Mexican soccer fans repeatedly use an anti-gay chant at national team matches despite fines and federation measures that activists consider ineffective. The slur, meaning male prostitute, gained prominence in the 2014 World Cup and led to fines, including 100,000 Swiss francs for two 2022 incidents, with minimal deterrent effect. Activists including Andoni Bello are appealing directly to local fans to stop the chant before the 2026 World Cup, when Mexico will host 13 matches across Monterrey, Mexico City and Guadalajara. The chant originated in Jalisco in 2004 and often occurs during opposing goal kicks, increasing when Mexico is losing. Activists warn that stadium chants normalize homophobic violence and can perpetuate hate crimes.
Frustrated that Mexico's soccer federation has failed to stop a anti-gay chant heard during national team matches, LGBTQ+ activists are appealing directly to local fans to end the offensive habit before next summer's World Cup.
"Those fines have been for nothing. And what has the federation done? Not much. And what it has done is useless," said Andoni Bello an LGBTQ+ activist and critic of the chant who played for Mexico in amateur soccer tournaments organized by the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association.
"I'm concerned about the violence expressed in stadiums, which is invisible and anonymous," Bello added. "This normalized violence perpetuates homophobic hate crimes in this country. It seems very drastic, but it's real. If we think nothing's happening, we're perpetuating it."
For next year's World Cup, Mexico was awarded 13 matches in three cities -- Monterrey, Mexico City and Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco where the chant was first heard during a 2004 Olympic qualifier between Mexico and the U.S. Afterward, it spread to stadiums across the country with fans of Guadalajara soccer club Atlas.
Collection
[
|
...
]