 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 5.970 in the name of Mary Fee on tackling homophobia in sport, and the debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Would those members who wish to speak in the debate please press the request to speak buttons, and I call on Mary Fee to open the debate. Up to seven minutes, please, Ms Fee. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In opening this debate, can I take this opportunity to welcome LGBT rights campaigners and activists to the public gallery? I also thank members from across the chamber for supporting my motion on tackling homophobia in sport, allowing this debate to take place. Almost two decades since the formation of this Parliament, there have been massive gains in LGBT rights in Scotland. Those rights, such as equal marriage, have been hard fought for by tens of thousands of strong, proud LGBT activists and campaigners. Yet, despite those advances, discrimination against LGBT people continues to persist in all walks of Scottish society. Recent research from Stonewall Scotland highlights the particular issue of LGBT discrimination in Scottish sport. A staggering 46 per cent of LGBT people do not find sporting events to be welcoming spaces. More than one in 10 LGBT people avoid going to the gym or participating in sports groups because of fear of discrimination and harassment. For trans people, that figure shoots up to 39 per cent. It is clear that there is a particular issue with LGBT discrimination in Scottish football and football more generally. Research by the equality network back in 2012 identified football as the sport that has the biggest challenge to overcome in relation to LGBT inclusivity. It is vitally important that the culture in sport and in particular football must change. Education, LGBT rights campaigns and visible role models are all important mechanisms that can help in the battle to eradicate LGBT discrimination in football and in wider society. I would also like to mention Leap Sports Scotland, an LGBTI sports charity that works for inclusion of LGBT sports participants and works to tackle homophobia and transphobia. I had the pleasure of meeting staff and volunteers of Leap Sports during the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Pride House in Glasgow. I would encourage members and visitors to the gallery to visit their website and see what they can do to support the work of the organisation. Research by Stonewall Scotland has revealed that a shocking 70 per cent of fans have heard homophobic abuse in the stands at a football game. One of the respondents to Stonewall's research commented, and I quote, "...men in the crowd around me at a football match use the term gay in a derogatory manner to refer to the players on the pitch. It made me extremely uncomfortable but I didn't feel in a position to challenge them." Common forms of discrimination experienced by LGBT people when participating in or spectating at sport is the use of homophobic or transphobic language, as well as stereotypes about sexual orientation and gender identity. Such stereotypes are dangerous and only serve to reinforce prejudice against LGBT people. Based on Scottish Government statistics regarding sexual orientation, around 100,000 people in Scotland identify themselves as LGBT and other. However, there are still no openly gay or bisexual male professional footballers in Scotland or across the UK. The lack of a visible role model for LGBT people in professional football in Scotland is of real concern. A lack of a visible role model makes it extremely difficult for a young gay or bi male to feel confident about being themselves if they can't see anyone else like them in the sport. It's incredibly important that the governing body of Scottish football, professional football clubs and LGBT groups in this Parliament work collaboratively to create the right environment for players to feel comfortable about coming out. I was extremely pleased to see 13 professional football clubs take a lead in eliminating LGBT discrimination by signing up to the equality networks' LGBT sports charter. Current signatures to the sports charter are Aberdeen, Airdrie, Albion Rovers, Celtic, Dumbarton, Elgin City, Forfer Athletic, Hartz, Hibs, Partick Fistle, Peasarhead, Rangers and St Johnson. I am aware that there are a further six professional clubs currently in contact with the equality network with a view to signing up to the LGBT sports charter. An Aberdeen fans have proved a shining example, leading the way in tackling homophobia and promoting equality and diversity by establishing the first LGBT supporters group in Scotland, known as the Proud Dawns. Dumbarton and FC have also proved themselves to be a modern and inclusive club, ensuring their commitment to equality and diversity through the club's anti-discrimination policy. In the contract of each footballer and employee of Dumbarton FC, it is a clause stating that the club is opposed to racism, sectarianism, bigotry and discrimination of any forum, including on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. In coming to a close, I would once again like to congratulate and thank those professional football clubs and other sporting institutions who have already signed up to the LGBT sports charter. I urge other professional football clubs and governing bodies to reach out to the equality network to sign up. It is vitally important that sports organisations take the lead in changing the culture in Scottish sport by tackling and eradicating LGBT discrimination to ensure that sports clubs, gyms, stadiums and arenas are modern, inclusive and welcoming to all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Excuse me, I have just spilled some water all over the console. If everything goes dark, you will know why. I will now move to the open debate in speeches of four minutes, please. Brian Whittle is followed by Rona Mackay. Can I say that, although I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, and I thank Mary Fee for bringing it to the chamber, I certainly take no pleasure in having to address this topic in this day and age. I find it quite depressing that the spectre of homophobic behaviour still casts such a shadow over our communities. The topic is only one that I really became aware of and began to take an interest in on joining Parliament. It mainly is research into a consultation paper that I was doing around barriers to inclusion in sport and activity. It certainly came as a shock to hear of some of the experiences of participation in sport from the LGBTI community, stories of discrimination of bullying and sometimes worse. You see, Deputy Presiding Officer, it is a surprise to me because I can't come from a sports background and it was never an issue that I was aware of during 10 years of professional sport. We were all just athletes joined by a mutual respect around our sport and the work it had taken to get to where we were. I know that you may find this difficult to believe, Presiding Officer, but I retired quite a long time ago. It has measured in decades at the last millennium, or to put it more delicately, about two stone ago, but friendships made during that time endure to this day, irrespective of colour, creed, religion or sexual orientation. In fact, I can tell you that there was never any thought or consideration given to any of those categories. Only last Sunday, as old boys got together for our annual golf outing and a more disparate group of people you could not find, made the quiet man of the group by Chris Acabusi from a Nigerian background and made six foot nine Jeff Tourbag's Parsons, Scottish high-jump record holder who plays golf like a giraffe going for a drink, made Captain Courageous and Derek Redman, Mr Stiffle Chaser, Eddie The Chip, Wetherburn, Johnny Tuchess Regis and me all travelled from every part of the country to meet up, and let me tell you golf was the winner. You see, that is what sport is to me, a way to break down barriers and to find commonality. It is a way to promote inclusion and participation. Everybody in here knows that I see it as a tool not only to tackle physical health but also a major component of addressing poor mental health epidemic that we now face. Inclusivity and physical activity, as Sammy H put it. We are debating here how certain elements of society are being excluded from those opportunities, and there have been examples in sport of poor treatment of athletes such as the intersex debate around Castro Semenya, who is an Olympic and World 800-metre women's champion. There may have been a genuine issue to investigate by the IWF, but they handled it so badly and with such lack of respect to the athlete's welfare that the LGBTI community in participating in world sport was put back many, many years. Thankfully, she is now back competing at the very highest level and won the world championships in London this year. I thank all the briefing notes that many organisations sent prior to the debate, and I recognise the Stonewall Scotland rainbow laces campaign that I took part in last year. I will have to say that they took the picture of me with just one shoe on. I would like to say for goodness sake that it is more than 30 years ago when you please let it go. Sport should be a sanctuary for all. A place where a person's background, no matter what that may be, is irrelevant. Sport can lead in the battle against prejudice. We in this place must continue to drive this direction of travel until such prejudices are no more in our communities. Last week, I attended the cross-party group on sexual health and blood-borne viruses. There, we heard a moving account from an HIV-positive woman who based her talk around the word stigma. The dictionary definition of the word is, a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality or person. I believe that everyone in the chamber would agree that being gay should have no stigma attached to it. Sadly, despite Scotland being one of the most progressive nations in the world when it comes to LGBT plus equality, when it comes to sport, there is still much work to be done. In sports, players face a disproportionately difficult time in coming out for a variety of reasons too complex to detail in a four-minute speech. Recently, Gareth Thomas, a Welsh rugby player with 100 caps, gave a grim account of his experiences of being a gay man in rugby. He believes that sport and football in particular must not be allowed to remain in the dark ages of homophobia. He says that unless homophobia and football are policed as stringently as racism is policed, then it will always be a problem. I agree with him. Recently, three former Rangers players started working with the excellent tie campaign to clamp down on homophobia. Education is the key to changing attitudes and helping people to realise that it is simply not acceptable to perpetrate this inequality. However, as we have heard, sport can also be an unwelcoming and threatening environment for LGBT fans. 70 per cent of sports fans in Scotland have witnessed anti-LGBT language or abuse in a sports setting in the past five years. Almost half of LGBT people, 46 per cent, think that public sporting events are not a welcoming space, and one in 10 attended a live sporting event in the last year experienced discrimination. In 2017, that simply is not good enough. Problems with racism, sectarianism and homophobia are taken seriously by the SNP Government, and our hate crime legislation exists to eradicate it. That is why the Scottish Government is concerned that an outright repeal of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communication Act may send the message that prejudice-based and threatening behaviour at football is acceptable even when other legislation could also apply. Stonewall Scotland supported the introduction of the bill in 2012, noting the serious impact that homophobic, biphobic and transphobic behaviour in sport has for LGBT people's safety and confidence to participate in sport. Discrimination discourages participation and cultivates lack of inclusion and diversity. Football and the sporting culture must not be left behind while the rest of society sees progress in equality. There is clearly a lot of work being done with 13 clubs signed up to the equality networks LGBT charter and more poised to do so, as we have heard. Sport Scotland believes education, positive role models embracing LGBT plus policies and promoting gay, lesbian and bisexual sports stars is the way forward, and that is the path that we should follow. However, there is still a lot to be done, and until we need no longer debate the subject in chamber, when it stops becoming a story and when people wonder why someone's sexual orientation is even being raised as an issue, we need to continue to strive for equality. It is time to blow the whistle on homophobia in sport. Monica Lennon, followed by Alison Johnstone Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to begin by thanking my colleague Mary Fee for bringing this important topic to the Scottish Parliament chamber this evening. Homophobia certainly has no place at all in public life in Scotland and no place in Scottish sport. The continuing existence of homophobia in sport is evidenced by the findings from Stonewall Scotland that 60 per cent of sports fans have witnessed homophobic behaviour in the last five years as a sad and unacceptable state of affairs. As a nation that is so passionate about football, it is a damning indictment of how far we still have to travel in tackling homophobia in all aspects of Scottish society. A majority of football fans are likely to have witnessed prejudice behaviour towards the LGBT community. 82 per cent of football fans are admitting that they have heard homophobic abuse or language at a sports event. That is an alarming number of people. Although Scotland has made great strides towards achieving legal equality for the LGBT community over the past few years with the commencement of equal marriage laws, it is clear that we still have so much more to do to combat prejudice and inequality. Last week, most MSPs in the chamber were able to join with the show racism the red card campaign just outside the chamber in the garden lobby to show our support for combating racism in football. I am proud to support that campaign. Just like there is no place for racism of any kind in Scottish sport, it should be equally as repulsive to us that there would be any homophobic prejudice towards the LGBT community in Scottish football. I would love to see the recommendations of the quality network and Stonewall's rainbow laces campaign to tackle anti-LGBT prejudice in sport, gain similar traction among colleagues and a wider public. I look forward to getting the opportunity later this year to support the campaign. It is my hope that we will also see football clubs and fans across the country using that opportunity to engage with and embrace that important campaign. My colleague Mary Fee read an impressive list of football clubs, but there are many more names that could be added. In the evidence gathered by Stonewall Scotland about homophobia in sport, the most troubling and striking statistic to me was how negative experiences of sport for LGBT people can often start as early as their school years. The evidence showed that one in seven LGBT young people say that they have experienced bullying during school sport and almost one in five in school changing rooms. That is yet another worrying statistic and it only underlines why it is so important that we ensure that we get inclusive education in our schools. Many colleagues will have noticed in their way into the chamber this evening that the Tai campaign is in Parliament again. With an exhibition of its progress so far and the aim of signing even more MSPs up to the pledge, it has been a privilege to sponsor their time in Parliament this week. I hope that many colleagues as possible will have the chance to speak to Jordan and Liam about their work. I noticed on Twitter earlier that more MSPs have signed the pledge today, so it is really good that we have the Tai campaign with us in Parliament. It has only been a few months since I brought my own members' debate on the Tai campaign to the Scottish Parliament. I am pleased that the Scottish Government working group on inclusive education is continuing to make progress as I look forward to seeing the group's eventual outcomes and recommendations at its conclusion. We need to make inclusive education a reality in this Parliament so that we can eradicate homophobic attitudes in the next generation of young people who are growing up in Scotland today. Homophobia has no place in our society, and the route to tackling that begins with education. I would like to repeat my thanks to Mary Fee for bringing forward the debate. Mary mentioned at the start the importance of role models in sport, but in general I would like to say that I have the chance because Kezia is sitting next to me. Kezia Dugdale was awarded politician of the year at the prestigious ICON awards on Friday night. I would like to say my congratulations to Kezia, and I am sure that other colleagues across the chamber will agree. I would also like to thank Mary Fee for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I agree wholeheartedly with the terms of the motion and thank all of the organisations who sent us briefings indicating the work that is going on to tackle homophobia and improve our sport and culture, as well as highlighting the unacceptable barriers to participation that LGBTI people still face. In 2012, I spoke at the Out for Sport conference launching equality networks report on the opportunities that sport provides to tackle discrimination and to promote equalities, and their report recommended that there should be more visible leadership from government and from sports governing bodies, establishing a Scottish LGBT sports charter to ensure that LGBTI people are more fully included in Scottish sport. It called for more action to ensure clubs at all levels of sport, whether competitive or recreational, in our local authorities or in our universities, comply with the equality act. It asked clubs and sports facilities to improve training for their staff and coaches, helping them to identify, prevent and challenge homophobic and transphobic bullying. In the past five years, there have been improvements to sport in Scotland, and now I am glad to see sport Scotland making new commitments to embed equalities and inclusions in all aspects of their work. I also want to highlight some of the positive work that Scottish Athletics has been leading, building on their forefront runners LGBT clubs, supporting them to work with more athletic clubs and jog Scotland groups. Scottish Athletics also helped to pilot a non-binary athletics category, which is proving non-binary races for Jedburgh running festival. Sadly, few areas of sport in Scotland are quite so inclusive, and as the briefings that I have read while preparing for this debate make all too clear, the impact of homophobia, as others have said, in sport it has felt very early in life. In 2016, sport Scotland's research with the Equality and Human Rights Commission showed that one of the key barriers to participating in sport for young people included homophobia and previous negative experiences, particularly in school. If we are serious about tackling homophobia in sport and making sport more accessible for everyone, we really have to tackle the bullying and discrimination that young people face. LGBT Youth Scotland's report on the legacy of the Commonwealth Games shows that LGBTI young people are less likely to engage in sport and physical activity. Homophobia in sport is holding young people back from participating in sport, and I have no doubt that this will have a negative impact on the long-term physical health and wellbeing of too many LGBTI young people. Stonewall's research shows that one in seven LGBTI young people in schools in the UK have experienced bullying during school sport and almost one in five in school changing rooms, and even if not bullied themselves, more than half of LGBTI pupils frequently hear homophobic language in sports lessons. It is appalling to think that such bullying, harassment and discrimination exists in our schools. My colleague Ross Greer has campaigned for a review of PSE in schools, and today's debate shows us that the upcoming review of PSE must consider sport in schools and how high-quality PSE can help to build a whole-school approach to equalities and mental health, moving beyond the classroom and improving all aspects of school life. Recently, there has been a welcome greater focus on the potential sport that has to improve mental health. The Scottish Association for Mental Health is partnering Scottish Athletics on the Jog Scotland programme, helping people to become more active. Initiatives like that show the urgent need to make sport truly accessible to all and to tackle homophobia at all levels of sport. As Mary Fee and Ronan Mackay and others have noted, homophobia in sport is not just a barrier to active participation, it is a barrier even to being a fan, a spectator. If we want to make long-lasting changes to the culture of spectatorship, we have to work internationally as well. Out on the fields was the first international study on homophobia in sport, and it highlighted the prevalence of homophobia in sport on a global level. It showed that the most likely place to encounter homophobia in UK sport was on the spectator's stands, and 85 per cent of that study's participants believed that, and I am quoting, an openly gay person would not be very safe as a spectator at a sports event. Given the impact of international competition on sport and culture and on societal behaviour more widely, we must think about how good practice can be shared internationally and how we can protect sports people and fans from homophobia wherever they are competing or supporting. Miles Briggs, followed by Kezia Dugdale. I would like to congratulate Mary Fee on securing today's debate and welcome the opportunity to participate in it. I would also like to pay tribute to the work that she has done on this issue for many years now within the Parliament and also thank the organisations that have provided briefings for today's debate. I commend Stonewall and their quality network for the good work that they have been doing around this issue over many years. All of us in this chamber will agree that homophobia should have no place in sport just like any form of discrimination, but we have to be honest that this is not the case for so many of our Scottish sports people and Scottish fans. We will all recognise the extent of the challenges that we face in tackling this issue and how much needs to change around some of the culture within sport in Scotland today. As has already been mentioned in today's debate, that is quite stark when you consider that 60 per cent of Scottish sport fans have heard homophobic abuse, rising to 82 per cent among football fans. A Stonewall Scotland's research indicates that there is still a minority of sport fans who believe that anti-LGBTI chants and abuse are acceptable on the terraces or in the pubs. We all have to play our role, I believe, in helping to change this so that that type of language is seen as intolerable as racist abuse would be. Casual homophobia among fans should not be dismissed as macho banter, but should be challenged, just as much as homophobia should be and hopefully would be in any other context in life in Scotland. The motion rightly refers to what appears to be a particular problem of homophobia within football. Like Mary Fee, I welcome the Scottish Football Association and Sports Scotland's support for their quality networks LGBT sports charter. I think that the minister and I particularly like the fact that St Johnston have led the trail on that. Clearly a lot of work, though, still has to be done. The fact that no professional footballer has felt able to come out in the UK since Justin Fashnew in 1990 speaks volumes about how far we still have to go before being gay and a footballer is as unremarkable as it would be in so many other professions. The lack of gay role models as a professional football level is an obvious concern. Openly gay sports people, such as rugby's Gareth Thomas and Kieran Hurst, Diving's Tom Daley and Boxing's Nicola Adams, have trailblazed in many ways and are an inspiration to many young LGBT people, questioning whether they are able to take part in sport or aim for a national or international career. We should rightly put on record our admiration for their decisions to be open about their sexuality in a public way and thank them as we look forward to many other LGBT sports people excelling in their field in the future. Increasing participation in sport and boosting physical activity across all age groups is vital in terms of tackling obesity, improving the population's physical health and indeed in maintaining good mental wellbeing and good mental health. Competitive and team sports encourage self-confidence, develop transferable skills and build resilience amongst young people. Tackling for homophobia in sport should be seen as helping to remove another barrier that may prevent LGBT people participating in sport. With a number of studies showing that LGBT people are more prone to suffering from mental ill health, that should be seen as especially important in terms of allowing them to access sport without fear that they will be a victim of any abuse or prejudice. To conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, I again welcome today's debate and I look forward to real progress being made as we go forward. I recognise that it can take time for ingrained cultures and behaviour to change and how difficult this can be, but it is right that Scotland's Parliament and all of us across all parties in this chamber unite today in sending out a clear message that we won't accept homophobia in sport and will work to reduce and eventually eradicate it so that everyone can have equal access to sport in an equal and welcoming basis. The last of the open debate speakers is Kezia Dugdale. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Like colleagues, I congratulate Mary Fee on securing tonight's debate but also leading on this issue for a number of years now, as Miles acknowledged. I also thank the equality network in Stonewall, Scotland, for providing their briefings for tonight's debate. When I was reading those briefings, I was reminded of the Rainbow Laces campaign that Stonewall, Scotland, launched not so long ago. I remember thinking at the time, even as an openly gay woman, that it was a bit of a gimmick, that it didn't mean that much. My political researcher at the time, a guy called Gareth Lodge, who played basketball for Scotland, sneaked the Rainbow Laces out of the Parliament office and then wore them for an international match that he was playing in. I saw the pictures of that the next day and I can't tell you, Presiding Officer, just how touched I was that somebody had decided to do that for me and other people like me. I think that we should never fully underestimate the value of campaigns like that and the difference that they can make. Tonight's debate is all about sport. I am going to focus the rest of my remarks on football as the sport that I know best. It is also the one that is recognised. The number of the briefings is the one with the highest participation level among Scots. I have grown up with football. My dad was a referee for most of my childhood, mostly in the Highland lake. I remember fondly, or not so fondly, sitting on the line on a football and freezing cold winters, listening to people shout and swear at my dad. I mostly wanted to share some of those stories with the chamber this afternoon, but I have been advised by the Presiding Officer that each and every one of the things that was shouted at my dad constitutes unparliamentary language. One word that you would hear regularly at those football matches was poof. It would be shouted from the stands down on to the pitch. Every time a player dodged a heavy tackle or if they kicked the ball over the bar, you would hear it regularly. Definitely across the whole of a season, you would hear that language probably in each and every match. The reports that we are reading today in advance of this debate recognise now that 60 per cent of people have heard homophobic language at a sporting event, but it rises to 82 per cent in the instance of football alone, so, although we have made a bit of progress, there clearly is a long way to go. The good news, Presiding Officer, is that those same reports tell us that 68 per cent of football fans want to see more done about it. I am delighted to represent Edinburgh and in that to now have two Premier League football teams. I have not been able to say that for a little while, but the reality is that not only do we have two Premier League football teams, they are both chaired by women. The chief executives of both HIPPs and at Heart and Midlothian Football Club are women. I want to pick a little fight with Mary Fee here, because she said earlier on that there were no LGBT role models in male football. There is, there is one, and it is a woman. It is Leanne Dempster, who is the chief exec of Herbarnian Football Club, my team. In fact, HIPPs are a bit the leader when it comes to LGBT sport, because they also have on their books Laura Montgomery, who was the founder of Glasgow City Women's Football Club. She is a UEFA official and now a senior projects manager at Herbarnian Football Club, so HIPPs are leading the way once again. I got in touch with Leanne Dempster before tonight's debate to ask her what she might like to be shared with the chamber around the issue of tackling homophobia in football in particular, and she asked us to check our language. She's like, of course, it's important to talk about tackling homophobia in sport, but equally it's about promoting inclusion in sport, and that's the attitude that HIPPs are taking, trying to make it a more welcoming environment for LGBT fans and indeed players. We've asked ourselves many times in this debate why LGBT players don't come out, why don't they speak, why is it that we've never in Scotland had a single openly gay football player, and the out-in-sport report, which has also been referenced from their quality network, gives us some indication as to why that's the case. It's also worth remembering, Presiding Officer, that that was a report written by Margaret Smith, the first openly female gay MSP in this chamber. She told us that there were two main reasons in that report, fear of what spectators would say and secondly the impact on those players' careers. I've been spending a bit more time watching TV recently, Presiding Officer. I can't imagine why, and I've been hugely comforted by the increased number of adverts on TV that show same-sex relationships. Hopefully that's the start of a changing attitude and culture towards the relationship between commercial enterprise and people disclosing their sexual orientation. Finally, I appreciate that I've gone over my time, Presiding Officer. When you're likely to be less gracious now that I'm on the back benches, I think that we have to acknowledge the issue of gender segregation in sport. So for as long as we consider that there are boy sports and girl sports, we're actually perpetuating homophobia as well. Thank you very much. I now call Eileen Campbell to respond to this debate around seven minutes, please, minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Like other speakers this evening, I want to thank Mary Fee for raising this really important issue and to everybody who has contributed to this debate and also put on record our congratulations to Kezia Dugdale for becoming an icon as well. We saw some of the pictures on Twitter like a heck of a good night that everybody had. Like all speakers, I believe very firmly that there should be no barriers at all to participating in sport. Everybody should be able to enjoy sport whoever they are and whatever their background be that on the court or pitch or in the stands or the touchline. Nobody should have to put up with homophobic comments or taunts. As minister for sport, I'm proud that this Government and this Parliament is determined to create a modern, inclusive Scotland that protects and respects human rights and that this should also extend to promotion of equal participation and access to sport. On that point, the words of Leanne Dempster, particularly Leanne Dempster, is somebody that we should all listen to because of her unique role that she's had in football and the huge contribution that she has made to football. Also, Laura Montgomery is well incredibly impressive individuals who are doing so much to ensure and promote tolerance in sport. On the Government, we are committed to promoting equal participation, access to sport and tackling homophobia and transphobia. That's why we support LGBT equality organisations working to reduce that discrimination and hate crime that people have discussed this evening. In our 2017-18 programme for government, we have also made a commitment to consult on reform and gender recognition legislation and also to bring forward legislation through the sexual offences, pardons and disregard bill. That will ensure that men convicted under previously discriminatory Scottish laws, which criminalise consensual same-sex sexual activity, will receive a pardon and will be able to apply to have such criminal conviction-informed information removed from central records. The reason that we mention that is because those actions, while building on those two decades of progress that Mary Fee articulated under devolution, will allow people to openly discuss their sexual orientation without feeling prejudice or the stigma that was attached in the past and even present day. We remain committed to demonstrating the leadership that is needed to tackle inequalities, homophobia and transphobia in sport. Scotland demonstrated that during the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, where we supported the establishment of Pride House, which provided a welcoming place for people to view the games and enjoy the events and cultural programmes that supported the sporting events. I am pleased that the Scottish Government is again working with partners to explore opportunities to further boost the engagement of the LGBTI community during the 2018 European Championships, including using the 2014 Pride House model. As a Government, we participate in the national LGBTI sports co-ordinating group, and that group brings together partners, including Sport Scotland, Leap Sports, Stonewall, the Equality Network and the Scottish FA, among others, with the aim of removing barriers that may stop LGBT individuals participating in sport, as well as helping to educate sport providers to be as open and accessible as they can be. The stats from Stonewall's report show that the journey that we still have to make to ensure that our shared ambition of eradicating homophobia turns out from being an ambition to actual reality. Many people have in their contributions mentioned our beautiful game. Like Mary Fee, I am encouraged that a number of SPFL clubs have already signed up to the equality charter. We have been encouraged by positive discussions with the SPFL as it continues to promote equality in Scottish football through its support of initiatives such as the Rainbow Laces campaign. I am particularly pleased to see St Johnston feature highly up that in the clubs today. The SFA has recently established an equality and diversity advisory board, which will act as a senior supporting group to provide guidance and ensure that the SFA's commitment to inclusion, equality and diversity is embedded throughout its structures, plans and activities. I am also pleased that, from Mary Fee's contribution to hear about Aberdeen Football Club's fans initiative and, as per Dolfoots Patrick, whispering in my ear, Dundee Football Club has also taken forward a similar initiative, very recently proud days, which it set up last month. On the broader issue of football, I think that there is real opportunity to explore the potential that football has. It has that reach that I think Kezia, Mary and others have talked about into all of our communities. It does fantastic whether that is the game changer project at Hibs, whether that is whatever community trust Aberdeen Football Club, they have a reach and a potential to change culture. I think that we have probably not even touched the surface of what further work football clubs can do in our communities to help to change cultures and be a force for good. Also, however, there is lots of other additional work going on. Last year, Sport Scotland and the Quality and Human Rights Commission published an equality in sport research into equality in Scottish sport. That looked at who currently participates in sports, the barriers to participation and suggests potential solutions. While participation levels among the LGBTI population is not significantly different to the heterosexual levels of participation, it is important always to treat those findings with a level of caution, as the results reflect the experiences of people who are already out rather than those who aren't. We have also heard from speakers this evening about people's experience of the all-too-present bullion, the anxieties and a whole host of other barriers that stop LGBTI people becoming active or enjoying sport. Of course, equality's inclusion is one of the three priorities for improvements that were set out in Sport Scotland's Corporate Plan for 2015-19, and they are setting out a number of ways in which they are seeking to ensure that they support our governing bodies. While we have good stories to tell around Commonwealth games and the leadership at many of our governing bodies, it is that experience at a grassroots level that we need to unpick and help challenge as well. That is why the equality standard for sport is there to help governing bodies to ensure that there is inclusive as they can be possible. We, accompanied by training programmes, are also relevant. I want to pick out one of our governing bodies that is doing some fantastic group. In addition to athletics and a whole host of others, the Royal Yotting Association of Scotland became the first governing body in Scotland and one of only two governing bodies across the UK to be awarded the advanced level of the equality standard that was set out by Sports Scotland. In addition to Alison Scott-Johnston's mention of athletics, a quick mention of boxing and squash, which also have innovative ways in which they are trying to ensure that they can reach out to communities that they may not have in the past to ensure that they can enjoy the offer that sport can bring. Also, in a couple of weeks' time, I will be visiting Shaulins Academy in Glasgow, who have developed a safer sport that schools manifesto. That manifesto has been developed in partnership with Leeds Sports and will allow all children to feel comfortable in taking part in physical education. At school level, at governing body level, we have plans. There are strategies in place to try to ensure the inclusivity that we all desire is there in sport, but there is, of course, much more that we need to do. To draw my comments to a conclusion, we are becoming a fully inclusive nation, but there is much more to do. I would like to put on record my thanks to Sport Scotland, the governing bodies, Leeds Sports and everyone else who has been involved in working together to improve equal opportunities for all and who are committed to tolerance, respect and removing barriers that have persisted. I commend Mary Fee for the work and commitment that she has shown on the issue, but to more generally sum up Parliament is always at its best when it works together. On that, we are absolutely united. In the words of Rona Mackay, I think that it is time that we blow the whistle on homophobia and use that as our opportunity to work together to make the progress that we all seek.