The LGBTQIA+ community stands in sports in the reserve bench, often hidden or stigmatized. Policewoman and Member of QueerNet-RLP, an association in Mainz offering help for various need of the LGBTQIA+ community, Diana Gläser is real shield against discrimination and hatred for queer people in sports.

Cet article a été écrit par des jeunes journalistes du projet Europe Convergence 2024, porté par Magna Vox, le Partnerschaftsverband, et VISK (Vzdělávací institut středočeského kraje)

As Diana Gläser is greeting us, she is wearing rainbow-coloured shoes and earrings that look like small rainbow lollipops – hints to her queer identity. The 41-year-old policewoman meets with us to talk about her social and political work. Besides a bubbly personality stands a true activist for queer people in sport. Diana herself started playing soccer when she was a teenager and still figuring out her sexual orientation. When she was about 16, she understood that she was a lesbian. “And when I wanted to express it like other people, with my girlfriend. But I was told ‘don’t do this when you wear our soccer shirt.’” Her being openly lesbian did not fit the public image that her soccer club wanted to maintain. An incident that saddened Diana. As a grown woman, it is especially the discrimination of queers that she is fighting against. In her workplace, the Landespolizei Rheinland-Pfalz, Diana Gläser is a reference person for queer people that experience queer phobic violence. Queer people from all over the county come to her office to report crimes committed against them. Diana tracks these crimes and provides statistics about queer phobic incidents in the region. As the Bundeskriminalamt points out, the number of hate crimes towards the LGBTQIA+ community reported to the police increased about 49% in 2023 compared to the year before. Numbers that help her to create awareness for the importance of a contact point for queers inside the police. But Dianas work for the queer community does not stop when she leaves her police office: In her free time, Gläser is the head of a network called QueerNet Rheinland-Pfalz which promotes the work of LGBTQIA+ organizations in the county. For QueerNet she figures as a spokesperson between associations and governmental institutions. The network is tackling different subjects such as education about queer topics and the consulting and gathering of queer people.

« Even if they have talent, children end up quitting their sport practice because they fear discrimination”

Queer representation in sports

One of the biggest problems is that queer people often quit doing sports because of their fear of discrimination, explains Gläser. Society is still attached to gender stereotypes and sports are not an exception. Diana exposes that “even if they have talent, children end up quitting their sport practice because they fear discrimination”. This can cause deep psychological harm and a diminished love for sports.

Nowadays, there is more representation in sports, which encourages participation from queer people who can identify with certain athletes. Diana mentions former American football player Megan Rapenoe, who is two times world champion and also politically engaged. “And that is such a cool thing for me as a lesbian to see, because people can identify with her.” In Gläsers opinion it is important to have such role models in sports, who are great public figures, successful in their careers “and also they are queer”.

Especially in Olympia there is a special light drawn to that: “The whole world is watching and the whole world is watching her kissing her girlfriend and it’s just normal” There are a few examples of Olympic participants who are openly queer, like the Judo gold winner Alice Bellandi, Diana is referring to here. Eventhough getting an equal and inclusive participation is still in process. As a negativ example Diana Gläser mentions Imane Khelif, an Algerian gold-winning boxer who got into a huge controversy due to her physical appearance during the Paris 2024 Olympics. According to the haters, she was too strong to be a real woman, so they wanted her to be disqualified from the women’s category, even though she’s cisgender, which means her gender identity corresponds with the sex registered at birth (Oxford Languages). There’s still a deep-seated bias against “less feminine” women.

Another example could be seen in JO Paris 2024, relating the dating app Grindr was modified so it wouldn’t show the location of those staying at the Olympic Village, in order to protect the athletes by avoiding exposure of their sexuality, as some countries have queer expressions forbidden. Even in countries with supportive governments, athletes hide their sexuality due to the pressure to conform to the heteronormative standards. Often these stereotypes can be   promoted by fans, as Diana says. “Athletes risk to be connected to attributes such as delicate or weak, which clashes with the idea of a successful sportsperson.”

Especially in mens soccer society and masculine stereotypes play a visible role:
“Football clubs are especially complicated since we’re referring to a highly masculine space with many sponsors and fans from all around the world, whose comments will definitely have an impact on the soccer players and their performance”.  Diana says environments filled with toxic masculinity need to be changed so sport can be inclusive and a healthy way of interacting with each other. This change requires a collective effort by organizations, clubs, sponsors, governments and the public to challenge stereotypes and ensure athletes, regardless of their sexuality or gender, that they can compete freely and proudly.  “In sports they need people who support them.” A way of improving this situation is by bringing education to people in order to support them to become queer allies.

The importance of queer allies

Especially in rural areas there is a problem of lacking representation of queers, not only in sports. “Everywhere there are LGBTQIA+ people, so everywhere they have to be able to express their identity.” Where information about queer topics in general, especially in the heterosexual/cisgender population, is missing, showing one’s sexual identity openly can be harder. “Because allies are needed, so queer people can feel safe.” One way Diana Gläser is trying to create awareness is by bringing information to all the people. Recently she has been giving speeches at the pride parade (Christopher Street day, as it’s called in Germany) in smaller villages in Rhineland-Palatinate. The number of listeners did surprise her: about 300 people in Nierstein listened one hour to what they talked about on the stage, she says. „We never had that when we were in Mainz, even though it is a much bigger event there. It was a very nice experience for me.”

Diana Gläser sees a very important step in that for queer communities in the country and democracy. One of the most important factors to provide the support that is needed lies in education: “Children don’t learn about sexual orientation, about gender, they don’t learn about queer people.” In her opinion that has to change. Education about LGBTQIA+ people should be a recurrent topic in German schools, because when something is part of the structure, it stops being an exception. “Everybody is there, everybody has to hear it and discuss the topic.” There she sees one point to effect change in the society and to create an environment where people – in sports but also everywhere else — feel safe enough to come out. She says : “Only where all of those things come together, where queer allies meet LGBTQIA+ role models, sports can be inclusive.”

Text : Theresa Bolte, Sunita Hermann, Isabella Castro / Photos : Gemma Anglesio