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Transgender soccer team makes debut in Spain's regional league

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Reuters

A soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men has made its debut in a regional league in Spain, overcoming administrative challenges and prejudice to become the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe.The team, named Fenix FC after the mythical bird symbolizing rebirth, played some friendlies and seven-a-side games last season but now competes in the fifth tier in the northwestern region of Catalonia after being incorporated into a local club in the Barcelona suburb of Sant Feliu de Llobregat.Spain passed a pioneering trans rights bill last year designed to make it easier to change a person&#x27;s legal gender identity. But intolerance persists, with a record 302 cases of discrimination or violence against LGBT people in Catalonia in 2023, a quarter of which targeted transgender victims, according to data compiled by the region&#x27;s Observatory against LGBTphobia.Hugo Martinez, 24, told Reuters he faced abuse when he began transitioning with gender-affirming hormone therapy and was forced to leave the women&#x27;s soccer team in which he had played.&quot;I was a boy playing in the girls&#x27; team, but without a changed ID, so I wasn&#x27;t yet allowed to play with boys,&quot; he said, recounting how other players, coaches and parents in the stands often hurled insults and threats at him.The experience prompted Martinez to put out a call online for other trans men seeking to play soccer in a safe environment. Setting up Fenix FC took three years.<div>&#x27;SAFE SPACE&#x27;</div>Captain Luke Ibanez, 19, said he was hesitant about playing for a team with cisgender - or non-trans - men, as he feared he would not fit in or even suffer violence. So when Martinez told him about his idea for an all-trans side, he quickly jumped on board.&quot;Fenix is a team of trans boys created entirely by trans boys, but I think it&#x27;s more than that - a family, a safe space where you can be free and express yourself however you want and how you really feel.&quot;In response to Reuters&#x27; emailed questions about their current policy, the Catalan FA said its men&#x27;s leagues have been mixed for the past two seasons, meaning players of any gender can participate regardless of their official identity.Players may also choose to use a name that&#x27;s different from their legal one, it added. Other regional FAs have limited these modifications up to a certain age group, while the rules vary in other sports.Fenix&#x27;s first game of the season on Sept. 21 ended with a 19-0 defeat. But for its fans and players, trans men having the right to play their favorite sport on equal terms is far more important than the score.<div>(Production: Horaci Garcia, Elena Rodriguez, David Latona)</div>

A soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men has made its debut in a regional league in Spain, overcoming administrative challenges and prejudice to become the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe.

A soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men has made its debut in a regional league in Spain, overcoming administrative challenges and prejudice to become the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe.