Playing for Change

The First LGBTQI Football League in Sucre, Colombia

In the little town of Sampués, Sucre, this group of players tell us how they use football to fight discrimination and stigmatisation against the LGBTQI community. "They would call us out in street for being gay. Now they point at us and say "look at those champs".

For years they refrained from playing the sport they loved since they were little children. They were not welcome on the pitch and they were excluded when they tried anyway. Until one day, they decided to take matters in their own hands and start the first LGBTQI Football league in Sucre. While sports is one of the main areas where gender norms crystallise, sexual preference has absolutely nothing to do with athletic excellence. But to break those norms right in the lion's den, requires bravery and strength. And that's exactly what they did. And while their battle is played out on the pitch, the victories transcend to wider society. The entire community of Sampués has accepted this group of fighters and discrimination has not only decreased on the pitch, but also on the street, at the work floor and in their households.