Rainbow Devils

@rainbowdevils.bsky.social

1185 Followers 243 Following

The officially recognised but wholly independent LGBTQ+ Supporters Club of Manchester United FC. To become a member, visit http://www.rainbowdevils.com/join 🔴⚪⚫🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has released its amended Code of Practice.

It remains deeply exclusionary. It prioritises the comfort of others over trans people's ability to access services and toilets, and offers little clarity on how service providers can remain trans inclusive.

This guidance turns the Equality Act from a shield into a sword, one that will further marginalise the trans community in Britain.

Nothing will shake our unwavering commitment to equality for trans, non-binary and intersex people in the UK, in football and in wider society. They deserve so much better than this.

If anyone in our community is in need of further support, you can contact Switchboard, the national LGBTQ+ helpline, on 0800 0119 100

Rainbow Devils welcome the statement from Manchester United, as well as the apology and contrition from Jack Fletcher.
Homophobic language has no place in football or society regardless of intention or connotation.
Words matter and words hurt. Football must be for everyone to feel safe and included. Education, meaningful consequences and a genuine commitment to learning from mistakes are key to ensuring incidents like this become an opportunity for growth and change.
Parents, teachers, football clubs, all of us have a responsibility to young people to teach them right and wrong in regards to all forms of discrimination.
We hope Jack learns from this and grows as a person and a player. His immediate regret and guilty plea suggests that he will.

Rainbow Devils is saddened and concerned by the comments made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Manchester United is a football club fortunate enough to have a huge, diverse, global fan base. It doesn’t (and shouldn’t) matter what your nationality, ethnicity, faith, heritage, sexuality, sex or gender identity is - our fans come together as one to support the club we love and which has shaped our lives. For many of us, football offers a place where we can set aside our differences, feel safe, and find common ground.

In recent years, the UK has seen a huge rise in racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, and transphobic discourse and violence, partially fuelled by divisive messages in the media and by people in power. These messages are not just words - they shape and influence actions, and cause real damage to people, families and communities.

We respect Sir Jim's Ratcliffe's freedom of speech, and agree that debate on issues such as immigration policy is legitimate in a democratic society.

However, we are concerned by the language used in his recent comments on this topic, where he refers to the UK as having been ‘colonised’ by immigrants and quotes statistics that are incorrect. Our concern is that these comments could have the effect of increasing divisions, polarising debate further, and leading to real harm to minority communities in general, including many loyal Manchester United fans who are immigrants - or the descendants of immigrants - themselves.

The Rainbow Devils community stands with all other communities that reject intolerance and polarisation, and who seek to build bridges, treat each other with respect - even when we disagree - and bring society together.