GUADALAJARA.- Guadalajara is the capital of an area of the country that is the home of tequila and mariachi music. It is also known as the birthplace of a less flattering tradition, a homophobic chant that has cost Mexico thousands of dollars in fines over the past two decades.
You don’t have to make a big prediction to predict that the word, which means prostitute in Spanish, will echo through Akron Stadium when Mexico faces the United States in a friendly on Tuesday night.
Multiple punishments FIFA and campaigns by Mexican soccer leaders to educate their fans have not been enough to eradicate the chant, which persists both at the club and national team level, especially when facing the neighbor to the north.
The last time the United States clashed with Mexico, in the Nations League final in Arlington, in March, the referee had to stop the match twice due to homophobic shouts from Mexican fans. Last year, in Las Vegas, the meeting between both sides ended early for the same reason.
In Guadalajara, a city with a great soccer tradition that has two teams in the first division and two more in the second, many fans told The Associated Press that the singing does not affect anyone and is only done for fun.
“Football is still a party and shouting is for fun. The people who shout it don’t want to offend their rival,” said Luis Gallardo, a 38-year-old fan who was walking in the center of Guadalajara wearing the black shirt of the Aztec team. “It’s been going on for many years and I don’t think it’s going to change.”
The insult, used when the goalkeeper makes a clearance, is not the only offensive chant occurring in stadiums around the world, but its persistent use in international tournaments has become a source of embarrassment for the Mexican Football Federation.
Mexico’s soccer governing body has been fined several times by FIFA, including 100,000 Swiss francs ($114,000) for two incidents that occurred at the World Cup in Qatar. Mexico appealed both sanctions.
For many years the Mexican Federation claimed that the song was not directed at the gay community because the word has different connotations in contemporary Mexican culture. However, in recent years that position has changed and different measures have been launched to eradicate it, including petitions in stadiums, as well as players asking to stop it.
In 2022, the Mexican Federation threatened its fans with a five-year sanction for fans who did so in Liga MX matches. The then president of the organization, Yon de Luisa, was clear with his message.
“Yes, it is discriminatory and we must avoid it,” said De Luisa, who resigned after Mexico’s poor performance in the World Cup in Qatar.
The origin of the expression is not totally clear, but it dates back to a match between Mexico and the United States during a pre-Olympic tournament held in Guadalajara. After that it spread to stadiums throughout Liga MX with Atlas fans, although now it’s not just them who do it.
Francisco Acuña, a Rojinegros fan, said that shouting is a way of expressing emotion during games and should not be taken seriously.
“People who know about soccer know that the game is hot, that the players themselves warm up on the field and then hug each other when the game ends,” said the fan.
Alejandro Oliva, another sports fan interviewed in downtown Guadalajara, has a similar point of view.
“I am surprised that outside of Mexico people still believe that it is a homophobic cry. In Mexico it is normal and it doesn’t offend anyone, I even think they use it in the gay community and no one gets offended,” said Oliva, who was wearing a Chivas t-shirt.
The other side of the coin
The problem is that not everyone sees it the same way.
“It is a clearly homophobic expression because you are degrading a person with an insult with sexual and negative connotations,” said Andoni Bello, an LGBTQ activist and an outspoken critic of the expression for years.
Bello said he hopes the country will be able to eradicate the expression by the 2026 World Cup when the eyes of the world will be on the country.
Mexico will host 13 matches in the next World Cup, four of those in Guadalajara.
Bello said he hopes organizers look to people in the LGBTQ community to help them figure it out.
“It’s not about just taking a photo and saying that they are against homophobia in stadiums,” Bello said. “There is a real opportunity to educate the Mexican fan. In the ’86 World Cup we became famous for creating the wave, we exported a good and family celebration, let’s hope we can eradicate this cry because being known for homophobia is something really sad.”
