FA accused of being part of an ‘axis of evil’ amid latest row over rainbow armbands: ‘Kick Stonewall out of football!’
The Football Association has been blasted by Fair Cop’s Harry Miller over its Rainbow Laces campaign, following legal action from a banned Newcastle fan over their push for LGBT support.
Linzi Smith has been banned from watching Newcastle United matches until 2026 after expressing gender-critical views on social media.
Smith’s lawyers, SinclairsLaw, sent a letter of action to the FA, claiming it has “acted unlawfully” by “encouraging, authorising, or directing players in the Premier League to wear equipment”, including boot laces and armbands, in “rainbow colours during the ‘Rainbow Laces’ campaign”.
Speaking in defence of Smith, Fair Cop founder Harry Miller has thrown his support behind the case, vowing to “kick Stonewall out of football”.
Miller launched a scathing attack on the FA, describing it as part of “an axis of evil, along with Stonewall and the police”.
Recalling how Smith was banned because she “said that she was LGB, not LGBT”, Miller added: “In other words, she believes in the biology of sex, and that gender identity is nothing, it’s a made up fiction.”
Miller claimed football fans risk being “hounded” by authorities and served with “a long, long ban.”
“Around about 35 million people a year watch football, and the message to them is this – if you are gender critical, if you believe that men are men and women are women… you are not welcome,” he added.
Miller also warned about what he called a “sinister fascist regime” attempting to erase the concept of biological women.
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“When I liken it to a sort of fascist regime, I actually mean it, we’re not using hyperbole,” he told GB News.
He instead insisted that immediate action was necessary rather than waiting for the situation to worsen.
“The time to kick this out and address this is not when it reaches full term growth, it’s to do it now, before we have males just routinely playing in women’s sport,” Miller stated.
He called for Stonewall to be removed from football, declaring: “Pride is political, and Stonewall is political. Stonewall published a political manifesto in 2019, you can’t get more political than that.”
“We’re going to do it quickly, and we’re going to do it forever,” he concluded.
Smith, who advocates for lesbian, bisexual and women’s rights, argued: “No player, staff member or fan should be forced to support something that is in direct conflict with their own personal religion or belief.”
She added: “Politics has no place in football. It is where we go to forget about everything, not be dragged into it.”
FA sources said wearing the Rainbow Laces armband and supporting the campaign was voluntary and a matter of personal choice for teams and players.
A spokesman for the FA said: “We believe that football should be for all, and we have supported the Rainbow Laces campaign for over 10 years.
“Together with our partners and the leagues across English football, we have helped to promote this inclusive and voluntary campaign to provide allyship to the LGBTQ+ community across all levels of our game. We do not consider the campaign to breach any of our rules.”