Thomas Hitzlsperger coming out is great but homophobia is 'horrendous' in grassroots football, says campaign group The Gay Football Supporters" Network found last season that fans of Brighton were still subjected to homophobic abuse from 72 per cent of opponents and at 70 per cent of away matches. One of the highlighted chants was, "You're just a town full of faggots" and the GFSN called on the Football Association and other authorities, including the police, to do more to tackle this abuse. The Crown Prosecution Service did then reiterate their guidelines about anti-discriminatory chanting, with banning orders among the range of possible sanctions. The GFSN asks a simple question: "If the words relating to a person's sexuality were replaced with words relating to someone's race or skin colour, would those chants be acceptable?" We have seen teams of ours who are predominantly gay male playing in mainstream FA county football leagues getting horrendous abuse. Off the pitch, away from the mentality, you would probably find that everyone they play against isn't homophobic. We have great strides still to make but someone like Thomas Hitzlsperger coming out is another step towards creating an atmosphere in football where someone can come out if they want to. We never ask or expect anyone to come out - that is a personal decision - but we want there to be an atmosphere in the game, at every level, that people can come out if they want to. Basiurski stresses that there have been significant developments over recent years at all levels - Arsenal now have a fan club called the "Gay Gooners" and similar groups are forming at West Ham United, Liverpool, Norwich City and Manchester City - but believes that there is still a lingering culture whereby anti-gay rhetoric is regarded as acceptable. "When you hear homophobic abuse, with most people, it is not from people who are homophobic," he said. Football is a tribal sport and there can be a feeling it is somehow an acceptable and fair game weapon to support your team and oppose the opposition. There seems to be a disconnect between support for gay people and a feeling that using homophobic language is fair game in sport, certainly in football. What we would like to see is a great understanding of homophobia and the impact of it. I think we have a long way to go before people mindset's change before people think actually this is not fair game. Basiurksi, though, does believe that Hitzlsperger's interview - and such a supportive reaction from so many fans and players - represents another important development in football becoming more tolerant. "It shows that we are moving one step closer to creating that atmosphere in football where players at all levels would be able to come out should they want to, safely and free from discrimination," he said.