"The only thing that should matter in sport, is how people play on the field,"

Athletes Join #RainbowLaces Campaign To Battle Homophobia

Athletes around the world are joining forces to fight homophobia in sports and making their feet more colorful.

Got the whole #Squad decked out in our #RainbowLaces. Homophobia? Nah #KnotMe. Sport is for everyone. A post shared by Tommaso D'Orsogna (@tommasodor) on Apr 2, 2016 at 5:54pm PDT

As part of the #RainbowLaces campaign, sport stars from the U.S., Great Britain, Australia and beyond have brightened up their kicks with rainbow shoelaces to show their support for LGBT players.

Join Johnathan Thurston & support homophobia free sport by wearing your #RainbowLaces for the Rainbow Round of Sport pic.twitter.com/oc9K33IpCy — SKINS Australia (@SKINSAU) March 28, 2016

The UK-based LGBT charity Stonewall launched the campaign.

Professional sports leagues like the Australian Football League are encouraging gay players to come out “without fear of ridicule or discrimination.”

A recent study revealed that 70% of Australians don’t believe youth team sports are safe for out athletes.

Johnathan Thurston gets behind global 'homophobia free sport' campaign. https://t.co/Bhv0lVTIWi pic.twitter.com/Ql57cMMG1D — SBS Australia (@SBS) March 29, 2016

“The only thing that should matter in sport, is how people play on the field,” said Australian rugby player Johnathan Thurston, one of the faces of the campaign.

Thurston is encouraging people to pick up a pair of #RainbowLaces to “help kick homophobia out for good.”

Check out images from the #RainbowLaces campaign below.

All set with my rainbow laces for the Rainbow Round this weekend. Saying no to homophobia in sport. #knotme #bruvchi pic.twitter.com/wZL6iZUxtm — David Pocock (@pocockdavid) April 1, 2016