‘Anti-Gay’ Chant Mars San Antonio FC Home Opener

1. Dumbasses

2. Embarrassing, I’d like to think this is not a representation of FC fans and San Antonio. What happened to keep it classy San Antonio?

3. Makes sense….Xican@s have a history of discrimination towards other POC and the Queer community. Especially Catholic Xican@s.

4. This is unbelievable.
   If calling a goalkeeper “puto” isn’t homophobic (regardless of his sexuality), then how about the visiting teams start calling our goalkeeper “spick” (regardless of his race) and let’s see how that goes down?
   Re that tweet that gay members of Mission City 118 would “say something” if they were offended. Maybe they don’t say anything because you puto-shouting jerks are just a bit scary. Or do the gay members shout “puto” along with their straight bros? Really?
   This is really unbelievable. Maybe someone needs to pinch me to remind me that I’m (1) in Texas and (2) in San Antonio.
   You know, all the creepy stuff the rest of the country thinks about Texas is starting to ring true. Nice work, Mission City 118.

5. Dumbasses

6. This is ridiculous. Its not an “anti-LGBTQ” chant.. It’s merely competitive razzing. People are too damn sensitive and take things too literal.

   1. Jen Hernandez, did you read my comment above yours?
      If gay people are “too damn sensitive and take things too literal[ly],” then surely you aren’t so sensitive and wouldn’t mind if I yelled “spick” at you if you were playing sports?
      When it comes to trying to understand how a certain group perceives slurs (gay people, hispanics, women, etc.), just substitute whatever group you are in for theirs and see how it plays out.
      And if you claim that yelling “puto” is just part of soccer “culture,” then I’ll start a new form of “culture” myself and start calling people all sorts of names at SAFC games and if I get any flack for it, I’ll just, “Jen said it’s ok to call people names.”
      Language is powerful and can be just as violent as a punch in the face.
      Sheesh.

      1. As a gay man myself, I’m going to agree with Jen on this one. I went to a few scorpions games and yelled it myself. Y hablo español. It’s not intended as an insult.

7. PUTO!!!!!!!!

   1. Our City, Our Club!

8. The Mission City 118 tweet tells the other guy to “go back to the stone age.” The Mission City 118 doesn’t have to go that far back. They just need to go back to the 1950s when gay-bashing, like the type they do, was totally ok.

9. I’m gay and it’s not really that big of a deal… There are other matters that are more important..

   1. “Not really that big of a deal,” Aaron?
      Really? Ok, you asked for it:
      You puto. (See how this flies?)

      1. Going with Aaron on this one.

10. I think it’s ironic and hypocritical that some of these comments against name-calling use it in their own comments.

11. Took an ex to a match Mexico vs Japan at the Alamodome and when the goalie kicked the ball she screamed puto lolol!! I was like what the hell was that? She said that’s what we do LMAO

12. All I read was “I don’t understand Latin American culture, nor am I willing to, and it makes me uncomfortable.”
    So…are you gay?

13. Good luck changing that. It’s yelled by nearly every person in the stadium when the opposing goalie kicks out.

    1. No, it isn’t … It was overwhelmingly from one section with another quite small sized group elsewhere. Do not put this disgrace on the rest of us.

14. Ha….someone will always find something to Bitch about!

15. I think it is a stretch to make this into an LGBT issue, it is really just an issue of sports fans showing a total lack of class.

    1. Really? A stretch? I guess you could say all that lynching of black people in the 19th and early 20th century by white people wasn’t racism. Those white people were just revealing their lack of class, that’s all, right? Class, my ass. It’s fear-driven bigotry at its finest.

       1. Equating it to lynching is over the top. I’m not defending it but the Mexican culture hasn’t yet caught on to the political correctness that is becoming the norm here. I have cousins that still to this day that prefer to go by nicknames that mock their weight, height, Asian looking eyes, skin color. Sure it’s durogatory, but at the same time it’s accepted and considered normal. It’s hard to grasp if you haven’t been exposed to it all of your life.

          1. Uh, I grew up in SA. I know about those nicknames. As for “PC”….I guess the same thing could have been said about abolitionists….they were just being PC.
             But I truly must apologize to other commentors here because I trusted the translation of “puto” as meaning “gay,” which I now know it doesn’t.
             So I retract my accusations of homophobia and regret that the incorrect use of “puto” in the article caused me to equate use of that with racial epithets. I used a word I have not used in my life, and I’m sorry for those I offended.
             But let me close by saying that photo of MC118 with the guy shooting the finger and the other guys faces contorted in anger could easily pass for a bunch of bashers. Does watching soccer require a fan to regress to fourth-grade behavior? Hell, I’m a rabid Spurs fan and I don’t get so worked up when the other time scores that I call the other team gutter names.

16. Yeah, I want my kids to hear that. I’ll be staying home.

17. Lou Dominquez

18. Classless

19. Haha…I think Ive heard the word “puto ” used everyday of my life by someone ,but it’s always towards someone messing around with too many girls

20. That same law is going to pass in Texas… yikes…it’s coming!!!

21. I think most conduct themselves appropriately, we haven’t burn down the city #SpursNation

22. Urban dictionary strikes again!

    1. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/translate/spanish-english/puto

       ^ that isn’t urbandictionary

23. I wonder how people can actually be ok with this kind of stuff. They say it’s just tradition. A tradition of swearing or calling people derogatory things? OK, sport fans try to justify it. But what about when there are children saying it. I have seen kids doing the puto chant at Scorpions games and now at the SAFC game. The kids are not even close to section 118, yet they still picked it up. Is it ok for a child to be chanting puto? What if children were chanting “bitch” or “faggot”? Would adults be ok with that? Most adults I know won’t let a child swear, so why is swearing or cussing is Spanish any different?

24. I am at a loss for why this would be something to get offended over.

    1. As I told “Jen Hernandez” above, how would you like it if a derogatory term that could be applied to you based on your race, gender or sexuality is used as a sports-arena yell? What do I mean? How about if the opposing team’s goalie was called “spick”. Now tell me you wouldn’t be offended by that.

       1. I am Puerto Rican and you calling me a spic wouldn’t offend me in the slightest. I was raised to be better than that. You comparing crowds yelling things at soccer games to violence and lynchings of black people (which it appears you did in an earlier comment) is absurd. Personally could care less if it is said or not. If the club bans it tomorrow it wouldn’t affect me and the supporters should follow the clubs wishes. But making this into an equality issue is a total overreaction and screams of PC bros looking for attention to show how progressive they are.

25. It happens in Houston and Dallas as well. It’s stupid. Just because Mexican soccer fans really pioneered the chant and do it all the time doesn’t mean it is cool and should be tolerated. Let’s not forget what else Mexican soccer fans are known for: urine bombs, rioting, destruction of stadium facilities, throwing trash onto the field, violence against non-supporters, and so much more. Collectively, Mexican soccer fans are obnoxious pricks with zero sense of class. Why so many fans here in the US who’ve never even been across the border strive to emulate them is beyond me. The literal definition of puto may not be faggot in Spanish, but the context for which it is used is derogatory. It’d be like everyone shouting the N-word but defending themselves by saying they’re not racists.

    1. Exactly.

26. Martin Hansson get your soccer hooligans under control.

27. I think the real issue is that “puto” is a vulgar word. Professional sports, and especially minor league sports, are all about family enjoyment and I think it is within the rights of the League and Team to ensure a family-friendly experience if they choose to.

    This reminds me of a chant that is allowed at University of Michigan hockey games. When an opposing player is sent to the penalty box, the student section chants, “Chump, dick, woose, douchebag, asshole, cheater, bitch, whore… COCKSUCKER!” For some reason, the “cocksucker” portion of the chant is not allowed by security and you can be removed for saying it. But the rest of the chant is freely allowed.

28. We are now back to the point in San Antonio where everyone is suddenly offended by such offensive offenses.
    #gimmeAbreak

29. Its done at every goal kick in a Mexico national team match. It’s not cool. It has no redeeming qualities. It’s a tired, old, ridiculous chant that should come to its already overdue end.

30. Puto/Puta – means whore / slut / someone who sleeps around/cheats

    Learn your Spanish slang already

    Joto/jota- gay slur

    Saying spick is a racial slur .

    1. Thank you!!!!

31. I don’t know why, when or how this chant came to be but it is utterly juvenile and ridiculous and has nothing to do with the game. People who participate in this are immature to say the least.

32. If you’re going to add commentary, at least get the translation correct. Who’d you copy and paste that information from anyway?

33. I have to agree that “puto” doesn’t translate as “faggot” (that would be “joto”). But it does basically mean “whore” and is offensive enough that a closer English translation might be “cunt.” So, maybe not really an LGBT issue, but definitely offensive. And definitely something you wouldn’t say in general company, much less in a family-friendly environment. People need to be aware that it’s not okay to chant anything that could even be considered derogatory. Come up with a different chant! Try thinking “Hey batter, batter…”

34. I do not tolerate this
    Zero tolerance and truly believe other
    Prejudice will follow;
    This is a poor reflection on San Antonio!!!! It surely would not fly at Spurs
    Games??

35. Can we not use racist assumptions to respond to homophobia please?

    1. Do you mean my equating calling a hispanic person sp*ck to calling a gay person a derogatory term when responding to a commentor here with a Spanish first or surname? Yes, I assumed a person with such a name is probably hispanic.
       I’ve already apologized (above) for believing the incorrect translation of “puto” in the article (even though a South American wrote here that in his country “puto” means “faggot”). Are you saying that racism is “worst” than homophobia? I didn’t know there was an index for quantifying bigotry.

       1. We do not agree the article is misstating the meaning of “puto.” It’s derogatory sexual slang, sometimes used to infer someone is a male prostitute, other times to insult them as gay. I have heard it used in various Spanish-speaking countries as slang as loosely as other slang words. The bottom line is that it is being chanted at soccer games to mock and denigrate the visiting team’s players. Fans wouldn’t last long at a Spurs game in the AT&T Arena if they chanted anything like that in English.–RR

          1. This is a division 3 soccer team. Not the spurs Robert.

             You will never understand.

             1. Well I guess YOU don’t understand that people bring their little children to these games. I bet those parents would love their children hearing cuss and swear words. I bet they love it when their children say them.
                Just because shock value is lost on a word because Hispanics apparently use it all the time, doesn’t mean children should use it. Let’s have children chant English equivalents like “gay whore” or “cocksucker” and see how that goes down with people.
                There are other ways to be passionate and loud during a game and swearing as a group shouldn’t be one of them.

             2. So fans of a team with inferior athletic abilities (division 3) can make up for that deficiency by exhibiting false macho, juvenile behavior. Yes, I don’t understand how “sportsmanship” includes calling the other team’s goaly a crude name, which is regularly used as a gay slur right here in good ol’ SA.
                Does MC118 go to FC games to root for the team or just to have a socially “acceptable” outlet for asinine offensive behavior?
                And if calling the goaly a puto, meaning a guy who sleeps around, isn’t that actually a compliment to a macho guy, like “what a stud” or something?
                Yes, I don’t understand why those fans loooooove screaming puto (and one loves shooting the finger).
                I was walking thru Harvard Square in the heart of Cambridge, Mass. about 20 yrs ago, minding my own business, dressed like an average joe, and two hispanic guys passed me and one sneered “puto” at me. So all u people here who say puto isn’t homophobic, well some people sure use it that way.

36. While it is a prominent chant in a certain section, it does not mean they are the only ones doing it. I heard it throughout the stadium at that game. While some may not consider it a homophobic chant, the overall connotation is negative and should not be allowed. Chants with cuss words led by supporters groups should not be allowed either. We need to as a society to remember that as adults we are raising our children to be insensitive when we allow these types of things.

37. Fans…going beyond the offensive nature of the word: Stop being so damn derivative and come up with something original.

38. I started reading the Rivard Report because I thought it was a serious and respectable alternative to the trashy mysanantonio.com.

    Now I see the Rivard Report lowering itself to reporting what is a bunch of hullabuloo and making it a sensationalistic headline.

    I also thought the Rivard Report had a better grasp of Mexican culture. I now see it carries the stereotypical classic mentality of misreading/misjudging so much of the Mexican culture.

    Do your homework Rivard Report. The FIFA in the last World Cup that this was non issue.

    1. David:

       I’m sorry you feel that way, but we don’t consider discrimination a bunch of “hullabuloo.” Regardless of what FIFA did or didn’t do during the last World Cup, it was an issue during the opening game of San Antonio FC. People denounced the chant on social media and it’s been an issue of debate among soccer fans (obviously, as you can see from the response in the comment section), so I don’t think this is coming out of left field, so to speak.

       We’re are, in fact, serious about taking on issues that may make some people uncomfortable. Discrimination is not what Mexican culture is all about – this is an article about a specific aspect about soccer/fan culture and not all fans are Mexican.

       The City and County put a lot of money on the table for this team to happen and to attract MLS. We’re merely doing our due diligence. If “San Antonio FC is committed to creating a safe, comfortable and enjoyable environment for all fans,” according to Holt, then that means ALL fans.

       1. Further to Iris, FIFA did not act in Brazil (much), but they DID act during matches last year on it, so they may not have seen it as an issue at that point, but after doing more research they clearly think it is now. Now does FIFA thinking something make it right? Of course not. But it does say that FIFA did actually act on this, just not at the World Cup.

       2. Iris,

          I see your points! Thanks.

39. Freddy apparently we’re offensive now

40. This chant has nothing to do with anti-gay or anti-LGBT slurs at all. It is simply a chant that UNITES fans of the same team while in the stadium regardless of where they are sitting. The word truly gets LOST IN TRANSLATION and is taken out of context by John who has no dominion of the Spanish language. As David A. mentioned FIFA (the governing body of international football) investigated this at the last World Cup and said it’s much ado about nada. Here’s the thing John, no matter how much you comment, tweet, yell, scream, jump, dance, blog, or anything you can think of this will not stop. Not here in SA, not in LA at MLS Galaxy games, certainly not in Mexico and not abroad either. I was at El Clasico 2 weeks ago in Barcelona and the fans yelled puta every other word! John, don’t pretend to understand something you don’t by acting holier-than-thou. Redirect your energy towards something worth your while and you’ll find a happier existence.

    1. Oh cmon, nobody wants all of those little soccer kids in the stands thinking it’s okay to call their opponents puto.

    2. You say a vulgar chant “UNITES” fans? Sort of how “Burn, baby, burn” unites looters? Or “Lynch ‘im” unites a mob? Just because the other “kids” are doing it doesn’t make it right.

       1. Yes, it unites fans and no, not like the examples you mention. Okay, you dislike the chant. So what? Who cares what you like or dislike? At the end of the day as I mentioned in my previous post there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you can do to stop it. PERIOD. You may as well focus your passion on underwater basket weaving since you’ll accomplish more doing than you will with your holier-than-thou post.

          1. It does unite people, that DOES include mobs and looters. There are thing to be done, but none of them pleasant to the club and it’s fans if people really want it to be stopped. Nobody care what you think either.

41. This article and comment section need a trigger warning. There are a lot of really mean words people are saying and that makes me feel super sad on my insides. We should all accept and tolerate everyone (except people who don’t tolerate or accept everyone).

42. You’re kidding yourself if you think Puto is an appropriate chant. whether you think it simply translates to male whore or faggot is beside the point. Either way its not what most parents in the stands want their little kids hearing or repeating. I’m all for a little ribbing, but there’s no need to get R rated around little kids.

43. Even if it’s meaning in other countries are different, in Mexico the word means coward and to an extent whore and isn’t meant as a gay slur.

44. The use of “puto” in the Spanish speaking world U.S. very common. It’s for the most part lost its literal meaning and now would translate as “reviled one”. So maybe the fans could chant “oh reviled one”, but that would lose some of its bite and be very nerdy. So so I think “puto” would be ok except that most parents don’t like for their kids to use the word because if its literal meaning.

    1. Common usage hasn’t watered down the definition. Its just that durogatory/demeaning words are so common in the Latin culture that they lose their shock value. See nicknames like flaco, gordo, chino, chapo/chaparrito, vieja, etc. Any of those in English would be offensive

45. Hi. I live in Uruguay. I take a vacation in the US and became a Galaxy fan (sorry!). To clarify, PUTO means FAGG*T, here, in Argentina, Mexico and every spanish speaking latin american country, theres no other way around.
    I love going to see US fútbol (soccer!) because is so safe, i didn’t see any racism/homophobia soooo common here.
    PLEASE KEEP IT THAT WAY!!!!

    Sorry my bad english.

46. It’s not anti-gay, jeez!

    1. Read this. Read about the people who have been victimized by this word. Think about how something affects other people and show some compassion.

       http://www.prostamerika.com/2016/02/06/133814/133814

47. Try walking around downtown SA and calling random men puto, see what happens. Probably should have a policeman and ambulance nearby before you do.

48. Next time i see anyone from this section on the street with their kids ill make sure to go up and start calling their kid a puto and see how they like it. They cant get mad though since its not a slur, its a tradition.

    ¯\_(?)_/¯

49. I’ve yelled the chant countless times and laughed and laughed afterwards. But to find that the chant may alienate even a small part of the community changes the fun in it. It’s not THAT fun. The fun is in being with friends and supporting SAFC. The soccer religion is loyalty to our club and to the advancement of that club, not loyalty to a chant. I hereby swear to never say the chant again and I challenge my fellow supporters to do the same by asking themselves this question:

    Is it better to continue the chant and possibly offend cool people from our own community AND probably never leave the USL?
    OR
    Find another chant, grow our supporter base AND get an MLS team so we can REALLY get mental?

50. Screw soccer….GO SPURS GO!!!

    1. By saying screw soccer your saying screw SAFC= Screw Spurs Sports & Entertainment= Screw Spurs? You know they are part of same people right?

       1. I’m saying screw soccer as a sport. Just because they’re affiliated with the spurs organization doesn’t mean I have to support this soccer team. I’m only pro NBA and at times NFL

51. Thanks to CJBINATX for the link to http://www.prostamerika.com/2016/02/06/133814/133814 which everyone who thinks the chat is fine, not sexist, not homophobic should take three minutes to read.
    If you’re pressed for time, I’ll snip two excerpts here:
    “Offensive and homophobic” were the words used by Dr. Rainer Enrique Hamel, professor of linguistics at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City, when speaking with Vice Sports. “The word puto refers to a gay man, with the implication that he’s a prostitute, and that all gays are prostitutes, so it’s an insult.”
    ONAPRED, the anti-discrimination agency of the Mexican government… released a statement titled, “CONAPRED Rejects Normalization of Homophobic Rage in Football, [which] goes into great detail about the chant: “The shout of ‘puto’ is an expression of scorn, of rejection. It is neither a neutral description nor expression.”

52. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/holly-r-cashman/mexico-world-cup-puto_b_5522856.html

53. Excellent work.

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