The lovely people at Stonewall UK have made huge strides in combating homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in football through their Rainbow Laces campaign. However, that’s just one sport among many. I’m much more interested in rugby (where Gareth Thomas and Nigel Owens have already done great work) and cricket. I’m delighted to report that Stonewall’s new cricket-related campaign, Rainbow Stumps, launched today.
The plan is to have representation at T20 matches around the country all through this week. There are both men’s and women’s matches taking place. The good folks at Sky Sports are also on board. Look, here’s Bob Willis:
Bob Willis, #RainbowStumps in hand, is ready & waiting for your questions – so get tweeting them in now! #Verdict pic.twitter.com/yiCYPI0XmJ
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 7, 2017
(For the benefit of non-cricket people, he’s always that sour.)
Athers, Bumble and Naz have also got in on the act.
.@ECB_Cricket are the latest to join @SkySports and @StonewallUK's #RainbowLaces campaign: https://t.co/xMNjLjCECV #RainbowStumps pic.twitter.com/ku8xAxxxYi
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 7, 2017
Of course the whole point is that LGBT+ people want to be involved in sport too. That meant that Stonewall needed to find people with a passion for cricket. How could I refuse? Here’s my contribution.
The timing is rather unfortunate. I would love to be down at Taunton on Saturday to cheer on Somerset and Western Storm, but there is a small matter of a Worldcon keeping me here in Helsinki. Sorry folks.