Others have supported the designs.“(The Club) have not even mentioned the kit being at all relevant to the LGBTQ+ community and this isn’t even the rainbow flag. If you dislike the shirts for their design that’s fine, but all of this homophobia is actually appalling,” another tweet said. “Crazy that, even in this day and age, some people are so insecure in their own sexuality or so scared of the sexuality of others, that they think the colour pink or a sort of rainbow pattern, is offensive or is going to make people gay. Truly bizarre.” reflected another tweet.
The shirts represent a technical innovation as they take advantage of Hummel’s ZEROH20 dry-dye technology, meaning it is more sustainable than ever to produce the kit. Hummel reports that it normally takes 25 litres of fresh clean water to dye just one single t-shirt. Every two years it takes the entire volume of the Mediterranean Sea to colour the world’s textiles. However, the ground-breaking technology ensures there is zero water consumption, zero wastewater and a 50% reduction in energy consumption during the production process.
Although referred to as the beautiful game, football has an ugly undercurrent of prejudice. Racism, homophobia and misogyny are often present in the abuse hurled at rival team players and supporters. Campaigns endorsed by the game`s ruling body the Football Association (FA) to combat those prejudices have included Rainbow Laces for LGBTQ+ inclusion and Kick It Out against racism.
Locally, Whitehawk FC offers a more inclusive football experience