England footballer Jordan Henderson praises fan who braved Wembley as their ‘overtly queer’ self
England mid-fielder Jordan Henderson (left) tweeted his support for non-binary fan and campaigner Joe White (right). (AFP via Getty/ CARL RECINE/POOL and Twitter/ joeywh1te)
England midfielder Jordan Henderson has praised a non-binary campaigner for attending a Euro 2020 match in full makeup: “Football is for everyone, no matter what.”
Joe White is a queer and non-binary lawyer and campaigner who co-chairs Gay Gooners, the LGBT+ supporters group for Arsenal and the first and largest LGBT+ fans group for a major football club in England.
On Tuesday (29 June), White attended the England v Germany round of 16 Euro 2020 game at Wembley Stadium as their “overtly queer” self.
Following England’s win, they posted on Twitter: “This is a really small and personal point but today was my first game at Wembley in full makeup and overtly queer (as opposed to just camp).
“Absolutely no issues from fans and some lovely chats. Despite being absolutely petrified pre-game, really proud of our fans.”
Hi Joe great to hear you enjoyed the game as you should. No one should be afraid to go and support their club or country because football is for everyone no matter what. Thanks for your support, enjoy the rest of the Euros. 💪🏻🏳️🌈 https://t.co/xHqXgDj1h7
— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson) June 30, 2021
England midfielder Jordan Henderson shared their tweet, and responded: “Hi Joe, great to hear you enjoyed the game as you should.
“No one should be afraid to go and support their club or country because football is for everyone no matter what.
“Thanks for your support, enjoy the rest of the Euros.”
White received an outpouring of love and support for their brave decision, and said it was “lovely to see… so much love and kindness”, before asking their new followers to donate to the Black Trans Alliance and the charity Not a Phase.
Non-binary football fan had a “f**k UEFA” Pride flag confiscated at the Euro 2020 match
Ahead of the Euro 2020 match between England and Germany, Joe White revealed that they had taken Pride flags with them which read “f**k UEFA”, and “UEFA, is this political?”
[insert pithy comment here] 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/lqltikib1K— Joe (they/them) #BLM (@joeywh1te) June 29, 2021
UEFA has been struggling with a string of rainbow controversies, which began when it launched an investigation into whether German captain Manuel Neuer Pride armband was “political”.
It dropped the investigation, but later banned Munich’s Allianz Arena from lighting up in rainbow colours for the Germany v Hungary Euro 2020 game as a statement against a new anti-LGBT+ law in Hungary, claiming this time that rainbow was, in fact, too “political”.
It then decided to give its own logo a rainbow makeover, and was slammed for a “meaningless” pledge to “respect the rainbow”, which included no mention of LGBT+ people.
White revealed on Twitter that their Pride flags were confiscated when they arrived at the match.
They tweeted: “So these got confiscated. By UEFA ‘official’ stewards. And they had to check we were allowed to state solidarity with Hungarian LGBT+ people.
“The rainbow is only allowed when it’s without criticism or queerness. #PrideIsAProtest.
“Once again, and louder for the back, F**K UEFA.”
