Phuti Lekoloane

Phuti Lekoloane (born 1991/1992 (age 28–29)), also known as Phuti Minaj, is a South African footballer and LGBTQ activist,[1][2] from Moletjie,Ga-kolopo, a rural township near Polokwane in the Limpopo province.[2] He played for JDR Stars, a Pretoria-based organization, on their second division team as goalkeeper,[1] and now does so for Tornado F.C., also in the SAFA Second Division.[2] He is Africa’s first openly gay male footballer, having come out publicly in July 2015.[1] His nickname Phuti Minaj came from his mentor John Moshoeu, who caught him twerking while watching a video from Nicki Minaj.[3]

Early life

Phuti Lekoloane was born in Moletjie,[4] Polokwane in the Capricorn District Municipality, the largest Limpopo province in South Africa.[2] He was raised in Tembisa.[2] His family has a farm going back generations; their “extended family owns about 300 hectares in Mooiplaas, Mpumalanga, about 40km from Polokwane.”[5]

Lekoloane says he has always known he was gay, being born as such, and that his family was accepting and supportive.[1] However, he was bullied at school for being gay.[2]

When he was about 13, he was playing netball and was pulled into being the football goalie when the team was short of players.[6] He’s been playing football since he was fifteen.[1] At seventeen he was playing for Highlands Park F.C. and realized he had a talent for the sport.[7] He also played for Platinum Stars F.C.’s development team before they were moved to Royal Bafokeng Stadium.[6]

Career

JDR Stars

Lekoloane played for JDR Stars, an ABC Motsepe League team, a Pretoria-based organization, on their SAFA Second Division team as goalkeeper.[1] He wears the 91 shirt in honor of John Moshoeu, a South African Nations Cup champion in 1996, who was his mentor.[8] "[Moshoeu] is fondly remembered for wearing the number 10 jersey", Phuti says, "9 plus 1 equals 10;" he sought permission from Moshoeu's family, and they gave their blessing.[6] His nickname, Phuti Minaj, was given to him by Moshoeu who caught him twerking while watching a video from Nicki Minaj.[3]

He is South Africa’s first openly gay footballer, after coming out publicly in December 2015.[1] His teammates have been mostly supportive, Lekoloane thinks because he has a good attitude and accepts himself.[1] However opposition teams and their fans have taunted and harassed him.[9] Lekoloane has learned to channel that hatred into motivation to make things better for other gay footballers.[10] He left because of homophobia, including a teammate who believed being gay was on par with being a murderer.[2] Being gay remains a crime in many African countries;[11] he has met many closeted gay soccer players.[12] South Africa was the first country on the continent to legalize same-sex marriage.[8] Lekoloane’s goal is to be the first openly gay player in the South African Premier Division of the Premier Soccer League.[4]

Dealing with homophobia

Lekoloane has dealt with homophobia in the sport; at a team’s trial in the mid-2010s, the organization’s representatives said they did not know how to accommodate him, and thought he would be bad for their image.[1] As of October 2017, he has been on trial with five Premier Soccer League teams but they were concerned about his sexuality.[4] Lekoloane noted that while European teams have tried to eradicate homophobia—for instance, the 2016 #RainbowLaces campaign developed by Skins sportswear,[13] to raise awareness about homophobia in sport with Pride in Diversity,[14]—South Africa has not; while they have worked on issues of racism in association football.[1] Homophobia, and toxic masculinity has long existed in football, going back to before Justin Fashanu, the first professional gay footballer, who never came out but his sexuality was an open secret,[8] faced it from his own coach in the 1980s.[2] It continued to Robbie Rogers, and others since.[2] The atmosphere for LGBTQ people in South Africa is still dangerous.[2] The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) found that 40% “who identify as LGBTQIA+, 49% if they are black, know someone who has been murdered because of their sexuality. Those who aren’t murdered are discriminated against.”[2]

He feels the homophobia has held him back professionally from playing in the Premier Soccer League.[1] He has vowed to be visible and stand up to the discrimination:

“My purpose in life is to pave the way for the LGBTQI community in football, to fight for inclusion and equality,” Lekoloane said. “There are a lot of gay footballers, but they are scared to come out. I have met a lot of gay guys who had to retire from football because of discrimination.[2]

Tornado F.C.

Lekoloane joined Athlete Ally, a sports-focused LGBTQ advocacy organization.[15][16] He left JDR Stars because of the homophobia, but was later recruited by Tornado F.C., another SAFA Second Division team.[2] Doing so, he had to move from Johannesburg to East London, Eastern Cape, a place known for violence against LGBTQ people.[2] The same IRR study showed LGBTQIA+ identifying people “are three times more likely to be attacked in the Eastern Cape than in any other province in the country”.[2] Team manager, Yanga Nyobo, daughter of Tornado’s former chairman, Siphiwo “Mawawa” Nyobo, came out to him as gay, and stated the team strives for diversity.[2] He has become the club’s top goalkeeper.[17]

In October 2018 he was nominated for the Feather Awards’ Sports Personality of the Year award for “iconic personalities and achievers who inspire” the LGBTQI communities.[12]

See also

References
  1. DeBarros, Luiz (July 22, 2016). "This is Phuti Lekoloane – South Africa's first openly gay male footballer". Mamba Online. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  2. Ngidi, Njabulo (April 29, 2019). "Phuti Lekoloane paves LGBTQIA+ way for footballers". New Frame. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  3. "Soccer star Phuti Lekoloane opens up about being gay on air". ZAlebs. July 14, 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  4. Mabasa, Tiyani wa ka (22 October 2017). "Phuti Minaj says clubs have a problem with his sexuality, but he won't give up". SowetanLIVE & Sunday World. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  5. Saba, Athandiwe (9 September 2016). "Plenty of maize, but not a grain to eat: How small farmers went hungry in Limpopo". The Mail & Guardian Online. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  6. Adams, Nathan (17 July 2016). "Playing for the other team". Daily Voice. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  7. Ntsabo, Mihlali (July 4, 2019). "Phuti Lekoloane, SA's 1st openly gay soccer player: I don't regret coming out". MambaOnline. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  8. Sabino, Alex (20 May 2019). "Goleiro sul-africano assume homossexualidade e encara preconceito / South African goalkeeper takes on homosexuality and faces prejudice". Folha de S’Paulo. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  9. Petite, Roi (February 12, 2019). ""Being openly gay has held my career back" - Phuti Lekoloane, South African openly gay footballer". The Rustin Times. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  10. Horne, Hadley (18 February 2019). "Footballer speaks about challenges of being openly gay on the field". The Pink Tongue. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  11. Parkinson, Christian (February 10, 2019). "Being openly gay has held my career back". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  12. Piliso, Mfundo (2 October 2018). "Popular goalie up for sports personality prize". DispatchLIVE. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  13. "Sportsmen and women across the country are uniting to boot homophobia out of sport". news.com.au.
  14. "Skins Chairman Jaimie Fuller: We need Leadership – in Sport and Society". iSport.
  15. "Phuti Lekoloane". Athlete Ally. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  16. "Join Every Fan". Athlete Ally. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  17. Piliso, Mfundo (20 June 2018). "Tornado coach expects mighty exodus ahead". Dispatch Live. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
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