Leicester City played host as Football v Homophobia launched their Month of Action initiative earlier this week.

February's Month of Action calls on clubs, players, supporters and authorities to put further focus on LGBTQI+ inclusion over the course of the month. The initiative is run by Football v Homophobia, a group who work year-round to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football.

It is a campaign Leicester City have supported widely in recent years, and the club have dedicated February 25's home fixture against Arsenal to the initiative. The club and supporters' group Foxes Pride have won Football v Homophobia awards for their efforts as they look to make King Power Stadium a safe place for all.

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The Month of Action launch event, held at the King Power Stadium earlier this week, welcomed more than 40 guests from the LGBTQI+ community and saw City favourite Matt Elliott host two panel discussions. They focused on 'The Need to Take Action - Tackling LGBTQI+-phobia in men’s football: What actually works?' and 'Out on the Pitch - The experiences of out LGBTQI+ footballers: What are we learning?'.

Among those taking part were Jon Holmes (Football v Homophobia), Graeme Smith (Foxes Pride), Callum Prince (Leicester Wildecats), Gurpri Bains (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jahmal Howlett-Mundle (bisexual footballer) and Parker Dunn (footballer and TikTok star).

Football v Homophobia's Jon Holmes said: “In recent years, we haven’t been able to hold in-person events for the Month of Action because we’ve been under Covid restrictions, so it was so uplifting to be able to welcome people to King Power Stadium to celebrate LGBTQI+ communities in football.

“The ongoing importance of the campaign has been brought into sharp focus recently with incidents of discriminatory language and behaviour across the men’s game, while far too many of us sadly see online abuse regularly on social media.

“Throughout the year, the FvH team is doing important education work which underpins all of this and having the support of clubs – whether at the elite like Leicester City all the way down to grassroots – plus county FAs and other stakeholders takes the message to so many more people.”

Graeme Smith, of Foxes Pride, added: "It was wonderful to represent Foxes Pride at the launch, and the fact Leicester City were hosting this prestigious event shows the importance they place on tackling LGBTQI+-phobia.

“I was able to share details of the work we’ve done together and the progress we’ve made, while it was also fantastic to hear from other LGBTQI+ voices as we seek to make further progress in ensuring that football is a safe space for all.”

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