in our beds and feel that footballing as a community is, as it always should be, a very welcoming place for everybody of all hues and cries. If it is OK, not to be OK, then we should be clear that it is also OK to be different.

---

Posted in: Fan's Blog, Latest News

Tags: football for all, homophobia, oor Donald, rainbow laces