Although professional boxing has not restarted its presentations, the athletes maintain their activity on social networks and an example of those who share the most content is Julio César Chávez Junior, who recently uploaded a Tik Tok to his profile, which generated kind comments, but also criticism by homophobic users.
The son of the great Mexican champion published a video on his account, which already has more than 79,000 followers. He can be seen walking into his house in heels and walking down the hall. Recording soon became a trend and even earned more than 28,000 likes from social network users.
After uploading the video, a large number of people celebrated the boxer’s sense of humor and even received comments from women, who said that he had more ability to wear heels than they did; However, there was no shortage of homophobic messages towards Chávez Junior.
Before those kinds of words, the father of the still professional boxer spoke out through his Twitter account. “Don’t worry about my son’s Tik Tok. I do not feel ashamed, on the contrary, it makes me happy and I laugh because it is fun. I know that she has them on and that she doesn’t like it, that with everything and heels she goes and fuck they already know where, with all respect. ”
Although the Mexican boxing legend appealed for a validation of his son’s masculinity to defend him with the phrase “he has them on,” the boxer, Juan Martín Coggi, wrote to him: “My champion, there is nothing to explain to anyone. The Junior or anyone can do whatever they want with their life. My respects to you and your family. “
It is clear that a person’s sexual orientation cannot be assumed from a video, but according to UNAM psychologist Tania Rocha, a specialist in gender socialization, there is a panorama that does not allow people to talk about a topic like homosexuality in a field like sport.
The reason for this is that it is a space “historically thought for men and the way in which the logic of competition has been developed leaves out behaviors that are not in accordance with an idea of the masculine”.
Despite this complexity, there have been extremely notable cases in the sports world, such as that of the Puerto Rican boxer Orlando Cruz, who came out of the closet in 2012 and made history, as he became the first active boxer who declared himself openly gay.
Through a statement, Cruz confirmed his homosexuality and declared: “I have always been and will continue to be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and will continue to be a proud gay man. ”
Another of the difficulties, especially for men, regarding making explicit their homosexuality, explains Dr. Rocha, is that it is read by much of society as a synonym for femininity and a kind of betrayal by men to a idealized model of masculinity. Furthermore, in sports this represents “a direct confrontation with a physical and symbolic space designed for men.”
Many athletes who have been questioned about the complexity of declaring homosexuality point out that in addition to institutional stigmatization, fear of discrimination among their own teammates also influences.
In this regard, Rocha comments that this is due to the rigidity regarding the conception of gender in sport and the fact that identities in this space have been built on a totally binary basis where only men and women can exist.
