Chelsea Pride

Chelsea Pride
Established2016 (2016)
Co-chair
Tracy Brown
Parent organization
Chelsea F.C.
Websitechelseapride.co.uk

Chelsea Pride is the LGBTQ supporters' group for Chelsea F.C., a British association football club.

History

Chelsea Pride was established in 2016.[1][2]

In January 2019 in reaction to then-recent incidents of racist and antisemitic language, Chelsea Pride alongside several other Chelsea fan groups launched Chelsea Together, a group independent of Chelsea F.C. and footballing authorities, out of "a desire to end all forms of discrimination in and around Chelsea Football Club".[3] In October, David Johnstone, the newly elected co-chair of unofficial fan organization the Chelsea Supporters' Trust, had his private messages leaked to The Athletic that showed he had homophobic and transphobic views. He had written that he was "1000% against promoting gay rights", and that LGBTQ relationships were not "the norm" or "natural." Chelsea Pride made a statement to The Athletic that they had "no confidence in Johnstone “to fairly represent their LGBT members as the club’s recognized fan spokesman."[4][5]

In the lead-up to the recognition of the term "rent boy" as a homophobic slur and thus a hate crime by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2022, Tracy Brown, co-chair of Chelsea Pride, worked alongside Tottenham Hotspur's LGBTQ supporters' association Proud Lilywhites to "collect a number of victim impact statements detailing how hearing this chant negatively impacts the experience of football".[6][7] Brown called the chant a "taunt" toward LGBTQ fans of Chelsea.[7]

Brown said in March 2023 that homophobia in the men's side of football should be kept away from the women's side.[8] After an April 2023 Chelsea game against Wolverhampton Wanderers involved homophobic chanting. Chelsea condemned the chanting and wrote that it would "continue to work closely with Chelsea Pride and the broader football community to eradicate these vile chants from our game."[9] In 2024, Chelsea Pride condemned homophobic abuse that was being directed at Chelsea's striker Sam Kerr, who had announced she was having a baby with Kristie Mewis, her fiancee.[10][11]

In May 2025, ahead of the 2025 Women's FA Cup final between their respective teams at Wembley Stadium, Chelsea Pride as well as Rainbow Devils, Manchester United's LGBTQ supporters' association, protested against the Football Association's ban of transgender women that had been caused by a UK supreme court decision earlier that year.[12]

Members of Chelsea Pride were reportedly hopeful in response to the appointment of Liam Rosenior as Chelsea's manager in January 2026, as he had previously advocated for greater openness to the LGBTQ community in football; co-chair Tracy Brown said that "We already see values in Liam that resonate deeply with our community."[1] In February, Chelsea Pride condemned the homophobic chanting that took place at an FA Cup fourth round match between Hull City and Chelsea, which had resulted in four arrests, calling it "a stain on our game".[13] In April, Chelsea Pride criticised the response of the Metropolitan Police to what it alleged was "sustained" homophobic chanting of the "rent boy" chant across multiple locations at Wembley Stadium during Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final match against Leeds United. It said the chanting was "widespread and unchecked", that "the gap between what happened and what has been acknowledged is stark", and that "Even when this was explicitly reported as a homophobic hate crime, there was no intervention."[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Holmes, Jon (8 January 2026). "LGBTQ fans are celebrating Liam Rosenior's Chelsea appointment". OutSports. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  2. ^ "Chelsea Pride at anniversary event". Chelsea F.C. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  3. ^ "Chelsea supporters launch campaign against racist abuse". Sky Sports. 18 January 2019. Archived from the original on 8 July 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  4. ^ Schultz, Ken (22 October 2019). "Leaked messages reveal new leader of British soccer fan group has history of homophobia". OutSports. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  5. ^ Levene, Dan (20 October 2019). "Exclusive: Chelsea LGBT supporters group calls for Trust's co-chair to stand down". The Athletic. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  6. ^ "Chelsea welcome CPS decision to define chant aimed at their players and fans as homophobic slur". BBC Sport. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  7. ^ a b O'Neill, Caoimhe (5 September 2023). "Why are Chelsea targeted with homophobic chants?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  8. ^ Williamson, Harriet (27 May 2023). "Men – don't bring homophobia to women's football, Chelsea Pride chair warns". PinkNews. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  9. ^ Smith, Dom (8 April 2023). "Chelsea condemn 'totally unacceptable' homophobic chanting at Wolves". The Standard. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  10. ^ "Chelsea Pride condemns abuse directed at Sam Kerr after baby announcement". The Guardian. 18 November 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  11. ^ "Sam Kerr & Kristie Mewis expecting baby in 2025". BBC Sport. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  12. ^ Twigg, Sonia (18 May 2025). "Fans lead Wembley protest against FA's transgender ban". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  13. ^ "Hull City 0-4 Chelsea: Fan group condemns homophobic chanting as 'stain on game' after arrests made". BBC Sport. 13 February 2026. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  14. ^ Jones, Cerys (27 April 2026). "Chelsea Pride criticises police response to homophobic chanting at Leeds FA Cup tie". The Athletic. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
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