LGBTQ+ Soccer Match Creates Safe Space for Athletes in Latin America

This LGBTQ+ soccer match created a safe space for athletes. Teams for Latin America gathered in Colombia for the match to challenge the traditional image of soccer in the region. “Soccer is chauvinistic, not just LGBT people but also with women,” soccer player Alejandro Varges stated. “The event helps to break down these barriers, to make us visible, and the end discrimination.” Soccer is Latin America’s most popular sport, but it’s often associated with machismo culture. This leads to a lack of representation and support for professional LGBTQ+ and women athletes. “The important thing is diversity, to show on the field that we are all the same regardless of whether you are all the same regardless of whether you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or heterosexual, you can play on the field,” match organizer Sabastian Corner stated. “It’s about making us visible in the sport.” This match follows the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team World Cup victory, which has reignited a global debate on inequality in sports. “I am LGBTQ so, you know, an ambassador, just live my life very openly that way,” Soccer star Megan Rapinoe stated in an interview. “It is really amazing seeing just though the course of my career from each tournament, from each major moment, how many more out athletes there are, you know, how far we’ve come in all of this time.”

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