Good news everyone! While you might have been wounded by homophobic jeers at soccer games, sports officials have determined they are “not insulting,” so you no longer have to be offended. What a relief!
This comes after Mexican fans shouted slurs during a game in September against Honduras. FIFA, which regulates professional soccer, issued a fine of around $30,000 to the Mexican football organization, which they are now appealing.
Related: The Most Homoerotic Moments In Soccer Set To Romantic Music, Just Because
The Mexican teams have an ongoing problem with fans shouting “puto,” which is generally recognized as an anti-gay slur, though some claim it simply means “coward.”
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“We will fight the sanction because we don’t agree with the connotation that FIFA has given the chant,” said one Mexican official.
So is it offensive or not? That’s in the eye of the beholder, but just about every beholder agrees that it’s a slur. Just as with English pejoratives, context can shift the meaning of a word. But it’s hard to imagine that a stadium full of sports fans intended much nuance when they were screaming at the opposing team.
Related: PHOTOS: What Goes On In Pro Soccer Locker Rooms When The Game Is Over
Meanwhile a new campaign was just launched by Mexican soccer players to combat anti-gay harassment. Called “Embraced by Football,” it shows national stars advocating for respect. Ah, yes, a very somber video on the internet, that should definitely have a huge impact on the behavior of rowdy soccer hooligans.
Raphael
Sorry but leave Spanish for people that knows the language and its slurs. “Puto” it’s not a homophobic slur.
Hussain-TheCanadian
I demand that every single hot soccer player from the national Mexican team be sent to the newly formed organization named: “The fact finding coalition of gay bashing and co.”, headed by me naturally, so we can investigate PRIVATELY with every single player to ensure no homophobic attitudes exist within the team’s culture.
I will need some officers to help with this investigation, so all of you Queens on Queerty can sign up.
Juanjo
@Raphael: en serio? Esto es una mentira, pinche puto.
Raphael
@Juanjo: Sim, sério! Estupido…
ErikO
@Raphael: jajaja es verdad, puto no esta una pabalra homofóbica ni bifóbica.
crowebobby
@Raphael: Well, I heard an Hispanic guy at the gym mutter to another Hispanic guy that I was “puto” and since I’m almost 80, I doubt very much that he meant I was a “coward.” I am, however, gay.
Chris
Next headlines: Donald Trump’s wall across the border is an act of friendship.
qwerrtay
For those of you who are claiming the word “puto” is not a homophobic slur and that it simply means “coward,” let me tell you: you are WRONG. Why do you think people are using the term to simply refer to someone as a coward? Because since the dawn of time queer people have been seen as weak, cowards, and sissies. As a gay native Spanish speaker (@Raphael) I am deeply offended by these homophobic chants. We must stand up to the machisimo culture in soccer matches and reiterate to soccer fans that this is NOT OK!!
AdrianS
@qwerrtay:
YOu are totally right. Most straight people don’t thing too much of it as homophobic even though they use it like that a lot. It is true that the word can be use even to inanimated objects without intention of being homophopbic, but it is uase as an equivalent to “faggot” a lot in Mexico. As a presenter once said: “That is the word that many people heard before getting killed”. Mexico is 2nd place in homophobic crimes, and it’s not a joke that people are taking things not serious. I think a forcing people to drop a word isn’t really going to work, it’s about make them understand why that can be offensive and dismissive to people who suffered bully since young. I’ve been yell at “puto” in a homophobic way way too many times. If some gay people have the blessing of not being call that every time doesn’t mean the word is not use to harass others that are not you @Raphael)
Bob LaBlah
People, this is Mexico we are talking about here. How many of you are aware that at the same time we had that incident in Orlando our brothers and sisters down there had the same type of incident down there (the shooters weren’t caught either) and just about nothing was said in our press about it? Queerty, LBQT News and a few other site had an article on it but it was long after it had happened. The government simply said it was drug related and that was the end of it.
Yes kiddies, that is how things are done down there. Does anyone have any questions as to why very few native born Mexicans want to live there? Imagine what is going to happen once that wall goes up and there are no jobs or social services to help with what is not their fault, a future.
ChrisK
@Bob LaBlah: That’s why I would never visit Mexico unless it’s in tourist places like Encenada. I got pulled over there one time and the cops robbed me. Basically they said give me all your money or will plant this and guess what. We emptied our pockets. Mind you this was in a busy section of Tijuana in full view of passers by. Us border said this happens all the time.
At least it wasn’t by the many violent drug gangs that control the country.
ChrisK
puto
1.In Spanish (mainly in mexico), the male version of “puta”, meaning whore or slut.
2. Derogatory term meaning coward, gay (as in faggot, pussy, sissy).
Bob LaBlah
@ChrisK: “At least it wasn’t by the many violent drug gangs that control the country.”
I am willing to bet that there aren’t any doubts that the stories about the police protecting the drugs and the gangs aren’t true in your mind? I believe it. In Brazil its even worse.
I won’t go into what happened to a black friend of mine who made the mistake of smarting off to the wrong security guard at the hotel he was staying at in Mexico City back in 1984 but when he returned home THREE YEARS later it was clear he had received very little medical attention to his face. The scars were very deep as was his anger toward Mexicans from that day on.
Bob LaBlah
@ChrisK: Check out what happened to Malcolm X’s grandson while he was in Mexico.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/world/americas/malcolm-shabazz-death/