The World Cup Loves Gay Marriage

It's World Cup Final weekend, meaning that soccer will be on almost everyone's mind — and then promptly disappear from everyone's mind for at least the next four years. As you turn on the television this Sunday, will you be rooting for the red shirts of Spain, or the orange shirts of The Netherlands?

Either way, no matter who you'll be rooting for, you'll be rooting for a country that recognizes full marriage equality for all of its citizens. They say God works in mysterious ways, right? Maybe this is her/his way of sending the world (and all of its anti-gay legislators) a nice, subtle message.

Or it could just be that Paul the octopus really likes countries that support gay marriage, given that the eight-tentacled being has predicted every match he's been asked to call this World Cup. (I fully expect the National Organization for Marriage to send out an email blast to their network, alleging that Paul is nothing but an activist octopus.)

Oh, and just when you think it couldn't get more gay-friendly, let's add in the fact that South Africa is the World Cup's host, and they too recognize marriage equality. Gay, gay, and more gay.

So yes, it's a bit of a light-hearted celebration for some fun irony during this year's World Cup Final. That all said, it would be a shame to let the World Cup pass without mentioning at least two things related to LGBT rights.

The first, as our own Women's Rights blog noted, is that FIFA really missed an opportunity (flubbed a kick?) to take a strong stand against a disgusting and pervasive problem in South Africa — corrective rape. As we've seen from stories like that of Eudy Simelane, corrective rape is the horrific phenomenon of raping someone who is (or is believed to be) LGBT, to try and cure them of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The problem is epidemic in South Africa, with at least 10 new cases reported each week. Hey, maybe FIFA won't take a stand, but it doesn't mean that we all have to be quiet. If you haven't yet, send a message to South African authorities urging them to focus on this human rights violation.

The second note is that while this World Cup certainly brings with it some LGBT fun, there's still quite the problem of homophobia in sports culture, particularly soccer. Soccer players have been urged to stay in the closet so that they would be "safer," and just last month, a UK journalist said that soccer has created "a dangerous taboo" surrounding the issue of homosexuality, making it darn near impossible for someone to come out of the closet and expect to have a soccer career.

That's definitely a culture worth tearing down. And perhaps no organization is working to fight homophobia in soccer more than The Justin Campaign. The group takes its name from Justin Fashanu, who became famous for becoming the world's first professional openly gay soccer player ... and then committing suicide, in some measure because of the discrimination and stress he faced as a queer athlete. Their work now is to dismantle the culture of homophobia in sports that leads athletes to stay in the closet, or fear for their safety or mental health.

"Justin Fashanu forced the world of football to acknowledge that you can love men, whilst at the same time be a world-class footballer," says The Justin Campaign's director, Jason Hall. "His bravery has created inroads for our community in the football world and has inspired a generation of gay and bisexual men, who now believe that we to, can be part of the beautiful game."

Inspiring stuff. So spend this weekend celebrating soccer, and celebrating the fact that two countries that recognize equal rights for all of their citizens made it into the World Cup Final, whether it's a cosmic message or just plain luck of the draw.

And here's hoping that by the time the 2014 World Cup rolls around, more countries in the tournament recognize same-sex marriage, and more LGBT athletes feel safe to come out, and that not only their teammates, but also us fans, have their back.

And since you made it this far ... go Netherlands!

Photo credit: Andrew Deacon