Justin Fashanu was a football star. He played for the best English first division clubs. He was the first black footballer to be transferred for a million pounds. He was also a pioneer when it came to coming out. But the fans did not understand his homosexuality. Justin collapsed and ended up committing suicide in 1998.
Justin’s tragic story may have served as a brake on many other elite athletes who have not dared, or do not dare, to make their homosexuality public. “I have contacted many people who have not wanted to speak out, because in mainstream sports fans and economic power are still very reactive to admitting that some of their stars are part of the LGTBI community,” explains Pablo de la Chica, director of the documentary. We all playwhere several sports professionals tell how they came out of the closet and how they have experienced homophobia.
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Víctor Gutiérrez, for example, has played water polo since he was a child. He has reached the top. He has been part of the Spanish national team and always felt supported by his family and teammates after making his sexual orientation public in an interview published in 2016. But during a match, a few years later, a member of an opposing team called him a “faggot.” “They called me a faggot, I reported it and then I felt very alone,” he says in Spanish. We all playwhich has been released in cinemas and on platforms.
Olympic ice skater Javier Raya can’t help but get emotional when he recalls his childhood and youth in a public high school: “I was a victim of bullying,” he says. “I had a really bad time and I managed to get through it thanks to the support of my family,” recalls this athlete who was the first Spanish Olympic participant to come out of the closet. He did so in 2018 by posting a photo with his partner on social media. “There was no precedent.”
An image from the documentary
De la Chica has collected testimonies like those of Gutiérrez and Raya in Spain, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Italy… there are LGBTI athletes in all countries and in all disciplines. None of them have it easy to show themselves as they are, but perhaps it is easier for women than for men “because it has been much harder to reach women’s sport and now integration is more transversal.”
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The opposite is true for trans athletes, especially those who have transitioned from male to female, such as Valentina Petrillo, an Italian athlete who had to withdraw from an international competition after finishing ahead of the Spanish participant. On the other hand, the footballer Álex Darocas has started Fénix, a team of trans men that has already started to function and that can go further “if the institutions collaborate, because that can serve to open many doors, although in the world of sport the integration of the LGTBI community will not be immediate, there is still a long way to go,” concludes De la Chica.
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Source: www.lavanguardia.com
