Share

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

“Here we all play” is the motto of the Stonewall League , an LGBTQ+ soccer league that emerged with the purpose of “providing players with a space where they can feel free, fulfilled, and forget the prejudices imposed by society,” explained Karen Quezada. Along with Quetzal Ayala, Karen founded this project, which is based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

Six teams currently make up the league, which includes lesbians, gays, bisexuals, a trans woman, and gender-fluid individuals. Although the space is primarily intended for people belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, this is not a requirement to participate.

One of the most important objectives of this project is for it to function as a scouting ground to select players to form a team that will represent Mexico in the Gay Games, a multi-sport event to be held in Hong Kong in 2022. It also aims to create community and networking among the athletes.

Why an LGBTQ+ league?

Quetzal explained that it's common for LGBTQ+ people who participate in sports to be subjected to derogatory and discriminatory comments: "It puts pressure on you, stresses you out, and limits your performance," he said. Both he and Karen are passionate about sports, especially soccer, and both have experienced aggression. 

“I think we all know that [football] is one of the most sexist sports there is. I have received very derogatory comments for being a lesbian woman, even heterosexual women were told comments like 'tomboy' or 'dyke' (…) and if they are not derogatory comments, they are sexual ones like 'oh mamacita',” Karen recounted.

These kinds of situations are not isolated incidents and are not limited to mere comments. In April, the Nuevo León LGBT+ soccer team, Leones, filed a complaint on social media on April 23. In a post , they recounted how the staff at Sport Center Sendero denied them the use of the facilities, claiming that members and owners had complained about the "bad image" the team would project to the sports center.

“The needs of the teams are respect for everyone, that we are treated cordially, I don't mean specially because at the end of the day we are all equal, but don't segregate me, don't mistreat me, don't make derogatory comments that have nothing to do with the sporting level, but with me as a person,” Quetzal expressed.

LGBT+ teams in Jalisco with “a high level”

“When I decided to play soccer, I was the only one in elementary school who dedicated himself to playing it,” Marco Valdés Mora said about how he discovered he liked this sport: “One day my dad put me in training, they taught me how to hit the ball, they taught me how to bring it down and I joined a team.”

Marco is now 22 years old and currently plays midfield for Deportivo Alianza , a team founded in February of this year with 17 other members. “I didn’t know there was a gay league; I always imagined there might be something like this, and the day I found out, I joined. I’ve been doing this for almost three years now, and counting, because I don’t think I’ll ever quit,” he said.

“I started playing late because I didn’t like soccer. I was 22 when I started playing, and that’s when it began to grab my attention. (…) Everyone in my family played except me, and from 22 until now [at 37], I’m the only one who hasn’t stopped playing,” he recounted about his connection to the sport. Regarding LGBT+ leagues, he said he learned about them four months ago: “I’ve always been used to playing with only men, only straight men, and this is very new to me, but it’s a really cool experience.”

This is also the case for Alberto Castro, a center forward on the same team, who learned about these spaces three months ago: “A friend told me he had an LGBT team and invited me to play. Little by little, I got more involved and started to see that there were leagues and tournaments.” Regarding Deportivo Alianza, he said they are “a strong team, and that’s why I’m here. I like to win.”

A sport without support

“We need to stop hiding as much as heterosexual leagues, because we do get comments like, ‘Oh no, how do they play?’” Miguel said about the situations they face as athletes. He mentioned that the lack of confidence in their performance on the field is a constant.

Regarding this, Marco opined that “for heterosexuals, the fact that you are gay makes you incompetent to a certain extent, but that's outside the field. When you enter the field, you are already equal to them, and that depends on the competition you give and whether you feel capable of competing.”

This is compounded by a lack of sponsorships and even government support. Alberto said that financial incentives or the loan of facilities would be a great help to the athletes on these teams. “They need to pay more attention to the community, because I believe we are all worth the same and have the same needs as heterosexual athletes (…) [the lack of resources] is what undermines the teams and the athletes,” he commented.

Regarding the landscape for LGBTQ+ teams and whether they envision themselves ever reaching the first division, Quetzal said, “It would be incredible, imagine a team from the community in the major leagues.” However, while acknowledging the teams' potential, he emphasized that it doesn't depend solely on that: “[Soccer] is a sport, if not the most, of the most sexist, heteronormative, and cisgender sport, so society as a whole isn't ready, or the league executives aren't ready, to allow this opening.” 

That is why organizations like Guadalajara Pride , an association focused on promoting inclusion through cultural, sporting, academic and recreational activities; and the Mexican Sports Federation for Diversity, have been key to the formation of the League.