"I was fired by unenlightened people, just for being gay", says player
One of the rare openly homosexual football players, Yoann Lemaire, who was fired from the team where he played due to the homophobia still inherent to the sport.
"I'm a bad amateur player, dismissed for being gay by unenlightened people", Yoann Lemaire, 35, ironically introduces himself at his home in his hometown of Vireux-Wallerand, in northern France. For him, "it is ignorance that breeds intolerance."
Lemaire's story became an autobiographical book, entitled "Je suis le seul joueur de foot homo… enfin j'étais" (I am the only gay football player… anyway, I was, in free translation), and which has now become a documentary.
At first, "the guys didn't believe in me, because I was the most virile player, the one who received the most cards, a big one indeed", recalls the FC Chooz defender, who started playing ball at the age of 6.
He says that the documentary is a way of “raising awareness” among football lovers about a subject that destroys young people’s dreams: homophobia in football. The film is directed by Michel Royer and has the help of crowdfunding.
The objective of the documentary is not "a settling of scores, but rather trying to find an understanding, moving from anger to peace: it is a search", believes Lemaire, who wants to "set an example", "understand the fans" and "find a means of raising awareness" among people, as well as "seeing how things happen in other sports, like women's basketball."
Yoann Lemaire's relentless motivation, however, cannot mask some bitterness: "When I return to my club, I meet the same coach, the same directors, and it hasn't changed, they don't want to talk about it: it's a pain for them" .
