Homophobia, abuse & reporting incidents

Our policy on homophobia and any other form of discrimination or abuse (including by race, gender, faith, physical or mental disability, or other characteristic) is that it cannot be tolerated.

In Elland road we encourage people to report any discriminatory or hateful language or conduct to the nearest steward, and/or use the matchday incident reporting line by texting details of the incident with the area of the ground, the row/seat number, and details to identify the perpetrator to

07887 544789

Whether on social media or other online forms including email, we will challenge and tackle abuse.

Our policy is:-

To block the account and report it to the social media operator and where appropriate the police. In doing so we will take screenshots as evidence in case the post is deleted after the event.

We will also report the account to Leeds United in case they have similar reports from others, and will support action where appropriate to enforce a stadium ban or withdrawal of season tickets.

We do not believe that social media or other online settings are an appropriate way to engage in discussions or arguments around homophobia or similar prejudice: these can often be complex and sensitive topics and the brevity and impersonal nature of online communications do not foster a meaningful dialogue. We are aware also that bias and prejudice can sometimes be unconscious and reflect a lack of understanding or sensitivity rather than genuine bigotry or hate. Given that, we will offer to meet or speak in person to explore the issues and help people to better understand our perspective (and we will offer that support to the club as an option for dealing with complaints).

Social Media Boycott May 2021

In May 2021 we supported the football-wide boycott of social media led by ‘Kick It Out’ with the following statement

We are supporting the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign to boycott social media.

This is in protest against abuse on social media, to urge the social media operators to improve their systems and be more proactive in taking action against abusers, and for government to strengthen and speed up legislation.

We believe football is everybody’s game, and everybody should be able to enjoy playing or spectating and feel safe, feel at home and able to be themselves.

There is no place in our game, our club, and our communities for abuse and discrimination of any kind: be that by race, gender/sexuality, physical or mental ability, faith or any other reason.