This gay Spanish soccer team wants to eradicate homophobia one goal at a time
A post shared by – E C L I P S E – (@eclipsegranada)Jose Maria River encountered no problems at home when he came out as bi.
But his experience on the soccer field was different. River is the president of a new all-LGBTQ+ soccer team in Grenada, Spain, the Rinos Fútbol Club.
The club was created so LGBTQ+ soccer fanatics would have a safe place to play. “Rinos were born with the illusion, the strength and the enthusiasm to break the barriers and the clichés that surround the collective around football,” River said in an interview with Shangela (his answers have been translated). “This project was created as a safe space where every person, regardless of their condition, gender or race, feels free and integrated to be part of a sports club, specifically a football club.”Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.The team was conceived in 2020, when widespread lockdowns were causing many people to reevaluate their lives.
A lifelong soccer player, River was thinking back to his unpleasant experiences playing on lower level teams. Though River says he didn’t encounter overt homophobia, he still felt uncomfortable. “I decided to abandon [soccer], it wasn’t good and I didn’t feel comfortable,” he said. “I entered a very complicated period in my life, I had just abandoned my passion, and it cost me a lot.”His teammates didn’t help matters.“I saw complicit glances between [teammates], mocking, laughing,” he said. “It was always indirectly, but [it made me feel uncomfortable].
