El Tri homosexual: the Mexican team that struggles not to become an anecdote
After eight years inactive, the Mexican selection of sexual diversity (Tri gay) she struggles to once again be a transgressor of the macho and homophobic structure of soccer, and not become an anecdote.
“The main success of the Tri gay was transgressing a macho and homophobic environment like soccer. It is still necessary, there is discrimination, there is hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community. Until this is finished, it would no longer be necessary,” the founder and leader of the team explained to Efe this Saturday, Andoni Bello.
The Mexican selection of sexual diversity, made up of amateur players, was on the agenda of the media and of Mexico in 2006, when it prepared to go to their first Lesbian-Gay World Cup, Buenos Aires 2007.
Funded for the most part with their own resources and ignored by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF)who has always refused to support them for Not participating in FIFA-sanctioned tournamentswere among the 20 best in the appointment of Buenos Aires.
Participation in 2007 gave them the chance to receive part of their funding from a deputy and better prepare for the World Cup London 2008. There they obtained, up to now, their greatest success on a field, a third place in the second division.
For 2009, the Sports Institute of Mexico City began to give them resources to come to the ‘Out games’ Copenhagen 2009 and the ‘Gay games’ Cologne 2010; however, after the discontent of other LGBTQ+ teams, support ended and decline followed.
Although el Tri gay organized the World Cup in Mexico in 2012paid with the inscriptions of the other teams, no longer had the same strength, because members of the squad pointed to Bello de enrich themselves with what the selection generated.
“To start the project up and running again, I need about 1 million pesos per year (about $50,200 dollars). We need a minimum of 16 players, a coach, physical trainer and a space to train at night because many of us work”, added Bello.
He is also an activist in favor of rights of the LGBTQ+ community He acknowledged that he has thought of a strategy to find sponsors; but the fact that there are new teams for sexual diversity in the country complicates it.
What Bello is not willing to do is re-allocate own resources to the project, for which he lost his job and was about to sleep in his car. And it is that his boss, at that time, thought that he trained during working hours.
Bello described the campaigns carried out by the FMF as “hypocritical”, to eradicate the homophobic cry of the Mexican soccer stadiums. Likewise, he pointed to managers as the first people who should become aware of issues LGBTQ+.
“Managers are the first to be homophobic, if they really wanted to do something they would help footballers out of the closet. Statistically, three people from a staff of 30 must be non-heterosexual”.
The amateur soccer player offered his support to the FMF to carry out campaigns that really seek to end the homophobic cry in Mexico, a country that after Brazil is the second place in which more homosexual and transphobic crimes have been committed since 2008, according to the Observatory of the Transgender Europe network.
“The way we have seen that the FMF deals with the issue is to say ‘respect’ without saying who and why the homophobic cry should be eradicated in the stadiums,” Bello said.
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