In New York, the football player Henry Bethell, from the Sarah Lawrence College varsity team, was the target of a homophobic insult (“faggot”) during a match in 2019 by the goalkeeper of the opposing team, St. Joseph's College Long Island. Bethell reacted by punching the other athlete.
The SLC athlete was excused from three games as punishment – and the attacker from just one. The information is from outsports, who reported the story this week.
According to the player, it was the third time that homophobic insults were directed at him during matches. Previously, none of the institutional measures taken after Bethell reported the attacks had the desired effect. He said he has been dealing with homophobic slurs since his high school days.
The college athlete told the outsports who never suffered any discrimination from his teammates.
