The club will celebrate our first ever Football v Homophobia weekend from Saturday, with an array of activities taking place at The Valley and The Oakwood.
Ahead of the weekend’s matchdays, representatives from the club’s LGBTQI+ supporters' group visited Sparrows Lane on Wednesday to talk to Karen Hills’ side about the campaign. The following day they joined Johnnie Jackson for a Zoom call on the topic.
Jackson said: “The Football v Homophobia weekend is another great initiative by the club. We really push equality and diversity amongst our fanbase and we stress that everyone is welcome at The Valley. We want as many people that we can get filling the seats. The more the merrier for us and we welcome all these sorts of initiatives that the club are putting forward.”
Speaking after the Zoom call, Proud Valiants co-chair, Rob Harris, said: “It was a real pleasure to meet Johnnie and we felt he wanted to know about the issues that LGBTQI+ people face with discrimination in football. We look forward to working with him more in future.”
Lauren Bruton, who captains Karen Hills’ side, said: “We appreciated having the Proud Valiants come down we know a lot about them, they are very prominent on social media. They are always supporting us which is great! It was really good for the girls to hear what they do for the club, we appreciate it.
"Sport should be something for everyone, as a community Charlton do a lot for everyone. It should be a sport that everyone feels comfortable doing and watching, whether that be male or female football."
The club has led the way in fighting homophobia in football and last year won the Football v Homophobia club award.
Football v Homophobia was formed in 2010 and Proud Valiant, Rebecca Sandles explained: “Football v Homophobia is really about helping to make people from the LGBTQI+ community feel welcome to football by having some visibility.”
“Everyone should feel safe at a football game… we are all one big Charlton family.”
The Addicks are back in action at The Valley on Saturday against AFC Wimbledon. Simply click here to purchase your ticket for Saturday’s game.
Karen Hills' side host Watford Women at The Oakwood in Crayford on Sunday. Simply click here to purchase your ticket for Sunday's game.