Year in Review, pt. 3: World Cup fever, Jorge Steven Lopez's killer brought to justice, Lady Gaga's Little Monsters in Monterrey

Soccer superstar supports marriage equality: On the eve of the South Africa FIFA World Soccer Cup, May brought expressions of support for marriage equality from one of soccer's biggest starts: Cristiano Ronaldo. His country of birth, Portugal, became the 6th European country to allow gays to marry in May and a reporter wanted his reaction. "We must respect the choices made by anyone," he said. "after all, every citizen should have the exact same rights and responsibilities."

The Putos Peronistas fly their blue flag: In May, Argentina got one step closer to becoming the first country in Latin America to grant same-sex couples the right to marry when the House of Deputies voted in favor of a marriage equality bill with 125 in favor, 109 against and 6 abstentions (you can see the blue Peronist Fags flag proudly flying above the legislative chambers after the vote was taken).

Justice in the murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado: In Puerto Rico, Juan José Martinez Matos pleaded guilty the brutal murder of 19 year old gay college student Jorge Steven López Mercado last November and received a sentence of 99 years in prison.

The murder had drawn international attention for its brutality as well as for the silence it elicited from the leading political and religious figures in the island, with rallies for justice held in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.  Public figures such as Miss Universe 2001 Denise Quiñonez, Calle 13 singer René Perez and Ricky Martin also raised their voice denouncing the crime.

Uniting all those threads was the amazingly moving work done by my friend Pedro Julio Serrano,who works at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, who helped the López Mercado family to get through some of the most difficult times as their murdered son was brought to justice. Pedro Julio was next to Jorge Steven's parents after Martinez was sentenced...

Maradona is not gay. I repeat, Maradona is NOT gay: In June, as the FIFA World Cup got underway and the Argentinean soccer team emerged as a favorite to win the tournament, team manager and soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona raised some eyebrows when he adamantly denied he was gay in response to a reporter's seemingly badly translated question (here is a direct link to the video).

Argentina, alas, did not go on to win the Cup which also meant that Maradona did not have to keep a promise he made to the team's technical manager to run naked around the Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires.

Church mural is too gay: In the Dominican Republic, an artist who had been contracted years ago to paint a church mural, denounced that a new priest wanted the mural torn down because it was too gay.  A community vote on whether the mural would be left standing or torn down was planned but I never found out the outcome.

Lady Gaga to the rescue in Monterrey, Mexico: In the meantime, LGBT activists in Mexico who had long lobbied the Mexican government to observe May 17th as the official "International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia" were enraged that the federal government finally acceded to their demands only to strip the words "homophobia" and "transphobia" from the official designation. Instead, Felipe Calderón's government, who had previously appealed the groundbreaking marriage equality ruling in Mexico City before the Supreme Court and lost, called it "The National
Day of Tolerance and Respect towards Preferences".  How did the activists respond? Of course! Staging a Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" flashmob at the Plaza of Heroes in Monterrey!

Menudo outing, pt. 2: Oh, and in the meantime, another former Menudo singer came out. Or, in other words, Angelo Garcia was already out but nobody asked him until a couple of months before even Ricky Martin came out.  But word of a 2nd Menudo being an openly gay man didn't catch fire until media followed up on Ricky's Twitter confession.

He who mistreats a woman is a fag

When it comes to the usage in Latin America of Spanish-language terms that most people would deem homophobic, I admit sometimes I am left feeling a bit flummoxed.

There is, for example, the song "Puto" by the legendary Mexican rock band Molotov. The literate translation of the title is "Faggot" and it has a quaint chorus that says "matarile al maricón" ("kill the fag").

But whenever I've called it a homophobic song I've gotten push-back from people who say that in the song's context "Puto" does not really refer to gays but, instead, to the powers that be. And, to be sincere, I partly get it. The band itself has said as much and, in the face of criticism, insists on playing it live during their tours.  But even if "fag" can be contextualized to mean something else in a song, do their fans make the distinction?

These thoughts come to mind today in light of a new campaign launched today by the National Women Services Ministry of the Chilean government (SERNAM):



SAY WHAT? Yes, the Chilean government says a "fag" is he who mistreats a woman (official government announcement here).

Speaking to La Tercera, Carolina Schmidt Zaldivar, Director of SERNAM, explained:

[Domestic] violence is based on the abuse of power and a poor understanding of what true masculinity is.  Does it make you more of a macho man to mistreat, beat up or denigrate a woman?  The answer is clear: He who mistreats a woman is a lesser man... let's say things as they are.

 I do think the Minister makes a relevant point which actually is also pertinent to the discussion about the Molotov song: The Mexican rock band and the Chilean government might argue that "maricón" and "puto" is in no way related to "fagness" but they both admit they use the homophobic terminology as a means to question a man's masculinity.

Here is what complicates things somewhat: The first man you see in the video is Chilean soccer referee Pablo Pozo who has previously denounced soccer fans calling him a fag at several games and directly challenged homophobia in one of the most homophobic sports in the world.

The second man is television personality and talk show host Jordi Castell who is one of the few openly gay personalities on Chilean television.  They both say they decided to participate in the campaign as opponents of domestic violence.

The ads also have the backing of the country's leading LGBT rights organization, the Homosexual Movement of Integration and Liberation (MOVILH), who tweeted the following tonight:

With the SERNAM campaign things are left clear: Relatives and people you know who are gay aren't fags. The man who beats up his woman is. 

MOVILH, really?

There are a couple of things that strike me as very wrong with this brief statement. MOVILH lets SERNAM use the word "faggot" in a campaign and backs it up.  They also buy into the meme that 'fagness' can be used to denigrate a man's masculinity.

In addition, the campaign assumes all domestic violence in a heterosexual partnership comes from the man, which is not always the case.

One Chilean LGBT rights organization is not having any of it.  Speaking tonight on Radio Bio Bio, Marcelo Aguilar of Acción Gay said the campaign was discriminatory and questioned whether the message would be received as intended.

Tonight we have an answer to that: The term "maricón" [fag] became the #1 trending topic on Twitter in South America tonight thanks to SERNAM.

I personally think it's an awful campaign, it elicits unintended consequences, and gives people license to use the word "maricón" as if it wasn't anything bad.

But what's your take? Does the shock value make men respond? Is the campaign homophobic? Please let us know.

Related:

• El 'rupturismo' del SERNAM (Spanish) - Observatorio Género y Equidad

Update: Univision removes homophobic poll from website, apologizes

That was quick: On Saturday I wrote about a poll Univision had posted on their website.  It asked readers "Is Soccer compatible with soccer?" and provided three possible answers, two implying it would be OK as long as the player kept his sexual orientation hidden, and one that read "No, soccer is a sport for macho men."

Both Queerty and After Elton picked up on the post, Queerty noting yesterday that the poll had been removed from the site.

It turns out the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) saw the blog post and followed up with Univision.  From GLAAD's blog:

Just days after a CNN poll asked, “Are gay characters on television harmful to society?” the blogs Blabbeando and Queerty reported on a poll on Univision.com that asked site visitors “is homosexuality compatible with sports?” Among the choices was: “No, soccer is a sport for macho men.” GLAAD’s Director of Spanish-Language Media reached out to Univision.com on Sept. 13 to explain how this question demeans a number of people, including all gay and lesbian people already playing the sport and how the question perpetuates damaging stereotypes.

Today, Sports Editor Joaquín Duro acknowledged that publishing the poll had been a poor decision and apologized for having done so. The poll was removed. The story that generated the poll accurately reported on a German agent who made anti-gay remarks about Spain’s soccer team, and we thank Univision.com for that.

“Leading ‘poll’ questions like this only serve to perpetuate intolerance and misunderstanding about our community,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “Univision’s swift action is the latest step in a trend of Spanish-language media becoming more responsible and open to covering LGBT issues in a fair and accurate manner.”

We greatly appreciate the prompt responses from both Univision.com and CNN. The next time any media outlet decides it wants to poll its viewers about whether gay inclusion is a good thing or a bad thing, we suggest that they instead ask themselves THIS poll question: “Does homophobia belong in the media?”

The answer is no.

Thanks, GLAAD!

Univision poll: Is soccer compatible with homosexuality?

[UPDATE as of 9/13/10: Univision has taken the poll off their site.  Thanks to Queerty and After Elton for picking up on this post]

I've often written about homophobia in sports and, particularly, in soccer. Sometimes it seems not a single week can go by without some sort of incident and last week was no different.

The gist of it: A representative for one of Germany's leading players opened up his mouth and blamed the German team's loss at this year's World Cup on a secret cadre of gay players ("German Soccer Manager Blames Gay Players")

The interview with Michael Becker, a manager for Germany's Michael Ballack, was originally posted on Der Spiegel on July 13th, but didn't run like wildfire through the Latin American sports pages until last week (see Argentina's Clarin, Spain's El Correo, Honduras' Diez, etc.).

Which brings us to Univision.

Yesterday, on the site, they posted a pretty great opinion piece by Robert Elzmendi in which he responds to the furor raised by Becker's comments in Der Spiegel.

In "Is soccer compatible with homosexuality?", Elzmendi argues that it's time for the sport of soccer to embrace a campaign against homophobia as it embraced a campaign against racism during the World Cup. If you remember, signs were held that said "Say no to racism" before every game and payers took turns decrying the practice.

Unfortunately, the piece is marred by an editorial decision to also run a homophobic poll next to the article.

The question: "Is soccer compatible with sexuality?". The options: 1. "Yes, sexuality is private and independent", 2. "Yes, but you don't have to make it public" and 3. "No, soccer is a sport for macho men".

Sigh. I know online polls are silly marketing ploys to draw readers and page hits but, where to start?  There seems to be no difference between the first and second options: Basically, it's OK to be a gay soccer player as long as you remain in the closet and don't talk about it.  As for the third option, what exactly is a macho guy? Is Univision saying there are no masculine gay men? Or that it's OK to kick out someone as metrosexual as David Beckham from a team? What about all the female soccer leagues? Are only macho-like girls allowed.

Silly poll. Univision should know better than to post it.

Argentina at the FIFA World Cup: Homosex on their minds

What's up with the Argentina soccer world cup team and their latest obsession with homosex?

The latest: Back in May, before the tournament began, team coach and famed former player Diego Maradona (right) made an unusual promise: If Argentina returns from South Africa as the world champions, he will run naked around the Obelisk located in the heart of Buenos Aires.

Not that running naked is gay. But then came other comments by Carlos Bilardo, another former player and the team's current General Manager.

Appearing on a television news magazine show aired on June 4th, Dr. Bilardo, who is also a former physical therapist, was a bit bawdy and funny as heck.  Invited to talk on the topic of sex and soccer, Dr. Bilardo addressed whether players should have sex the day before a game, whether they masturbated in the locker rooms and whether there was an appropriate sexual position between an older man and a younger woman.

The clincher came just as Dr. Bilardo was getting ready to end the interview and walk out of the studio.

"Any promises Carlos, or not?" host Matias Marín asked him, "Diego [Maradona] said if he emerges the champion, [he'l run] naked to the Obelisk".

Here is Dr. Bilardo's response:



That, of course, was international news. From Peru's 100 Goles, "If Argentina is the champion, I'll let them do my ass". 

It's not the first time that Dr. Bilardo makes a similar World Cup promise. Four years ago, he offered to masturbate the player who scored the championship goal at the previous World Cup tournament (Italy won so Dr. Bilardo ultimately did not have to make good on his offer).

I guess he was upping the ante this year and at least one of the players indicated he would be more than game. Martin Palermo, who at 36 is playing in his first World Cup tournament, joked that if he scores the championship goal he'll "make Bilardo's dream come true" only if Bilardo accepts putting on a wig.

Who knows where all this is going with Argentina sitting pretty on top of the World Cup Group B standings with two wins and no losses. One thing seems true, the spirit of homosex doesn't seem to want to leave the team alone.  It's latest manifestation came during the press conference on Thursday after Argentina's 4-1 defeat of South Korea in the guise of a BBC reporter and some apparently faulty translation.



Look at those eyes widen in horror at the thought of homosex! Ah, Diego. Things haven't changed much since he played into rumors that Brazilian soccer idol Pelé began his sexual life with other boys. That also made worldwide news at the time.

But what else is new?  Soccer doesn't seem to indicate it will ever grow up when it comes to issues related to homosexuality.

RELATED:

• Roger Cohen: The Loose Vuvuzuela (NYT, June 21, 2010)
• Diego Maradona is not gay (The New Republic, July 2, 2010)

Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo backs marriage rights for gay couples

As soccer fans around the world get ready for the FIFA World Cup, which begins in South Africa on June 11th, the sports pages of newspapers worldwide are doing their usual job of ratcheting up expectation by profiling participating team rosters and team members.

Portugal's Púbilico is no different than other papers and yesterday they featured an interview with Portuguese-born Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured above), in which he made worldwide headlines by expressing discontent and frustration about his first six months as a player for Spain's Real Madrid.

In the same interview, Ronaldo was also asked whether he followed developments in Portugal including the recent approval of a law that allows same-sex couples to get married.  His response:

The Portuguese man that I am, I try to keep informed about what is happening in my country.  I know the law was passed and the comment it deserves is that we must respect the choices made by anyone, because, after all, all citizens should have the exact same rights and responsibilities.

This is a breath of fresh air coming from one of the top players in a sport not particularly known for its tolerance or respect towards gays.

Wasn't it just earlier in the month that I covered the latest homophobic flare-up in the soccer world?  In that instance, as it often does, media was only happy to fan the flames by gleefully questioning whether this image proved that two Barcelona CF teammates were gay.

An update: Back then, I described how one of the players in the image, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, had angrily reacted to questions about his sexuality by lashing out at a female reporter and asking her to come home with him so he could prove he wasn't a 'fag'.

Since then, the other player in the image has also addressed the controversy.  In an interview posted on May 24th, Gerard Piqué (pictured right) says that the image in question was actually taken in March after both players had left a press conference in which Piqué had presented his published auto-biography.  Piqué believes that the image was held for days and only released at a later date in order to shake the team's stability during the season's final games.

Piqué doesn't directly address Ibrahamovic's angry outburst but does say that, at least at the time the image was released, both players took it in stride. "We saw it on the television in the dressing room," he said, "and we were both cracking up in laughter."

Previously:

• Cristian Sancho in Romeo magazine (April 12, 2010)
• Soccer players in love (April 11, 2010)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 74: When a kiss is not what it seems (Sept. 19, 2009)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 71: Maradone vs. Pelé (March 30, 2009)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 70: Dalasso and his cybercheating (May 17, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 69: Honduran coach Edwin Pavón (May 6, 2008)
• Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo says he is not gay (May 6, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 67: Luciano Moggi and Jorge Luis Pinto (May 3, 2008)
• Trans panic in soccer, Part 64: Ronaldo's big night out (May 3, 2008)
• Homophobia and racism in soccer, Part 65: Hugo Sanchez (March 31, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 64: Hernan Dario Gomez (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World gay soccer champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Homophobia in soccer, part 76: Really, you don't have to prove your heterosexuality THAT way

What do you see in the photo to the right? A private moment between two men. Hands entwined, sadness on the face of the dark-haired man, concern shown by the other man. Two lovers? A scene from the Argentinean 'soccer-players-in-love' television soap opera "Botineras"?  Close, but not quite.

I wasn't going to blog about this. I really wasn't. But then one of the men in the photo had to open his mouth and say something stupid and homophobic about the picture and, well, reluctantly. I knew I had to write something about it.

The two men in question are Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gerard Piqué.  They are teammates at the world-famous Barcelona C.F. soccer team from Spain. And, unless you live in the United States, you probably would not have been able to escape this image or all the random conjecture about the soccer players' sexuality.

Considering the media whirlwind that followed, I certainly understood why they were trying to keep silent.  Thursday, though, a female reporter from Spain's Telecinco caught up to Ibrahimovic - the dark-haired guy - and asked what he thought of the photo. The soccer player simply replied "Come to my house and you will see if I'm a fag, and bring your sister as well".

Sigh.

It would have been so easy for him to laugh off the suggestion he is gay. Or to challenge media and their homophobic reactions as they gleefully played up that two soccer players from the Barcelona team might be gay lovers. Instead, Ibrahimovic lashes out at the reporter, uses a pejorative word to talk about gays and, in anger, offers to fuck the reporter and her sister to 'prove' he's not gay.

THAT'S why I decided to write about this incident after all. No, I still don't think that the photo above proves anything about either man's sexuality. But Ibrahimovic's reaction certainly proves that he is thin-skinned, homophobic, misogynistic and an asshole, to boot.

Or, in other words, welcome to yet one more example of the rabid homophobia that still exists in soccer.

Previously:

• Cristian Sancho in Romeo magazine (April 12, 2010)
• Soccer players in love (April 11, 2010)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 74: When a kiss is not what it seems (Sept. 19, 2009)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 71: Maradone vs. Pelé (March 30, 2009)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 70: Dalasso and his cybercheating (May 17, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 69: Honduran coach Edwin Pavón (May 6, 2008)
• Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo says he is not gay (May 6, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 67: Luciano Moggi and Jorge Luis Pinto (May 3, 2008)
• Trans panic in soccer, Part 64: Ronaldo's big night out (May 3, 2008)
• Homophobia and racism in soccer, Part 65: Hugo Sanchez (March 31, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 64: Hernan Dario Gomez (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World gay soccer champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Loving this: Ay Haiti

So I am on Shakira's Twitter feed (don't ask, and certainly, don't tell) and this came through a few minutes ago. I clicked through and found myself moved by a new musician-led effort to raise funds for disaster relief in Haiti following the devastating January 12th earthquake.

The song, featuring some of the best singers from Spain as well as a few worldwide superstars, has been playing on the radio since March 27th but the video was just launched today.  It features superstars Shakira, Miguel Bosé, Alejandro Sanz and Juanes. Other participants include actress Paz Vega, soccer players Kaká, Andrés Iniesta, "Kun" Agüero, Diego Forlán and Sergio Ramos and singers Bebe, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Aleks Syntek, Anni B. Sweet, Macaco, La Mala Rodriguez, Belinda, OBK, Hombres G, Daddy Jean, Wally López, Zahara, Sandra Carrasco, José Mercé, David Otero, Enrique Iglesias, Marta Sánchez and Najwa Nimiri. 

In a Madrid press conference yesterday to launch the video, producer David Summers - who also is the lead singer of Hombres G - said that the artists had hoped to be able to sell the song through iTunes but charged that Apple insisted on charging a 30% commission on sales instead of waving the fee and allowing all funds raised through the sale of the single to go towards the effort.

I'm not sure if there is an international fundraising effort through the sale of the song but all proceeds will go to Intermón OxFam. If you like the song, you might want to make a donation here.

In my humble opinion, this rocks! It beats those awful English-language and Spanish-language "We Are The World" remakes anytime (ok, the only thing all three share in lameness is the rap interludes and, if one thing jumps out from this new effort, it's just how white the pool of artists is. I mean, the rapper wearing black gloves? Huh?). Anyway, some of the lyrics are beautiful:

There are lands that don't have any dreams
There are lands that tremble in fear
There are lands that want peace
Haiti only wants to be normal

There is still time to be reborn
Of horse-riding above the hunger and the iron
There is a time to give out love
To erase the hunger and the destruction

CHORUS:
There is love, there is you, and in my voice, there's Haiti
There is love, there is you, and in my voice, there's Haiti

A life comes to a stop, desolation behind his back
It's a child with a lost view
Who, from the dust, illuminates with his own light

Seriously, it made me tear up. Oh, and I simply love Bebe (she is the one with the ring through her lower lip). And Alejandro Sanz? That voice! *melts* Damn! Enjoy. And donate.

Related: The "making of" video here

Cristian Sancho in Romeo magazine

An update of sorts to yesterday's post about the gay storyline in the Argentinian television soap opera "Botineras". In the soap, 34 year old Cristian Sancho plays El "Flaco" Riveiro, a soccer star having a torrid extra-marital affair with one of his teammates.  From what I have read about the soap, when it began airing in November, it was a somewhat comedic take focused on the plight of a group of women in relationships with soccer players (an Argentinian version of the British hit "The Footballers' Wives", it sounds like). But, as the show has continued, it has taken a darker turn with a murder mystery thrown in and the storyline about the nascent relationship between the male soccer players.

As you read yesterday, Sancho has said that he is glad to have been given the opportunity to play El "Flaco" and calls it the role of a lifetime. Married to a woman, he also is not shy about a former underwear modeling career. And, last December, when "Botineras" was just starting, he wasn't shy either about posing for an Argentinian gay pin-up magazine called Romeo.

Interestingly, back in January an actual Argentinian soccer player - Jesús Datolo - was reprimanded by the Italian soccer team he played for - for posing for an edition of the same magazine.

In any case, I'm not sure the editors of Romeo had any idea that Sancho's character in "Botineras" was about to begin a gay affair but I am sure they were more than glad when he said 'yes' to posing for the magazine.

Here is a clip of the Romeo photo shoot. And, no, I don't know where to get an actual copy of the magazine...

Argentina: Soccer players in love

Back in March there was a bit of a media sensation in Argentina when an actor who plays a star soccer player in a television soap opera called "Botineras" kissed another actor playing the role of an up-and-coming player. The kiss shocked viewers because both characters had been established as being romantically involved with women (the first with a wife and the second with a girlfriend) and because it came at the end of a scene in which the soccer star was consoling the teammate over an unrelated plot line. Watch...



You can also watch the two immediate follow-up scenes here and here (it's worth it, if you have the time - English language subtitles courtesy of BlackAngel82).

The kiss made the rounds of local media and was welcomed by local LGBT rights organizations.  It has also made "Botineras" the top rated television soap opera in Argentina at the moment.

Cristian Sancho, the 34 year old actor who plays soccer idol El "Flaco" Riveiro (top man above, pun somewhat intended), is a former underwear male model and married to a woman in real life. He says it was the first time he had ever kissed a man but felt the pressure to make the scene as realistic as possible because he knew the LGBT community would complain about it otherwise.

In an interview published in Clarin on March 31st, he said he was proud of the role and the willingness of the producers to break the mold.

"What's good is there is no fear of taboos. Homosexuality in soccer is a topic that stems from years ago," he says, "there are tales of players that were as such and we all know certain myths."

Sancho says he believes that gay soccer players fear coming out because of what might happen to them professionally and the potential reaction of soccer fans with their ingrained machismo.

As to whether the character of El "Flaco" is gay or bisexual, Sancho has this to say:

He is [currently] in the bi-polarity of not knowing how to distinguish what he wants. What he loves the most in his life is his family and he could not be able to live without them.  He lives in a machista world, and, indeed, he is machista. He believes his wife should take care of him.  There is love for her, but a fraternal love. He sees her as a mother-figure.  When I developed the character, I began from the basis that he is a man. I did not go with the stereotype of an effeminate gay. I wanted to have respect for the gay community, which is very demanding when it comes down to it.

But wait! That's not all! Remember all the bru-ha-ha in December over the first ever gay sex scene on a US television soap opera? Well, you can watch that darkly-lit, candle-decorated, gauzy-lensed snooze-fest from "One Life to Live" by clicking here.

Now compare: Something must have happened on "Botineras" during the past month because Lalo, as played by Ezequiel Castaño, seems to have gotten over his initial rejection of the advances by El "Flaco".  Here is the first sex scene between the two of them as aired Friday night on Argentinian television. It might show way more flesh than any of the US soap operas might show but, even taking away the nudity, THIS is how a TV soap should handle a sex scene between two leading men [Original source: AG Magazine].



Extra points: A Twitter friend tells me that the music playing in this clip is from Sigur Rós. And, indeed, it is! ("All Right").  And any TV soap that uses Sigur Rós for a pivotal love scene must be the best. soap. ever!  I thought I'd let you know.


Just beautiful...

Homophobia in soccer, Part. 74: When a kiss is not what it seems

A soccer team is down 2-1. A player scores a tying goal shot. Team members surround him to celebrate. Caught up in the emotion, one of them embraces him and plants a huge wet kiss on his mouth.

According to several papers and television sport shows in Latin America this week, that was the scene in a Honduran soccer stadium on Saturday when Vida team member Baryan Beckeles tied a game with Savio Sports and team-member Orlin Peralta gave him apretty stunning kiss (right).

"A passionate celebration" says Argentinian news agency Telam, "Days of love in the times of soccer" says Los Angeles' La Opinion (which should know better), "They hooked up in midfield" screams Diario Show, "Love, Love, Love" says Peruvian tabloid La Primera.

Except the the kiss never happened. Or so allege the two players with some video evidence to back them up.

Here is Beckeles speaking to the Honduran newspaper La Prensa on Monday, after the photo was published:

“I am a little upset with what has been published and much more about the photo, since it is damaging to our work and family environments. I know that at no moment did I do that, I didn't kiss my teammate, and I will never kiss a man like me. I think all of this is a misunderstanding."

He added: "My family, in that sense, is at peace because I have defined who I am and what my tastes are; but I am certain, that whatever it is, this is uncomfortable because I believe that a mother or my brothers never expect to see a son or a brother in something like this, kissing another man."

Peralta, in the same article, backs Beckeles and says that they never kissed.

On Thursday, the Honduran sports paper Crónometro reported that a newly released video seemed to corroborate the players' statements (see video here). The video shows the players embracing at the time the photo was allegedly shot but it never shows them kissing passionately.

In an interview, the two players express relief that the new video has surfaced and say that it proves that they had been right all along.

The media “acted with full malice," says Beckeles, who says nobody questioned the photo's veracity.

“If they doctored that photo, it's of no interest to me, the damage is already done to me," says Beckeles, "there were many photographers and television cameras in the stadium and the only one to show up with that weird photo was that guy."

The players indicated they might sue on the basis of defamation of character and have certainly indicated that they are uncomfortable being portrayed as gay. All in all it's yet another instance in which both media and soccer players get caught in a homophobic tempest in a teapot. And none come off looking pretty.

Previously:

• Homophobia in soccer, Part 71: Maradone vs. Pelé (March 30, 2009)
  
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 70: Dalasso and his cybercheating (May 17, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 69: Honduran coach Edwin Pavón (May 6, 2008)
• Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo says he is not gay (May 6, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 67: Luciano Moggi and Jorge Luis Pinto (May 3, 2008)
• Trans panic in soccer, Part 64: Ronaldo's big night out (May 3, 2008)
• Homophobia and racism in soccer, Part 65: Hugo Sanchez (March 31, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 64: Hernan Dario Gomez (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World gay soccer champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Homophobia in soccer, part. 71: Maradona vs. Pelé

Years after retiring, the two greatest soccer players in history are suddenly in the midst of a nasty pissing match.

The latest: Saturday night in Buenos Aires, the national soccer team of Argentina defeated Venezuela in a world cup-qualifying match by a score of 4 to 0.

The crushing win was a redemption of sorts for Diego Armando Maradona (left), a soccer legend who had faced ridicule when he was named coach of the Argentinian national team in October (Saturday's game was his coaching debut).

Maradona had spent the last decade battling drug-addiction and weight gain in a very public way and some felt it was a mistake to hand him the reigns of the team.

Unfortunately, Maradona's big come-back is not the only thing that is making worldwide headlines today. A seventeen second exchange between a reporter and the Argentinian coach on the eve of the game is also raising eyebrows.

Reporter: "I wanted to know your thoughts regarding what Pelé said in the past few days about you being a 'bad role model'..."

Maradona, in Spanish: "No sé. Él debutó con un pibe" [which, literally translated, sounds innocuous enough: "I don't know, he was initiated by a man"].

The Pelé in question, of course, refers to that other soccer legend from Brazil. Last week he'd called Maradona a "bad role model" when asked about his thoughts on Maradona being named coach of Argentina. As for Maradona's response and the 'debut' comment, here is how The Times of London puts it:

When Maradona was asked at a press conference before Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match against Venezuela to respond to Pelé’s claim that he was a negative influence on children, he said: “What do you want me to say? He lost his virginity to a man.”

In 2000, Maradona accused Pelé, who has advertised male impotence drugs, of having an affair with a male coach, a claim that a close friend of the Brazilian dismissed as the mad rantings of a sick man who was addicted to cocaine. “It was never true but Pelé is a big man and he decided that he would not respond and create a big battle between himself and Maradona,” Celso Grellet said.

More about the feud here.

Questioning a rival's sexuality is pretty par for the course in soccer so this doesn't necessarily shock that much. But what actually took me aback a little was the sound of all the other reporters in the room busting into laughter.

Related:

• Maradona: Pelé had sex with a guy (OutSports)

Previously:

• Homophobia in soccer, Part 70: Dalasso and his cybercheating (May 17, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 69: Honduran coach Edwin Pavón (May 6, 2008)
• Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo says he is not gay (May 6, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 67: Luciano Moggi and Jorge Luis Pinto (May 3, 2008)
• Trans panic in soccer, Part 64: Ronaldo's big night out (May 3, 2008)
• Homophobia and racism in soccer, Part 65: Hugo Sanchez (March 31, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 64: Hernan Dario Gomez (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World gay soccer champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Colombia: In a conservative small town, gay soccer team draws hundreds of fans

Viterbo, Caldas, a small conservative town in central-western Colombia, has an estimated population of 15,000. As with many rural communities, it has not escaped some of the violence that has plagued the country and the Black Eagles, a right-wing paramilitary group, is still active in surrounding areas.

Viterbo is also home to Stargays, a soccer team made up of gay and transgender players which enjoys official backing from the town's mayor and seems to have been embraced my most Viterbans except by the town's Catholic priest.

In an eye-opening article by Juan Miguel Álvarez published yesterday in La Patria ("Soccer in Viterbo: Stargays vs. Hot Chicas"), the journalist says his own friends are incredulous when he tells them that there is a well-loved gay soccer team in the conservative heart of Caldas.

To date the team only has played a few public matches, but at a recent Monday night match drew approximately 500 people. That was a significant drop in attendance from their debut game seven months ago when a standing room only area had to be opened because the bleachers were so full.

Obviously there is an element of curiosity that has drawn such big crowds but Álvarez says that by the time he arrived in Viterbo on game day the whole town was in a festive mood and people were already making their way to the stadium early in the evening.

"These matches are events that draw people, everyone gets involved, only the parish priest, doesn't approve," says Nelson Sánchez who is in charge of the stadium and has kept the field grass trimmed for the last ten years, "I was asked if I'd rent out the field and I said yes because this is a public space that anyone who lives in town can enjoy."

When pressed on what the priest actually had said, Mr. Sánchez replied "In Sunday mass, the priest said he was not in agreement with the town becoming involved in such a manner with the matches, because when the church promoted activities to raise funds it did not have as much response as the Stargays games."

In other words, the priest is not necessarily opposed to a gay soccer team, he is just bothered that people seem to be willing to spend more to attend the games than what the church receives in donations.

The match itself was late to start. The opposing team, also a gay team from a neighboring community called Hot Chicas, was a few players short and spent some time recruiting team members on the spot. To keep the crowds entertained during the delay, three team members simply picked up pom poms and danced to music by Thalia, Gloria Trevi and, yes, Beyonce.

Two young men waiting for the game to begin tell the reporter that the last time Gaystars played, they beat a team of fat men. "Those maricas play a lot," says Julian, "Can you imagine a match with midgets? The bomb!"

The game, a mixture of soccer, glamour, beauty pageant drama and camera hogging (some players stop their game and pose if they notice someone is taking their picture), nevertheless impressed the reporter who made note of Stargays' dominance on the field. The team would go on to win 6-3 and extend its winning streak to five games.

Total ticket sales for the event were estimated at approximately $490 dollars which will be donated to a charity helping victims of a recent river flood that left some of Viterbo's citizens homeless.

Homophobia in soccer, Part 70: Dalsasso and his cybercheating

Gustavo Dalsasso (right), the 30 year old goalie of Chile's Everton soccer team, has admitted that a video making the rounds on YouTube does indeed show him having cybersex on a chat room with who he thought were two Argentinian girls (surprisingly for YouTube I think I see some nudity in the video so instead of embedding it here I'll just give you the link here).

Dalsasso, who is married and has children, tells Chile's La Cuarta that he's just embarrassed by the incident in an interview posted yesterday.

"It was a private moment," Dalsasso said, "with a girl who turned out to be another person and who brought me much trouble with my wife."

The goalie says that he'd tried to do something about the video but that his lawyers said he couldn't do a thing about it and that the embarrassment of being caught at an indiscretion had only strengthened his commitment to his wife.

Dalassos' sister was the first one to call from the United States to tell him that she had seen the video on YouTube a month ago and that it already had 1,200 hits (it's up to 5,200 last time I checked). He says that he'd just come out of taking a shower and had logged on to a chatroom from Spain but denies he was even masturbating.

His teammates at first ribbed him about it and being so stupid as to be caught in what he calls his "1st cybernetic cheating."

"Everyone shit in their pants laughing because, on top of it, it appeared on a page that says maricones.cl," he said, "Afterwards they put themselves in my place, because it affects my image."

"Is it true," the reporter asks, "that if a bar of soap falls in the locker room nobody picks it up?"

"Ha ha ha, that's a myth," Dalsasso responds, "I don't think I'm the only horny-balled player in Chilean soccer, those that go out with models" adding later "It's a mistake made by 90% of the masculine population; They were supposed to be two Argentinian girls but I had the bad luck of falling into the hands of a female, or a male, because it could be a gay."

Maricon, of course, is the Spanish word for 'faggot' and, if you jump to maricones.cl you'll find that it's gay website described as "more alternative" and "more freaky" than all others which in this case apparently meant duping an unsuspecting soccer player.

For someone whose privacy has been violated in such a way and despite some of the latent homophobia expressed in the article, sometimes goaded on by La Cuarta's own reporter, Dalsasso seems pretty good natured about it.

Where it gets really ugly is on the messages left below the YouTube video mostly from soccer fans calling Dalsasso a fag and worse. Ah! Soccer certainly brings the best in people sometimes, no?

Update: Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo says he is not gay

In a press conference meant to address an incident last week in which Brazilian soccer super-star Ronaldo got caught soliciting three transgender prostitutes for sex, Goal reports that the player wanted to clear up one thing: "As for what happened, I did not have any sexual dealings with those people, I must stress that I am not gay."

Whew! Good to know! Never mind that sleeping with transgender women does not necessarily mean one is gay.

He ads: "When I told my girlfriend, she started to shout, scream and swear at me, I think she’ll find it hard to forgive me."

You mean the part about her thinking he might be gay? Or the part about him being caught soliciting prostitutes.

Mexico's La Jornada says that Ronaldo denied having had sex with any of the women: "I did not have sexual relations because, when I realized it wasn't was I was looking for, I took out my team from the field."

Good use of sports allegories! He says that one of the women threatened to go to the press if he didn't give her money but said that he would not seek charges against them.

In the meantime the GLBTT Brazilian Association (ABGLT) has put out a statement taking media to task for their coverage of the incident and - specifically - of their biased take on transgender issues.

They argue that most press has disrespected a persons constitutional right to freedom of identity by using male pronouns to identify the transgender women and printing their birth names instead of their current names. Pictured above is one of the women, Andrea Albertine, who has told press that it was Ronaldo who threatened to harm them.

RELATED:

• Ronaldo sorry for encounter with cross-dressing prostitutes (AP, May 4, 2008)
• Soccer star's misadventure leaves his fans smirking (The New York Times, May 6, 2008)
  
• 'Ambassador Ronaldo' disowned (The Sandard, May 6, 2008)

Homophobia in soccer, Part. 69: Honduran coach Edwin Pavón

Edwin Pavón, the coach of the Honduran soccer team Atlético Olanchano coach (pictured to the right) must have had a bee up his butt after his team's 2-0 loss to Hispano over the weekend.

According to La Prensa, coach Pavón was interviewed after the game by Cinco Deportivo and spoke against the José María "Chema" Martínez, coach of the opposing team, saying he was a homosexual, a drug addict and a corrupt man.

In the interview, which has since been uploaded to YouTube, a reporter asks (at the 1:45 mark) "Before the interview you mentioned the fact that there are people who drug themselves - Are there drugs in our soccer, as someone who is up close to it?"

Pavón replies: "Yes, there are drugs, and at the directors' level, there is homosexuality, corruption, there's everything, and there are people like Edwin Pavón who is a dummy, not smart, who has problems and defects as everyone else does, but that's the private life of a person."

So far, it seems a coach who is angry at himself just off a loss, trying to deflect criticism and saying that others also have faults (and, yes, bunching up homosexuality with all the other bad things he says exist in soccer).

La Prensa, though, says that later Pavón said that his comments were a direct reference to coach Martínez' conduct off the field.

"I challenge José for both of us to publicly go to a lab and I'll pay the tests and I hope he is not surprised when the results show that there are traces of drugs in his blood..." Pavón said, "Everyone in Comayagua knows who 'Chema' is, that he has to go to a clinic and stay for 7 to 10 days in detox."

Speaking to La Prensa the next day, Martínez made sure to note that he could not be gay because he'd already fathered ten children and denied any drug use. He told the paper that he'd be willing to have blood tests done.

Homophobia in soccer, Part 67: Luciano Moggi and Jorge Luis Pinto

Jorge Luis Pinto, the technical director of the national Colombian soccer team has backed recent comments by former Italian soccer trainer Luciano Moggi who riled against gays back in April in what an AFP report called a "a bizarre television interview."

"A homosexual cannot do the job of a soccer player," Moggi said, "The soccer world is not designed for them, it's a special atmosphere, one in which you stand naked under the showers."

On April 24th, a reporter from El Heraldo, which is based in the Colombian Caribbean city of Barranquilla, asked Pinto to react to Moggi's statements. Pinto agreed and then gave the following answers:

Q: Is very complicated [for gays] to join [a soccer team]?
Pinto: They don't fit in. Due to their attitude, behavior, demands and respect, they don't fit in, it seems to me that that concept of virility in soccer, without it being machismo, has to be respected.
Q: There are players and technical directors who consider it to be very normal to find homosexuals in the teams, that they have always existed and will exisit.
Pinto: From what is said to what is done there's a long road, there are behaviors, but concretely, very few. Soccer itself rejects those characters.

The comments drew some criticism and on April 26th Peru's RPP News found Pinto backtracking a bit.

"My appreciation is one of respect," he told the paper when asked about his comments earlier in the week, "I respect the intimacy of homosexuals. Soccer is a little rough, rustic and tough. In the past I thought that soccer wasn't for ladies, but now it could be that with the passing of the days soccer is for everyone."

He also told RPP that he didn't have anything against anyone with a different ssexual orientation.

Previously on Blabbeando:

• Trans panic in soccer, Part 64: Ronaldo's big night out (May 3, 2008)
• Homophobia and racism in soccer, Part 65: Hugo Sanchez (March 31, 2008)
• Homophobia in soccer, Part 64: Hernan Dario Gomez (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World gay soccer champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Trans panic in soccer, Part. 64: Ronaldo's big night out

Brazilian soccer superstar Ronaldo goes to bar in Rio, picks up three prostitutes and goes irate when he find out that they are transgender. As The Times Online says the story seems "like a plot-line from the infamous [UK] TV show Footballers’ Wives." Read full story here.

UPDATE: Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo says he is not gay (May 6, 2008)

Homophobia and racism in soccer, part 65

Newspapers throughout the world have tried to adopt elements of the blogosphere, some by inviting some readers to create their own blogs on their online pages. Mexico's El Siglo de Torreón is no different.

Earlier today, one such blog post found my way and I didn't know what to make of it. It listed a litany of quotes from a Hugo Sánchez, which I gathered was either a soccer player or a coach (Sue me! I'm not much into soccer!) and included the following beauts:

* "He is a fag and he will be rewarded by his pedophile leanings" (referring to Leo Beenhakker [a renowned Dutch football coach currently leading a Polish soccer team] after winning 4-1 in the azulgrana).
* "I'll cut the negro's throat. I will [defecate] on the mother whore that gave birth to that negro" (referring to Castillo, a player of the Santos Laguna in the pre-Olympic trials).
* "The Brazilian negros's at the American Cup 2007... They looked like the Congo, speaking with all respect. You looked to one side and there were four negros warming up, you looked at the other and there were five and three more on the field."

A caveat: I'm not sure whether these quotes are accurate (after all, they were posted by an anonymous Torreón blog author who calls himself GeneralDisarray) but I now know who Hugo Sánchez is (thanks to MachoChip and the Associated Press) and how he just got fired yesterday as the official Mexican Olympic soccer team coach after the team failed to gain a spot at the upcoming Olympics.

That's right: He got fired because his team did not perform to expectations. NOT because of his past comments (if the quotes above are true).

Let's hope that somewhere in the future we will come to a time when no one involved in soccer who makes these sort of statements can even been considered for employment.

Previously:

• Homophobia in soccer, part 64 (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World Gay Soccer Champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Perú as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Homophobia in soccer, part 64

Saturday night, Miami's Dolphin Stadium will be the host site for a friendly match between Guatemala and Honduras' national soccer teams.

As a number of Latin American sports journalists were interviewing Guatemala's coach Hernán Darío Gómez, he spotted Reinaldo Rueda, a Guatemala-born technical assistant for Honduras. He then walked over to him and planted a "thundering" kiss.

This according to Honduran papers La Prensa and El Heraldo, both which said that the coach's antics demonstrated his tremendous sense of humor.

Asked what the kiss meant, Gómez told reporters: "The kiss can mean anything, except that we are faggots."

He was certainly playing it up for the reporters and obviously thinks that playing up the fag angle is funny but when it comes down to it it's just more of the usual homophobic banter that happens in the world of soccer.