'Rent Boy' Chant at British Soccer Match Triggers Hate Crime Investigation
A chant by soccer fans considered to be homophobic has triggered an investigation by England's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that could lead to hate crime prosecutions, UK Newspaper The Independent reported.
The New Year's Day match between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest was marred by a chant of "Chelsea rent boy," which some Nottingham supporters uttered, the account said.
A group of LGBTQ+ Chelsea supporters, Chelsea Pride, pushed back on social media. "Following the Homophobic Chanting at The City Ground yesterday we call out the Football authorities @FA to take serious action and update their own rule books," the group sent out on Jan. 2. "Enough is Enough."
The CPS "now recognizes 'rent boy' as a homophobic slur and insists that use of that term can and will be prosecuted," The Independent explained. The CPS had been "in contact with the police over the incident," the article continued.
Another group, FootballvHomophobia, also tweeted out its condemnation.
"The Ground Regulations outlaw the use of #homophobic chanting or harassment and can result in arrest and/or ejection from a ground," the group tweeted on Jan. 2.
Even Nottingham Forest's own LGBTQ+ fan group decried their fellow team supporters' use of the chant, Eurosport noted.
Posting that they were "tired of trying to explain to the uneducated why the chant is wrong on all levels," but "not tired of fighting for equality and inclusion," the Trickies declared that "[w]e have a problem and an issue when our own fans think this type of chant is acceptable and it makes us question how welcome we actually are at our own club."
The CPS itself weighed in.
"Responding to a tweet from the FootballvHomophobia group referencing the chants at Forest, a post from the CPS UK official account read: 'A disappointing start to the year. We remind everyone in football that homophobic chants can be, and have been, prosecuted as a hate crime,'" The Independent relayed.