Un*seen Game – On the In/Visibilty of Women and Queers in Sports/Football
Sport has always been a field of contestation and struggle around bodies and freedom of movement and expression. For many women and queer people being visible as a sportsperson is both empowering and can pose significant risks. It can create community or set people apart because of multiple exclusions. Gender is both produced and contested in sports through sexism and challenges thereof by women and queers. It is deeply connected to governments, national projects and elites, money in general and corruption in particular.
We live in a world that is increasingly hostile towards people that cross borders, boundaries and binaries in different ways with sports being an area of heightened contestation. With this conference, we focus on in/visibility of women and queers in sports and in football/soccer in particular. We want to explore how football and feminist activism are connected, how visibility helps or hinders women and queers in complex ways, how sports journalism can live up to the task of portraying different people as sportspeople.
The first day will focus on the situation of women and queers in particularly sexist, homo- and transphobic and misogynist contexts including in authoritarian states. The second day centers on the situation of queer, inter and trans people in sports.
Planned Program:
Saturday, August 12:
13:30: Doors
14.00: Opening and welcome – Esther M. Franke (DISCOVER FOOTBALL, Berlin)
14.30: Keynote and Q&A with Gilda Sahebi (journalist and author, Berlin)
15.15: Break
15.30: Focus Afghanistan: Conversation with Khalida Popal (Afghan football player and founder and director of Girl Power Organization, Kopenhagen)
16.15: Focus Iran: Conversation with Hamideh Hamidi (former goalkeeper of the Iranian national futsal team and goalkeeper coach of the national soccer team)
17.00: Break
17.15: Interactive exchange
18.15: Summary of the day – Johanna Small (DISCOVER FOOTBALL, Berlin)
19 h: Dinner (own costs)
Sunday, August 13:
10.30: Welcome – DISCOVER FOOTBALL
11.00: Presentation on trans and sports by Natalie Washington (football player and activist, campaign lead for Football v Transphobia, Brighton)
11.30: Conversation on transing experiences with Zawadi Machogu (football coach, Mombasa) and Charlotte Jerke (trans-Lehrerin und Fußballspielerin beim DFC Kreuzberg, Berlin)
12.00: Presentation on trans youth in sports and media by Verity Smith (trans rugby player with Leeds Rhinos, Leeds)
12.30: Lunch break
13.30: Presentation and conversation on inter and media – Payoshni Mithra (athletes’ rights advocate, London) and Annet Negesa (middle-distance runner, Berlin) (tbc)
14.30: Discussion about organizing for queer people in sports with Aya Noguchi (director, S.C.P. Japan/lecturer, Seijo University, Tokyo), Selin Yıldız (Sprtif Lezbon, Istanbul), Ana Gurgenidze (WFC Martve/Female Football for Social Change, Kutaisi) and Manuela Kay (journalist/ publisher SIEGESSÄULE and L-MAG, Berlin)
15.15: Break
15.30: Interactive Exchange
16.30: Break
17.00: Summary of the day and the conference & open discussion – Johanna Small (DISCOVER FOOTBALL, Berlin)
18.00: End
Food, water and coffee will be provided (for donation – give what you can).
The main language of the conference will be English with translation provided to and from Arabic, Farsi, Georgian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Turkish.
The venue is accessible.
For question please email: [email protected]
The organizer:
DISCOVER FOOTBALL is the world’s leading network using football as a tool to advocate for a world in which women and queers can engage in sports without being discriminated against for any reason. We are a Berlin based NGO and collective and have been working on these issues since 2009.
This event is funded by Auswärtiges Amt, Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimar and DFB-Kulturstiftung.
