Just days after the Orlando mass shooting at an LGBTQ club, whose victims included four Mexican citizens, Mexico’s soccer fans could be heard chanting “Puto” from the stands. Though many Mexican fans argue that they use the word only as a general insult, the Mexican LGBTQ community has repeatedly expressed that they find the term offensive.
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The Homophobia Behind Mexico's Soccer Chant
FIFA fined Mexico’s soccer team in the past for their fan’s use of the word. That caused Mexico’s soccer federation to release several videos showing Mexico soccer players asking their fans to stop (like the one above). This year, they even launched a campaign called “Ya párale” (a Mexican Spanish phrase meaning “Stop now”):
And yet Mexican fans show no signs of stopping. Time will tell if FIFA and the Mexico team can change their fan’s behavior, but in the meantime, read up on the homophobic origins of the word in Elliot Turner’s piece in Fusion here. 