Football Match Against Homophobia: 'We Won't Leave Football Fields'

Photos and video: Ali Safa Korkut / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Football vs Homophobia Month of Action is marked in 19 European countries every February. Federations, sports clubs and football players hold various events to free the sport from homophobia and create a more inclusive sports environment.

While it is widespread in the UK, some events also took place in Turkey this year.

On February 23, Atletik Dildoa team from İstanbul and Muamma and Lolitop teams from Mersin held a tournament named "the Winter Sun Football Tournament."

Also supported by the FARE Network, an international organization against inequality and discrimination in football, the event was held at Süleyman Seba Facilities in Taksim, İstanbul.

Instead of competing as three teams, the three teams formed two mixed teams and held a match.

Nalan Turgutlu Bilgin from the Muamma team told bianet that "We attach great importance to this, we are trying to score goals against the patriarchy."

Gizem Derin, another player from the Muamma, said, "We gathered together to show that we didn't leave the football fields. Football is a space for activism for us."

"As the people who put up a fight against heterosexism, we come together and try to exercise an alternative football," adding that there are similar teams and leagues in various parts of the country, such as Mersin in the south, Kocaeli in the northwest and the capital Ankara in central Turkey.

"For us, everywhere we exist is a place where we can give a political message, express our existence. In this respect, these are places that we can transform.

"We don't give up pitches. We are here, get used to it. We don't go."

What is the Queer Olympix?

The Atletik Dildoa team, which organizes the Queer Olympix, defines it as "a sports gathering where there is no room for discrimination and hate speech, every body and every gender can enjoy games, passes are distributed equally, and creative and swear-free team games take place." (ASK/SO/VK)