Local footballer wishes to ‘come out of the closet’, fears discrimination

IT is said that there is no room for discrimination of any kind in sport, especially when it comes to race and sexual orientation, but, that notion is often times put to the test, particularly in football; the world’s most popular sport.

One such case can be seen with “Steve” (name changed to protect his identity) a Guyanese footballer, who features for one of the country’s popular teams. The conflicted sportsman is wary of hiding in the closet, but fears victimisation from other players, including his own teammates, should he tell the world that he is gay.

“I want to be able to say I’m gay without my friends and teammates looking down on me,” Steve told the Pepperpot Magazine. “I want to be able to live in a country where I don’t have to watch over my shoulders on the football field because of someone wanting to be reckless, and dirty, and hit me to cause an injury. It’s very depressing living under a rock, instead of being happy and free.”

But, while pointing out his desire to be ‘openly gay’, Steve, who has played for Guyana at both the youth and senior levels, is fully aware of Guyana’s football culture and its allegedly strong position against homosexuals, as well as existing forms of homophobia in other parts of society.

“I grew up in the ‘ghetto’ and trust me, there are people that I know all my life who will condemn me should I tell them I’m gay. In Guyana, football is very homophobic and that’s the frightening part. For me, for example, you wouldn’t know I’m gay unless I tell you and that’s the troubling part; acceptance,” Steve said.

NO ROLE MODEL
There are many openly gay athletes, but Steve cannot look to them as role models, since, they live in countries that he referred to as “more welcoming and understanding within their society”. In Guyana, Steve said, this is not the case.

“Imagine, you have a church pastor…leading a march against homosexuality in Linden, and, then there’s the Laws of Guyana that sees homosexuality as gross indecency,” said Steve.

Section 335 of the Laws of Guyana, states that “any male person who, in public or private, commits or is a party to the commission, or procures or attempts to procure the commission, by any male person, of any act of gross indecency with any other male person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for two years.”

Despite efforts by FIFA to fight homophobia in football, the sport’s global governing body has not been too successful in their battle.

Article 67 of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code of Conduct,does not specifically include sexual orientation, but FIFA has used it to sanction countries over their fans’ anti-gay conduct.

“The home association or home club is liable for improper conduct among spectators, regardless of the question of culpable conduct or culpable oversight, and, depending on the situation, may be fined,” states Article 67 of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.

“Improper conduct includes violence towards persons or objects, letting off incendiary devices, throwing missiles, displaying insulting or political slogans in any form, uttering insulting words or sounds, or invading the pitch,” reads Article 67.

In 2015, FIFA fined Chile US$187,149 for “homophobic chants by supporters” and “improper conduct among spectators” that included “homophobic chants” and “homophobic and insulting chants.”

In Honduras, the country was fined US$41,589 after fans shouted “homophobic chants” and threw water bottles during November 11, 2016, game against Panama.

FIFA since November 2015 has fined Mexico US$135,163 for “homophobic chants” among its supporters during matches against the U.S., El Salvador, Canada, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica.

GFF AND ANTI-DESCRIMINATION
President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, stated that his federation is in the process of finalising and disseminating its Code of Conduct to their Regional Member Associations (RMAs).

“We’re not here to condemn or promote anyone’s lifestyle, but we wouldn’t accept discrimination of any kind in our football,” Forde said.

According to the GFF President, no one should be discriminated against “regardless of their height, colour or sexual orientation and those Member Associations will have to ensure that they administer the game with the guidelines of those codes of conduct.”

SASOD AND SPORT
Founder and Co-Chairperson of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Joel Simpson, admitted that his organisation has not worked specifically with the sporting fraternity with regards to LGBT concerns. “It’s on our agenda, but we have not been able to work in this area due to resource constraints,” he said.

“We, however, have been hosting annual sport competitions for LGBT persons, allies and civil society to foster social cohesion with sports as a vehicle for developing respect for diversity. SASOD offers counselling services to anyone who needs it, especially LGBT people who are dealing with the challenges of coming out to their friends, families, colleagues or the general public,” Simpson said.

He highlighted that SASOD is also developing a robust Community Paralegal Programme to “aggressively litigate human rights abuses against vulnerable and marginalised people.”

Meanwhile, Steve said that his need to come out is not an attention-grabbing stunt, but for a chance to be himself while playing the sport that he loves. “I love football, I represented this country at a youth level in the sport and so, I believe that I should be allowed to live freely in the game that I love to play; football is more than just a sport for me, it’s what I do to get away from my troubles,” he said.

He added “I would listen to the guys talk sometimes about not wanting no [homosexuals] around them. Sometimes I would laugh because they believe homosexuality is contagious, so playing with and against a gay person might make them gay, which is ridiculous.”

Steve said that in the same way that he has played against persons who have committed blatant misdemeanours and crimes in their past and no one seems to judge them on these matters, he would love to play the sport as an openly gay man, but is unsure if that will ever happen. “When I hear the players talk about homosexuals, I cringe, but some time or the other, someone must stand up for what you believe and just live free,” he said.

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