How to buy Rainbow Laces as Stonewall issue rallying cry for 10-year anniversary
The Rainbow Laces campaign is back for its 10th year, with organisers Stonewall hoping to continue the charge for equality for the LGBT+ community within sport and beyond.
The charity have achieved impressive successes since the campaign was first launched in 2013. According to a survey published by Stonewall, 74 percent of the public now consider LGBTQ+ people part of the sport community, while 68 percent feel a responsibility to stick up for LGBT+ fans of the teams and sports they follow.
The number of people who see homophobic remarks or banter as ‘acceptable’ has also halved over the last five years; from 25 percent in 2017 to 14 percent in 2022. But far more work needs to be done.
The 10th anniversary of the campaign comes at an increasingly difficult time for the LGBT+ community. A series of incidents of homophobic chanting were reported at the start of the year, in a problem that has been extending down to the grassroots game.
It is a problem that does not only affect sport, with a report from the Office for National Statistics painting a horrifying picture. The report, which was released in October, shows that hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation are up by 112 percent in the last five years.
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Hate crimes against trans people have increased by 186 percent in the same time period. In addition, the decision by FIFA to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar - a country that has outlawed homosexuality - brought the treatment of the LGBT+ community in sport back into focus, furthering the importance of initiatives like the Rainbow Laces campaign.
The Rainbow Laces campaign will return for its 10th year this seasonThe easiest way to show support for the campaign is by buying a pair of Rainbow Laces. As well as the standard rainbow, Stonewall have introduced a special edition glitter pair for the 10th anniversary season.
There are also laces that publicly express support for the Trans community, for bisexual people, for non-binary people and for lesbians. All are designed in the colours of each community's official flags.
The laces can be bought directly from Stonewall, through their online shop. Each pair costs £3.25, while the special edition glitter pair cost £5. The standard rainbow pair also come in 'professional' editions for using in football boots.
More than one million people have bought a pair of Rainbow Laces since the campaign was launched in 2013. While great strides have been made in that time, the concerning rises in hate have led to a renewed focus from Stonewall, who have launched their new 'Keep It Up' initiative, with director of programmes Liz Ward hoping the Rainbow Laces campaign can help to change attitudes.
Premier League captains will wear rainbow armbands during the course of the campaignSpeaking exclusively to the Mirror, Ward said: "The 10 years celebration, we've realised that 2013 was a long time ago, football was very, very different. In that time we've won so much. We've seen players come out, every Premier League team takes part in Rainbow Laces.
"But we're realising that it's 2023, we still have to keep it up if we're going to achieve this world in which every LGBT+ person feels accepted in the sport they love. We're using this as a launchpad for the next 10 years, to say 'we've won so far, it's only half-time, let's keep it up'."
Show your support for the campaign and buy your Rainbow Laces here. Mirror readers get 20% off with the code MIRROR20 (subject to availability).
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