Monday 7 November 2011

Footballers Being Homophobic - Number One: Liam Hearn

Yesterday, in this thing, I said that homophobia was in its last throes. Now while I do genuinely believe that, it still means that it hasn't disappeared completely. Just the other the day the commendable Justin Campaign released a statement in response to a homophobic comment sent and later deleted from the Twitter account of Crawley Town player Hope Akpan. His manager Steve Evans assured fans that it had been sent by "a young member of his family" without his knowledge, and while the day anyone should take Steve Evans' word at face value is the day hell freezes over, he is nonetheless innocent until proven guilty, and The Justin Campaign want The FA to look into it "with immediate urgency".

And unfortunately it's not the only occasion on which a footballer has sent a homophobic tweet. Hope Akpan - whether he sent his or not - was unlucky to get caught; many will avoid being taken to task.

Take, for example, these two tweets from Grimsby Town striker Liam Hearn. They were sent about a month and a half ago but better late than never or something:

@Eugenious10: Y do ppl feel the need to compare & say 1 rapper is better than the other!? I f*cks with Drizzy, Jcole, jay-z Weezy (no homo)Mon Sep 26 20:34:05 via Twitter for iPhone

So in that first tweet Hearn has retweeted his friend, Eugene Francis: "Aspiring Professional Footballer". Eugene was complaining about how some people make rap music into a competition, before naming four rappers that he likes. But oh no! The way he expressed this was through saying that he "f*cks with" them. And that could be misconstrued as him being gay! Hearn has noted this, and cleverly attached the famous rap caveat, 'no homo' to the end, to poke fun at his friend.

@Eugenious10: @Hearnz10 lol soz pal (No Ben Mitchell) another Person to turn Batts on tv..” that is a disgrace! Who would want bens role?Mon Sep 26 21:19:12 via Twitter for iPhone

This happened at around the time EastEnders character Ben Mitchell came out as gay, so, in a typically hilarious bit of footballer banter, Eugene apologises for his mistake and changes the word 'homo' to 'Ben Mitchell'. Brilliant! As you can see, he then makes a fairly overt homophobic comment before Hearn chips in with another. Seriously Liam, you're definitely quite good at football, but if this is anything to go by, you're also a bit of a tool.

Funnily enough, Hearn is quite quick to jump the gun and call someone racist:

Misha B needs to get in the Goonie Goo Goomobile and get the fuck out #givemehalfeddieSun Nov 06 20:09:07 via Twitter for Android


But is himself a proponent of prejudice against a different minority.

You might be reading this and thinking that it's not really anything worth getting het up over. Hearn is only a fifth division footballer (albeit one on the rise), and these messages were only throwaway ones, broadcast only to the 800 people who follow him on Twitter, but the truth is that that's more than enough. Sitting back and letting people talk like Hearn and Francis did in a public forum without saying anything about it doesn't get you anywhere.

7 comments:

  1. Well spotted, Scott. This sort of stuff shouldn't be ignored.

    We'd have picked up Hearn on this ourselves, if only we'd realised what the stuffing heck he was going on about.

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  2. Thanks. I saw it at the time and felt I didn't have the wherewithal to do anything about it, but when I read about the incident with the Crawley player I figured that, as you say, it's not enough to just let it slide.

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  3. Is it just me is or is this the most pathetic thing you've ever read! Not what Liam Hearn tweeted but the author of this blog - get a life mate you must have something better to do. With detective skills like that you would put Sherlock out of business!

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  5. Regarding the comment of me putting "That's a disgrace! Who would want his role?!" I was nearly stating how Ben has been bullied, sent to prison, raped and bullied in prison and now is at war with his dad and a few others because of his sexuality. I understand how this could have misinterpreted but I assure you that I was merely stating that Ben mitchel has had a tough life and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

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  6. I would like to retract some of my first comment, my friend is actually a transexual woman. She has just called me a thick plank for not knowing the difference. The reason for me not knowing the difference is more to do with lack of education on this matter (believe me, i have just been educated) over pure ignorance. This blog really offends me and i cannot stress any more how far away from the truth it is. I was stupid for Re Tweeting what my friend put. All i can do is offer my apologies and say you learn from your mistakes but you do not make anything unless you make mistakes. Liam Hearn

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  7. scott you have soooo got it twisted boo boo & u DO need to get a life & stop hating on peoples careers . i AM a transexual female myself who has known liam for years , and he has never judged me and always treated me with respect ....(apart from the time when he drowned me in the pool at doncaster dome) he is not a homophobic person and you should think wisely before you blog as it can become deformation of character ..more importantly though Get A life ..ciao ciao

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