Spain’s first all-trans football team debuts in regional league
Founded by and consisting entirely of transgender men, Fenix FC is a new football team based in Spain.
The team recently made its monumental debut in the fifth tier of Catalan football.
Fenix’s results on the pitch so far have been undesirable. However, the wider impact of the inclusive movement the club strives to drive forward is immense.
It’s bigger than football
Experiencing transphobic abuse pushed Hugo Martinez to form a brand new team, Fenix. Pink News say Fenix is the first team of its kind to achieve federated status in Europe.
Noting the necessity of a safe environment for transgender players, the 24-year-old footballer spoke to Reuters.
“I was a boy playing in the girls’ team, but without a changed ID, so I wasn’t yet allowed to play with boys.”
Martinez was subject to abuse after transitioning, and had to leave the women’s team he had been a part of.
It took three years before the work that went into founding Fenix started to pay off. Captain Luke Ibanez shared what the positive development means.
“Fenix is a team of trans boys created entirely by trans boys, but I think it’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.”
Transphobia runs rampant across the sporting sphere of today, despite signs of change arriving in the form of Fenix and a progressive trans rights bill passed in Spain last year. This historic all-trans squad furthers the Catalan football association’s efforts to enhance inclusivity in their regional men’s league, which operates on a gender-mixed basis.
Whilst the federation maintains that all genders can participate in the competition, Ibanez raised his previous concerns about player welfare at his old club, since incidents of transphobia and discrimination were unfortunately frequent.
Why Fenix FC?
A phoenix is a mythical creature symbolising life after death. In Greek mythology, they are often associated with the sun.
Named after the fabled bird, Fenix provides a beacon of hope for transgender athletes. The momentous occasion comes at an already pivotal point in LGBTQ+ history.
