'Rylan: Football, Homophobia and Me' is the latest TV documentary to explore the experience of being LGBTQ+ in the game. Produced by Buzz 16 for TNT Sports, it has a different feel to similar films, given a very personal touch by its hugely likeable presenter - a big West Ham supporter and football fan in general - while focusing on people within the game who are out as gay and bi and who have shared their stories.
On this episode of the FvH Podcast, Jon Holmes is joined by two of those people - Thetford Town player-manager Matt Morton, and Sevenoaks Town centre-back Jahmal Howlett-Mundle.
Matt is no stranger to appearing on screen since first publicly sharing his story back in the summer of 2020. As a self-described 'alpha male' who bucks all the stereotypes, he's also given great thought to the many factors that make visibility like his so rare in men's football.
Jahmal shared the news that he is bisexual a year after Matt, in July 2021, and he has also been in demand from all parts of the media - he's thought to be the only player to have progressed through a Premier League club's Academy system to then later come out publicly.
In a chat held in the annual Football v Homophobia Month of Action and what is also LGBT+ History Month, Matt and Jahmal (aka Jam) talk about what it was like to be part of the Rylan documentary, give their reviews of the finished film, and discuss a lot of connected issues such as LGBTQ+ men's mental health, education, and experiences of both discrimination and inclusion at grassroots level.
Matt also talks about another doc that's just been released in Germany called 'The Last Taboo' which will hopefully hit UK streaming platforms later in the year.
Links
Football v Homophobia - https://www.footballvhomophobia.com/
Sports Media LGBT+ - https://sportsmedialgbt.com/
Matt and Jahmal's profiles on the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective (see links to their socials) - https://lgbtqfootball.com/who-are-we/
Watch 'Rylan: Football, Homophobia and Me' on Discovery+ (UK) - https://www.discoveryplus.com/gb/video/rylan-football-homophobia-me/rylan-football-homophobia-me
Jon's blog about the doc for Out and Out Football - https://www.outandout.football/p/rylans-new-documentary-will-fire-you-up-for-football-v-homophobias-month-of-action/
Trailer on Buzz 16's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/buzz16_buzz16-documentary-lgbtq-activity-7163139078765408259-334W
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