FC Barcelona enjoys one of the largest social media followings among all pro sports teams, with tens of millions of fans located around the world. And over the weekend, the club used its platform to send love to the LGBTQ+ community… even to potentially unfriendly audiences.

To close out Pride Month, FC Barcelona raised the Intersex-Inclusive Pride Progress flag, which represents the inclusion of all races, transgender people and intersex folx. The flag was flown at the team-owned arena, Palau Blaugrana.

As one would expect, FC Barcelona shared pictures of the flag on many of its accounts, a common occurrence for sports teams during June. That includes the club’s Arabic account on X, which boasts more than 5.7 million followers.

LGBTQ+ rights, of course, are nonexistent in many parts of the Middle East. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t LGBTQ+ people in that part of the world. By posting the Pride flag, FC Barcelona showed it stands with its fans of all stripes.

Zander Murray, the recently retired Scottish pro soccer player who publicly came out as gay, highlighted the gesture.

“Bravo Barca,” he posted. “Amount of talks I’ve done this year. That get live streamed in the Middle East. To which I receive such heartwarming messages from our community over there.”

While FC Barcelona is far from the only Premier League club with Arabic social media accounts, it’s the only major team that acknowledged Pride Month on said platforms. Real Madrid, for example, posted nothing about the LGBTQ+ community during June.

It’s apparent that many of FC Barcelona’s fans across the globe appreciated the message.

This wasn’t the first time that FC Barcelona showed love for the LGBTQ+ community on its Arabic accounts. Earlier this year, they recognized the International Day Against Homophobia in Sport. The awareness day coincides with the birthday of Justin Fashanu, the first out gay male soccer player who died tragically in 1998.

Related: FC Barcelona surprisingly puts pro-LGBTQ social post on Arabic account, to mixed reactions

The issue of Premier League clubs, and some star players, abandoning their support for LGBTQ+ people when it comes to expanding the game in the Middle East has reached a fever pitch. Perhaps most notably, former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, one of the most prominent allies in sport, signed with a Saudi Arabian club last summer.

Faced with immense backlash, Henderson originally said he held “no regrets” about his decision… which earned him about $15 million. But the midfielder left Saudi less than six months into his deal, and apologized to his queer fans.

“If any people from that community feel let down or hurt, I apologize. I did that six months ago, I’ll do it again,” he said, via ESPN. “That was never my intention. I had to make a decision based on what I thought was best for me and my family, but I understood it at the same time. But I haven’t changed as a person. … I have the same beliefs.”

Conducting business in the Middle East, while trying to affirm support for LGBTQ+ people, is a difficult line for sports teams to walk. When the Spanish Supercopa–a premier super cup tournament in Spanish soccer–was held own Saudi Arabia in January, Barca faced backlash for issuing travel guidelines to its LGBTQ+ fans.

The team warned queer supporters they could fave severe repercussions if they even shared their experiences on social media (homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia).

Despite liberal social attitudes in Western Europe, there hasn’t been a single out gay player in the Premier League since Fashanu. There are only a few out male pro soccer players in the world, among them: Josh Cavallo, Jake Daniels, Collin Martin and Jakub Jankto.

Suffice to say, there’s a lot of work to be done for queer acceptance in men’s soccer. FC Barcelona showing its support for LGBTQ+ people, even in front of hostile fans, is a positive step in that direction.

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