How One of Brazil's First Openly Gay Soccer Refere Changed the Game - Atlas Obscura

Contents:

• HOW ONE OF BRAZIL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY SOCCER REFERE CHANGED THE GAME
• YOUNG SOCCER REFEREE HAS THRIVED ALL THE WHILE BEG OPENLY GAY
• GAY PRO SOCCER REFEREE CLAIMS OVER 30% OF MALE SOCCER PLAYERS ARE GAY OR BI. IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?
• THIS GAY MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER REFEREE IS G OUT TO EASE HIS MD
• PRI ON THE PCH: DO SOCCER HAVE A GAY PROBLEM?
• GAY SPANISH SOCCER REFEREE QUS AFTER ABE AT GAM
• MLS ASSISTANT REFEREE MATTHEW NELSON REVEALS HE IS GAY TO "HELP OTHERS"
• BRAZILIAN SOCCER REFEREE SAYS HE IS GAY, HOP TO INSPIRE OTHERS
• BRAZILIAN SOCCER REF SAYS HE IS GAY, HOP TO SPIRE OTHERS
• GAY FOOTBALL REFEREE THKS ’40 PER CENT’ OF PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS ULD BE LGBTQ+
• FIFA REFEREE IGOR BENEVENUTO OUT AS GAY MONTHS BEFORE THE WORLD CUP

HOW ONE OF BRAZIL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY SOCCER REFERE CHANGED THE GAME

Gay civil rights activist Luiz Mott found one of Brazil’s first gay rights anizatns, Gpo Gay da Bahia. Acrdg to Gpo Gay da Bahia, roughly “3, 100 homosexuals” were killed om hate-motivated crim between 1980 and 2009, and the rate of vlence agast gay Brazilians is creasg. Je, along wh Válter Senra, who went by the nickname “the Bian, ” Plo Rodrigu da Silva, and Sérg Cenezi, were the few openly gay Brazilian refere facg such scty 1980s.

Acrdg to Plar, the print of the Brazilian Football Conferatn (CBF) at the time, João Ellis Filho, stated that no homosexual referee would manage the Copa União petn. The homophobic cints happened que often, but they didn’t phase Je. “When Margarida me on televisn to intify himself as a mp gay [man], we supported his visibily, ” says Luiz Mott.

YOUNG SOCCER REFEREE HAS THRIVED ALL THE WHILE BEG OPENLY GAY

Ironilly, his me, Armando Marqu, mted durg his tenure at CBF to riddg the anizatn of gay refere—or those, like Clés, who were assumed to be gay.

Almost 20 years later, was big news the soccer world when FIFA-ranked Brazilian referee Igor Benevenuto me out publicly as gay the months before the 2022 World Cup Qatar, where gay sex is illegal.

For refere and assistants like Sérg Cenezi or gay soccer leagu like LiGay, that’s what Je reprented the 1980s.

GAY PRO SOCCER REFEREE CLAIMS OVER 30% OF MALE SOCCER PLAYERS ARE GAY OR BI. IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

Soccer Feratn official for 11 years, love sports and am openly gay. Beg gay and passnate about sports is somethg that was new to me, but I am here to ntue breakg stereotyp. While I am proud to ll myself a Hoosier, I grew up around many who didn’t believe was OK to be gay.

I jt thought was normal, but I didn’t realize until later my youth that I was gay. The profsnal soccer referee Brazil who recently me out publicly as gay is now claimg that 30% to 40% of profsnal soccer players are gay or bisexual.

THIS GAY MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER REFEREE IS G OUT TO EASE HIS MD

“Thirty to forty percent of them are homosexual or bisexual, or have done somethg at one time wh another man, ” Benevenuto is reported to have said.

“You would be surprised at jt who is homosexual this dtry.

He’s certaly right about one thg: I’d be pretty shocked if a third of profsnal soccer players were gay or bisexual.

PRI ON THE PCH: DO SOCCER HAVE A GAY PROBLEM?

In talkg wh women profsnal sports, the number of gay and bi women pro sports is very high. Yet the ia that a third of profsnal athlet men’s soccer are gay or bi fi all logic.

A 2019 survey of men Brazil found that only about 2% of rponnts said they were gay or bi, wh about 95% sayg they are heterosexual (the rt eher didn’t know how to rpond or want to rpond).

The ia that 2% of Brazilian men intify as gay or bi — but 30% to 40% of the natn’s male pro soccer players are — is ankly impossible.

GAY SPANISH SOCCER REFEREE QUS AFTER ABE AT GAM

The culture surroundg men’s sports is macho and at tim homophobic — hardly a place you’d expect gay and bi men to flock to. Still, ’s impossible to believe that a third or male pro soccer players are gay or bi.

MLS ASSISTANT REFEREE MATTHEW NELSON REVEALS HE IS GAY TO "HELP OTHERS"

We’ve seen wild claims before that have never panned out, cludg one guy who said he knew 20 gay profsnal soccer players. When I talk to people about Provcetown the summer — cludg people who’ve been there once or twice — and I ask them how gay is, the rponse is often somethg like “Oh ’s 90% gay” or “jt about everyone there is gay.

But when you’re ed to your lol town or cy beg 3-5% gay, sudnly a third feels like “everybody’s gay! (By the way, if you’re lookg for that, the Fire Island P is actually 90% gay men.

There are, I’m sure a handful — maybe even more — of gay and bi men pro soccer, cludg Brazil.

BRAZILIAN SOCCER REFEREE SAYS HE IS GAY, HOP TO INSPIRE OTHERS

"Cyd Zeigler, who scrib himself as a gay sports wrer, h out at the backlash, scribg as "crazy" that Amerins would turn their back on the team bee of this tweeted: "LOL the 'Amerins' who are now sudnly hopg the US los at the #WorldCup bee the team has some rabow flags around the facily Qatar.

BRAZILIAN SOCCER REF SAYS HE IS GAY, HOP TO SPIRE OTHERS

Image hatg your untry jt bee s soccer team might not hate gay people.

GAY FOOTBALL REFEREE THKS ’40 PER CENT’ OF PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS ULD BE LGBTQ+

Rather than ntug to hi om my fears of rejectn, I cid was time to stop hidg the closet and tell everyone my life that I am gay. Lookg back, seems lghable how terrified I was of sayg those three words, "I am gay.

FIFA REFEREE IGOR BENEVENUTO OUT AS GAY MONTHS BEFORE THE WORLD CUP

In June, I realized that one of those distractns for me was hidg a part of who I am: the fact that I am gay.

Now that I am no longer tryg to hi that I am gay and beg te to myself, has helped foster a more tstg and rpectful relatnship wh fellow refere. Hidg the fact that I am gay om my iends, fay and lleagu was distractg, unproductive and mentally drag. Before g out, I would often read the stori of other athlet g out as gay.

It helped me realize that beg gay is jt one part of who I am as a person.