At Euro 2025, it’s not just the goals making headlines — it’s the wrists. The rainbow armband, once a clear-cut emblem of LGBTQ pride and inclusion, has suddenly turned into a controversial symbol dividing players, teams, and fans. What was meant to be a unifier is now a sartorial spark igniting fierce debate across the Women’s European Championship in Switzerland.
UEFA, trying to play it neutral, gave team captains the freedom to choose: go bold with a rainbow armband or stick with a plain one that simply reads “respect.” The choice? Far from simple. While some captains slipped into the vibrant rainbow with pride — Germany’s Janina Minge, England’s Leah Williamson, and Switzerland’s Lia Wälti among them — others, like France’s Griedge Mbock Bathy, opted out, arguing that the rainbow’s focus is too narrow for their multicultural squad.
“Highlighting a single issue also potentially excludes the others,” Mbock Bathy said. “The armband with the word ‘respect’ really represents what we want to convey as a message.” Her coach, Laurent Bonadei, doubled down, saying, “Respect as a word gathers a lot of causes such as racism. I think the ‘respect’ one is really a nice one.”
Nice or not, many LGBTQ fans aren’t buying it. To them, this isn’t about style or semantics — it’s about visibility, safety, and inclusion. Choosing not to wear the rainbow, they argue, sends a clear message of erasure at a time when queer rights are under attack across Europe and beyond. For a tournament meant to celebrate women’s strength and unity, silence isn’t just disappointing — it’s loud.
Armband Politics: From Switzerland to Qatar
This isn’t the rainbow’s first rodeo in the stadium spotlight. UEFA previously caught heat for refusing to let Munich light up its stadium in rainbow colors in protest of Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ legislation. The symbolism resurfaced during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where FIFA shut down the “One Love” rainbow armband campaign and threatened bookings for defiance. Germany’s players responded by covering their mouths during their team photo — a pointed statement on being silenced.
Back in Euro 2025, armband choices vary as wildly as the weather in London. England’s Lucy Bronze sported a rainbow wristband, while Iceland’s Glódís Viggósdóttir and Norway’s Ada Hegerberg went full rainbow. Even Italy got in on the action with Elena Linari, though her teammate Cristiana Girelli later switched to the plain “respect” version.
The divide is more than fashion; it’s a fault line between athletes who see LGBTQ rights as non-negotiable and those who want to keep the pitch apolitical. But let’s get real: football is never just football. For queer fans — many of whom see themselves represented for the first time on this grand stage — that rainbow band means safety, community, and being seen.
The Queer Impact
For LGBTQ youth and adults watching from the sidelines, the visibility of rainbow symbols can’t be understated. Seeing captains wear the rainbow is a reminder: You belong. You matter. But when major teams pull back under the guise of “neutrality,” it risks validating those who’d rather we disappear entirely.
At a time when anti-queer rhetoric is gaining political ground across Europe, these symbolic acts carry real-world weight. UEFA’s “choose your own armband” approach might seem diplomatic, but it ends up diluting the very message it claims to support.
So, while the goals keep coming and the matches grow fiercer, the rainbow remains a flashpoint — a signal of solidarity to some, and to others, a cause for retreat. But make no mistake: in this showdown, queer visibility is on the line.
And honey, the LGBTQ community is watching.