As part of the celebrations of 10 years of Rainbow Laces, London FA, Amateur FA, Stonewall and Londonwide Assembly are partnering to host an event at City Hall on Wednesday 6th December to share the amazing stories of the LGBTQ+ football community, as well as exploring how Rainbow Laces has impacted other sports as well. 

Our two incredible panels include: 

Grassroots Football Panel

Brian Silk (he/him)

Brian is a player for Leftfooters FC, Stonewall FC and Bexley Invicta FC, where he was also the Founder of the newly names Charlton Invicta FC and was Chair from 2011 to 2015. Brian was Director of Registrations for the IGLFA World Championships 2008 in London and Vice Chair of Kent Equality Advisory Group from 2011 to 2019. More recently, Brian sits on Amateur FA IAG, is Chair of London Unity League as of 2017 and is Community Liaison Officer for Erith Town FC, since 2022. 

Julia Gillman (she/her)

Julia joined Brockwell United in September 2022 after reaching out to the team following England Lionesses win at the 2022 Euros. The club was the perfect atmosphere with the fun Instagram posts and sense of community which is felt at training and match days. Since joining, Julia has developed as a player and has joined the committee as Kit and Merch Manager. 

Chris Knight (he/him)

Chris is a lifelong football fan who, since their inception a little over a year ago, has been involved with the RainbO's, the Leyton Orient LGBTQ+ supporters group, as their treasurer. Chris also works with other fan groups with the aim of making football more inclusive as well as playing for Stonewall Football Club. When not investing too much time in football he is a maths teacher. 

Alex Baker (he/him)

Alex has been Chair of Stonewall Football Club, one of the UK's longest running and most successful LGBTQ+ inclusive football clubs, since 2018. He is a Level 4 (supply league) referee affiliated to London FA and has been part of an FA working group to improve diversity in the refereeing pathway since 2020. He was appointed to FA Council in 2021 as a National Game Football Communities Representative, and sits on the Football Regulatory Authority, the FA Referees' Committee and the newly-formed FA Council People & Culture Committee. He recently stood down as President of the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association.

Sport Panel 

Qasim Alli (he/him)

Qasim is the founder and coach of London City Panthers Mixed Lacrosse Club, providing racially inclusive, mixed gender lacrosse playing opportunities. He plays with the Rainbow Rexes LGBTQ+ touring team, as well as Lions Elite Mixed Lacrosse, and advocates for breaking down gender normativity, classism and racism in sport.

Erin Williams (they/she)

Erin is Sport Programmes Manager at Stonewall. They have dedicated their career to building inclusive environments and learning opportunities across sport and leads Stonewall's work with performance Academies. A lacrosse player and coach for over 25 years, Erin represented Wales across 3 World Cups and won 3 European Championships medals.

Jason Naylor (he/him)

Jason is a Content Creator in the Marketing & Communications department at England Lacrosse who has taken a lead on inclusion since 2020. His and England Lacrosse's passion in the inclusion area led to the organisation becoming a Stonewall Diversity Champion in 2022; being a Diversity Champion helped with the formation of the England Lacrosse Inclusion Advisory Group which Jason currently sits on. Jason is determined to continue to increase inclusion and diversity within lacrosse, allowing more people to get involved in the sport.

We look forward to the event as we continue our dedication #KeepItUp for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. 

If you are interested in attending this evening, please contact conor.mcbrearty@londonfa.com