When he is on the court playing for Hand Ibira, Marcus Oliveira, 38, always tries to do the best for the team as a pivot or playmaker, but it is not easy for him as a gay man to act freely in the handball team made up mostly of heterosexual people.
“It’s not that I feel repressed, but there’s that feeling that, at any moment, I’m going to hear a ‘little joke’, a ‘joke’, which ends up inhibiting you from being exactly who you are”, he tells Sheet.
His performance changes, however, when he is defending the colors of Fadas, his other team, made up of members of the LGBTQ+ community. “With them, it changes a lot, because I am supported by the sport that I love and a cause that is my life. This strengthens me when I play”, he explains.
Marcus is not alone. His feeling is also shared by more than 120 athletes who, like him, will compete from this Friday (1) in the fifth edition of the Queer Cup, a Brazilian LGBTQIAPN+ handball competition, which will bring together eight teams this year.
The event will last three days and will be played until Sunday (3) at the Olympic Training and Research Center in São Paulo. The venue also hosted the 2022 edition.
In addition to the sporting nature, its organizers consider the competition to be one of the main spaces of visibility and inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community in Brazil. The tournament is supported by the Brazilian Handball Confederation.
“In addition to the quest for titles, the championship further reinforces unity among athletes in the community, showing that we are not alone in our fight for inclusion,” says Lucas Paioli, 40, one of the volunteer athletes responsible for organizing the tournament.
Those who organize championships and clubs, like Marcus and Lucas, have heard the statement several times that initiatives like this, exclusive to gays and lesbians, create bubbles instead of challenging prejudice. The feeling among community members, however, is different.
For Julio Freitas, 31, former president of Fadas and currently the team’s left winger, “in an ideal world”, there would be no need to have tournaments and teams exclusive to the gay community. But, as he says he believes it is not possible to create this environment, initiatives are necessary to establish “safe places”.
“If it’s not like this, that part of you, the love for sport, ends up dying inside you”, says Julio.
Despite valuing exclusive competitions, Fadas does not usually hold friendlies only within the community. They also face teams defined by them as “straight teams”.
Julio doesn’t remember having any problems in those matches, but he notices that his opponents are increasingly “afraid” on the court. According to him, it is not for sporting reasons, but rather the fear of engaging in homophobic behavior.
“We see that some are afraid of interacting with us and saying something wrong and being cancelled, being seen as homophobic”, he says.
Breaking this barrier with “straight teams” is also one of Fadas’ missions, which in addition to being a pioneer in Brazil, was also the first team in the country to take its message abroad.
In September, the team won the Juegos LGBT de Buenos Aires title, becoming the first Brazilian LGBTQ+ handball team to win an international title. “It’s an immense pride for all of us. It was very special to see that our cause, our mission meets the cause of other teams from different countries”, celebrates Marcus.
“This connection is very inspiring and reinforces how sport can be a space for inclusion and respect”, he adds.
