Wednesday 15 August 2007

Hate-filled nonsense

A judge in Brazil thinks that gay people shouldn't be playing soccer. Apparently, they aren't "manly" enough. Hat-tip to Sarah Hill for this link. The prize quotation is this: “What is not reasonable is the acceptance of homosexuals in Brazilian soccer because they would harm the uniformity of thinking of the team, the togetherness, the balance, and the ideal. Not even to mention the uncomfortable feeling of the fan, who wants to go to the stadium, sometimes with his son, and see his beloved team succeeding in the competition, instead of losing oneself in analysis of the behavior of this or that athlete with an obvious personality or existential problem, making it uncomfortable also for the teammates, the coach , the technical commission and the managers of the club.”

Talk about trying to rationalise mindless prejudice. Football is now at least in the process (imperfectly) of giving racism a hefty boot out of the game. But blatant sexism is rife, and homophobia is still an unmentionable in many less enlightened corners of the sport. This needs to change. And things change when we have the courage to talk about them. Meanwhile, I loved the T-Shirt.

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