In a country like UK, where 76 percent of the population agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society and parliament has a record for having 45 LGBT MPs after 2017 election, yet two Premier League players were bullied and became the victim of homophobic gossips.
Around the training grounds, there are anonymous posters, which was believed to create the fun of two footballers. These posters showcased one player was celebrating a goal while the name of his teammate was written across his chest. It also says the teammate 'owns' the goal scorer and adds for kisses.
The photo also consists of two red hearts with an arrow, including a text saying, "I'm so glad we're together."
Even though it is not clear that who created those posters, this incident has changed the way other teammates used to behave with those players.
According to The Sun, an African ace supposedly told his teammates that he objected to men have a sexual relationship on religious grounds and found the idea of having an intimate relationship with a man as an obscene.
A club insider said that those players are being bullied over malicious rumours. He mentioned that because of such awful incident, the squad started to act differently.
"The vast majority of the lads are totally supportive, but one African player has properly kicked off and is making it plain he's against gay relationships," the source further added.
"There's been real bad blood at the training ground since. The coaching staff have had to step in to calm things down. But just when things started calming down, some idiot put these posters up," he said.
"The management knows, but simply can't control it. So some of the senior players have stepped into squash it once and for all. It's a total mess and an outrage that in 2018 this issue can divide a Premier League club," the insider said.
There are other footballers, who accepted their sexual preferences earlier, such as the 35-year-old Everton player, Thomas Hitzlsperger, who accepted that he is gay after his retirement, and US-born Leeds United star, Robbie Rogers, who also came out as a homosexual.
However, when the recent news was spread, Peter Tatchell, a gay rights activist said, "Prejudice has no place in any sport. It's outrageous if players are behaving in a homophobic manner... If it doesn't stop, those responsible should be suspended — either by the club or by the FA,"
In terms of homosexuality in UK, history says by the end of 1954, there were thousands of gay men who were sentenced to imprisonment for being gay, as it was considered a punishable offence. Even one of the great scientists and World War II codebreaker Alan Turing was also convicted of "gross indecency."
But the government later passed the law called "Alan Turing law", the informal name of Policing and Crime Act 2017, which actually is an amnesty law to pardon men who were convicted for homosexual activities.
However, in a country which has Andy Street, who became a mayor and UK's first openly gay and Britain's most successful cyclist of all time, Philippa York, who openly accepted being a transgender, such homophobic behaviour and gossips are quite surprising.
