As Gaygooners celebrates its tenth anniversary this month, we journey back to the beginning to see how the first LGBTQ+ supporters’ group in UK football came to be.
For Stewart Selby, founder of Gaygooners, the disparity in the matchday experiences for some supporters compared to others was startling. A Gooner since the 1980s, Stewart had been following The Arsenal to Highbury, Emirates Stadium and beyond, yet he still felt unable to bring his true self to matches.
“I was a football fan and supporter of Arsenal but my visibility as a gay man simply didn't exist. It wasn't allowed to because it wasn't safe for it to exist.