Homosexuality in English football Homosexuality in English football Homosexuality in English football is sometimes said to be a taboo subject by both players and the media. As of 2012, there are no openly gay footballers in England's top four divisions. Some, such as Peter Clayton, who chairs the FA's "Homophobia in Football" working group have argued that clubs prevent players from "coming out" as footballers have an increasing commercial market value which may be damaged. Homosexuality in England and Wales (but not Scotland or Northern Ireland) was decriminalised in 1967, leading to a more liberal public attitude. There are many openly gay politicians and
Homosexuality in medieval Europe poets portrayed male love in a positive light, while avoiding explicitly mentioning homosexuality, which was still a taboo topic. An example is the poet Marbodius of Rennes, who wrote of male beauty and desire: Poetry about homosexual acts in medieval Europe was not very widespread. One piece of writing that did describe homosexual acts was "Le Livre de Manieres". Written by Etinne de Fougeres between 1173 and 1178, his poems contrasted the "beauty" of heterosexual sex to the "vile", unnatural homosexual sex. However, one of his poems focuses specifically on lesbian sex acts: "They do their jousting act in couples