“Your freedom ends where the other’s freedom begins.” There would be no simpler way to explain the obvious to prejudiced people who insist on fighting for the “right to prejudice”. This was the case of volleyball player Maurício Souza, who had such repercussions these days.
The beginning of it all was a post with the image of a gay kiss involving Superman: “It’s just a cartoon, it’s no big deal. This is where you’ll see where we end up”.
Maurício’s subsequent posts, apologizing for “sorry”, attributing his dismissal from Minas to the “sealing gang” and publicizing the image of Superman kissing Wonder Woman, reverberated a lot in the middle of football. Many players supported the volleyball athlete. The episode became the subject of a question in the press conference by coach Tite, and the answer shows how much football is omitted when it comes to homophobia.
“The CBF released a statement yesterday that clearly portrays what we think. It says: all the same. CBF has been campaigning for more than a decade in this regard, defends the solidarity sport, so colors, origins, beliefs, genders , physical conditions, that doesn’t have to exist,” said Juninho Paulista, coordinator of the men’s team, without even mentioning the words “homophobia” or “sexual orientation”, which were the object of the question.
If the CBF fought so hard for this prejudice-free environment, would by 2021 we no longer have players talking openly about homosexuality? Is it really possible that in the universe of more than 20,000 players who play in Serie A, B, C and D of Brazilian football, there is no homosexual?
The first step in solving a problem is to recognize it, and CBF doesn’t even do that. It gives empty answers and is also not clear about the position it will take in face of the fact that an employee of the men’s team itself (son of coach Tite) expresses support for prejudiced posts against women and gays on social networks.
It would be more honest and courageous of Juninho and Tite to admit that football has not yet learned to deal with cases of homophobia. That, just as society is intolerant of homosexual people, football reflects much of this intolerance and will need to change to create a welcoming environment where gay players no longer need to live in a closet.
Pretending that “we are against all kinds of prejudice” while doing nothing to combat homophobia is tantamount to supporting it.
In fact, support is something that prejudiced people have found in Brazil since 2018. If before people were afraid to express their homophobia or misogyny, with Jair Bolsonaro they have a president confirming their “right to prejudice”.
A man who said “I’d rather have a bad boy than a gay one” and “I don’t rape you because you don’t deserve it” was elected. It’s easy to understand why Maurício Souza feels free to be homophobic using the crutch of “freedom of expression” with the certainty that he will get away with it — and that he will keep playing.
I wouldn’t be so sure because, thankfully, times have changed. Maurício was fired by pressure from sponsors who, in turn, were pressured by those who no longer accept prejudice. Support, unfortunately, he still has such millions of followers in the virtual world. But in the real world, the good ones still prevail — and if Mauricio were willing to understand the essence of this God he so defends, he would know that He would never condemn any form of love.
If your opinion oppresses, kills, or limits another’s right to exist, you are not free to express it. It’s a crime.
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