Belo Horizonte begins fight against homophobia in football.

Felipe Prestes do Sul 21

A page created by Atlético-MG fans was the start of a movement that could be the beginning of the end of the strong homophobia that permeates Brazilian football, from chants by fans to the persecution of supposedly homosexual players. This Tuesday (9), a group of Atlético fans created the Galo Queer page on Facebook, which claims to be "the anti-homophobia and anti-sexism movement in football for Atlético Mineiro fans".

More than 3,6 people liked the page by the afternoon of Friday (12). The repercussion was also great outside of social networks, becoming news in several media outlets. In addition, fans of other major clubs in the country are also creating pages and organizing themselves for the cause. Fans of Atlético-MG's rival, Cruzeiro, were the first to join and their page already has more than 1,4 likes. There are already pages of at least four other fan groups by the time this article was closed: Corinthians, Palmeiras, Grêmio (two pages: http://goo.gl/t2hld and http://goo.gl/hXc0U) and Internacional.

"I've been an Atlético Mineiro fan for as long as I can remember, but recently I started studying gender and feminist theory, and so the last time I went to the stadium, I went with a different perspective, and I was very bothered by the widespread and normalized homophobia and sexism, even by people who, outside the stadium, have a different attitude towards diversity, an attitude of respect. From this anguish arose the idea of ​​creating a movement, and several people liked the idea and joined it," says one of the organizers of Galo Queer.

She prefers not to be identified because, in addition to the positive reaction, there were also Atlético-MG fans who didn't handle the issue well. There have even been threats. "The reaction was very surprising. I created the page just to share it with my friends, thinking that one day we could organize ourselves to do something bigger. I think we've met a silent demand. Apparently, many people who like football already wanted to raise their voices against sexism, homophobia, and intolerance. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of negative reaction, but that was expected, since we're dealing with very sexist and conservative territory. The problem is the threats we're receiving. People opposing the movement is totally acceptable, but threats are not. If this continues, we will, unfortunately, have to report it to the police."

On the Galo Queer page, fans reported being expelled from the Galo Toora organized fan group for supporting the movement against homophobia. One of them was even a founder of the organized fan group. On the other hand, Atlético-MG's board stated, in a report by Globo Esporte, that it is "in favor of any initiative that combats all types of prejudice." "We haven't yet contacted the team's board due to lack of time, but we intend to. However, we learned through the report that the board is in favor of the movement, and we are very happy to see that our team has this stance of respect for diversity and combating prejudice," says the organizer of Galo Queer.

For this Atlético Mineiro fan, football today is an "arena of exception" where prejudice and intolerance are permitted. "Sexism and homophobia in football are huge and completely untouched issues. As long as these arenas of exception exist where prejudice is allowed, prejudice and intolerance will never end. Discussing sexism and homophobia in football is an urgent matter," she states.

"We want to take the discussion to the stands," says the creator of the Inter fan page.

Sociologist Diego Dresch, one of the creators of the Internacional fan page, currently named QUEERlorado (members suggested other names, such as Colorido), explains that the idea arose after reading about Galo Queer. “I had a conversation with a friend who is also a fan of Internacional and debates topics like homophobia and sexism, she has a master's degree in gender studies, and we concluded that it's time to start this discussion at Internacional.”

According to Diego, the initial goal is to increase the page's visibility (200 people had liked it by the time this article was written) and stimulate debate. In a second phase, the aim is to bring it to the stands, although he clarifies that it's not an organized fan group. "The page is a tool for debate, not an end in itself. We want to take this discussion as far as we can. We're going to try to take it to the stands, starting by discussing homophobic chants, and also engaging in dialogue with the management so that campaigns can be launched."

The sociologist believes that the issue of female presence in stadiums has evolved considerably, unlike homophobia, where there has been no progress. “Until the late 1990s, women were still harassed when they went to stadiums. There has been an opening for female fans. Unfortunately, on the issue of homophobia in stadiums, there hasn't been an inch of progress. It's still the main theme of insults directed at opposing teams.”

Diego believes that discussions in stadiums can significantly influence the fight against homophobia in society as a whole. “It’s a micro-space where different layers of society are represented. There are people from different social classes, regions of the city, and even the state. So, if you were to run an anti-homophobia campaign in the southern zone of Porto Alegre, for example, you would only be speaking to the people who live there. In the stadium, you won’t have this limitation,” he explains.

Gay fan groups in Brazil have become victims of homophobia.

The current movements are not organized fan groups. Even so, it's worth remembering that the country has had fan groups formed by gay people. In the late 1970s, Coligay, from Grêmio, and FlaGay, from Flamengo, emerged. The first of these was from the Rio Grande do Sul club, which first appeared in a Grêmio vs. Santa Cruz match for the state championship on April 9, 1977, according to Placar magazine.

A group of gay fans who had long frequented the Olympic Stadium decided to form the supporters' group. According to the magazine, there were about sixty fans. The name Coligay derived from the Coliseu nightclub, which was frequented by the LGBT community. The group became the target of homophobic jokes from Internacional fans, which helped generate veiled repression from Grêmio fans and the club's management. Thus, the group did not last long, although it attempted a comeback in the 80s.

FlaGay was created in 1979 and also lasted only a few years in stadiums, although officially it still exists. In 2003, after 20 years away from the stands, the president of the fan group, Raimundo Pereira, announced the group's return. However, the Association of Organized Fan Groups of Flamengo (AtorFla) threatened to block FlaGay. "You can call it discrimination, but we don't accept 'faggotry' in the Flamengo nation," said José Carlos Peruano, then president of AtorFla, at the time. The fan group also received threats from skinheads and ended up abandoning the return.