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Club Muxes, a soccer team with an LGBT identity that plays against homophobia in Mexico

2020-10-19T16:58:19.040Z


Their shield is an embroidered rose and with their name they want to honor the genderless community of Oaxaca.


Club Muxes not only has a particular name for a soccer team in Mexico: its uniform is pink and its shield is a rose embroidered next to a ball.

In addition, it is the first team with an LGBTI + identity to reach the third professional soccer division in Mexico.

“It is very difficult to enter this environment being homosexual”, tells

Verne

Daniel Vidal (Tijuana, 1985), one of the founders of this team based in Mexico City and current director of Public Relations.

In mid-2018, Daniel Vidal and Geremía Oleta, both amateurs but not professionals until then, decided to create a club that started in the free league that was really open to gay,

trans

or

queer players

.

"We had thought about being adelitas, poquianchis or muxes, which in the end was the one that most represents us," Vidal details.

Muxes refers to a community in Oaxaca that challenges traditional concepts of identity and gender.

"I'm gay, but I also like to play soccer," says 26-year-old Luis García, forward in the free team.

"We chose the name because it also represents that we are not all from here, that we are from many places," says García, who is a full-time credit analyst.

"It is a tribute to the community that is fighting for an identity, like us," adds Vidal.

The Muxes team of the third professional division, on a training day, with their away uniform .. Nayeli Cruz (EL PAÍS)

Daniel Delgado, a midfielder in the professional team, shows his uniform with a rose design on a black background. Nayeli Cruz (EL PAÍS)

In mid-September, the Muxes club debuted in the third division TDP league in Mexico with a victory, but in an empty stadium due to the health contingency due to covid-19.

Although the circumstance prevents the presence of fans, the discriminatory comments come from the players themselves

"Since the team was born we have received all kinds of homophobic comments: bitches, princesses, girls", but we have learned to put them aside to respond with football, "says Marco Almaraz, communication director and with a brother playing in the league.

"The referees themselves have homophobic behaviors," adds Vidal.

Although at the professional level there are no openly gay players, in the open league there are players of all ages and where the majority are members of the LGBT community.

"Huy, the rosita has already hit, poor thing," you hear people say from the opposing team's bench.

It's Sunday and the open league courts, located next to Ciudad Deportiva, south of Mexico City, admit players and the occasional cast that supports their team.

In this team, in addition to heterosexuals and homosexuals, a transgender man also plays, who has not been able to attend the last games after being injured.

We are not males, but we are muxes

The free league team of Club Muxes, after a match on the fields of Ciudad Deportiva, south of Mexico City. Nayeli Cruz (EL PAÍS)

For several years, the Mexican Soccer Federation has fought homophobic screams in stadiums at a professional level.

It is therefore not surprising that a team openly linked to the LGBT community receives discriminatory treatment.

"We are not males, but we are muxes", is one of the chants of the reduced club of the team in the free league to face discrimination.

A song that they will seek to have an echo.

In addition to a very marked identity in their uniforms and on their shield, the Muxes board of directors seeks to prolong their passage through the stadiums.

"The goal is to reach the second division in five years or sooner, if possible," says Rodrigo Cervantes, the team's sports director.

"The dream is to fill a first division stadium with the colors of the rainbow flag," he says.

All players recognize that ending machismo, homophobia and toxic behavior in sport is not something that will happen anytime soon.

"We know they are going to see us badly, but the idea is that all those who want to play or who are fans, come closer," says Cervantes.

"We have to learn to get rid of these behaviors, because what is coming is the best";

Vidal concludes.

Daniel Vidal, founder of the Muxes club .. Nayeli Cruz (EL PAÍS)

The Muxes club prepares for a match .. Nayeli Cruz (EL PAÍS)

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Source: elparis

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