SANT FELIU DE LLOBREGAT, Spain - A soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men has made its debut in a regional league in Spain, overcoming administrative challenges and prejudice to become the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe.
Fenix captain Luck Ibanez speaks to his companions before their first official soccer match.
Spain passed a pioneering trans rights bill last year designed to make it easier to change a person's legal gender identity. But intolerance persists, with a record 302 cases of discrimination or violence against LGBT people in Catalonia in 2023, a quarter of which targeted transgender victims, according to data compiled by the region's Observatory against LGBTphobia.
"I was a boy playing in the girls' team, but without a changed ID, so I wasn't yet allowed to play with boys," he said, recounting how other players, coaches and parents in the stands often hurled insults and threats at him. "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."In response to Reuters' emailed questions about their current policy, the Catalan FA said its men's leagues have been mixed for the past two seasons, meaning players of any gender can participate regardless of their official identity.
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