Manipur Forms Its First Ever All Transgender Football Team And We Love How We’re Moving Towards Inclusivity
A lot of people will end up remembering 2020 as the year that witnessed a worldwide lockdown due to the spread of the deadly COVID- 19 virus, but for those of us, who apart from being cautious also want to see the silver lining on this very grey cloud, 2020 is also the year of landmark moves. This is the year India is becoming a little more open to the idea of inclusivity and now we have yet another landmark move at our hands as Manipur kickstarts its very own and first of its kind all transgender football team.
The team that is said to be led by Nick (striker) with Chaki (vice-captain, striker), Puja (goal keeper), Silleibi (goal keeper) and others as its key members has been formed by the help and support of Ya All, an NGO based out of Imphal.
Speaking on the matter, Vice Captain Chaki said, “Tournaments are held either for men or women. But transgender players can’t play with men or women. Even if they take part without disclosing the gender, controversy often takes place in case of a complaint. It is always in our minds on why can’t we have a tournament for the third gender.” And finally, that question has been answered by giving them the chance to represent themselves and proudly at that.
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Arguably India’s first inclusive transgender football team and sporting event. May you all play with #pride#LGBTQI #QueerSports #Manipur #India https://t.co/mCrtR9mh4B
— S Ravi (@SRavi_RRCo) March 17, 2020
As Ya All finds itself working towards the cause for the LGBTQ+ community, Sadam Hanjabam, the founder said, “This is perhaps the first all-transgender football team in the country. We have not yet come across any such team in other parts,” and maybe this will finally serve as enough motivation for others to follow.
Sadam further continued on the matter and said, “They were born as girls but they consider themselves boys. But our society finds it difficult to accept this identity. They face so much of stigma and discrimination that they can’t display their sporting talents. Our purpose is to help them enjoy their identity and provide a platform to prove them that they can do things together. This will help change our society’s mindsets towards the third gender,” and we are glad that we have people among us who want to fight this battle alongside them, to earn them equal respect and recognition in the society.
He then concluded by saying, “We request the big football teams to come forward and help us in providing coaching and other facilities. If we all can join hands to have sports meets for the third gender also, many such sporting talents will come out in the open. They don’t come out due to the stigma and discrimination they face in the society.”
Here is to hoping that this step and initiative shall help them find their footing as equal members of the society and encourage others to play a part in breaking past these age old and redundant stereotypes!
