SANT FELIU DE LLOBREGAT, Spain (Reuters)

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.

The team, named Fenix FC after the mythical bird symbolising rebirth, played some friendlies and seven-a-side games last season but now competes in the fifth tier in the north-western region of Catalonia after being incorporated into a local club in the Barcelona suburb of Sant Feliu de Llobregat.

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.

Hugo Martinez, 24, told Reuters he faced abuse when he began transitioning with gender-affirming hormone therapy and was forced to leave the women’s soccer team in which he had played.

“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.

The experience prompted Martinez to put out a call online for other trans men seeking to play soccer in a safe environment. Setting up Fenix FC took three years.

‘Safe space’

Captain Luke Ibanez, 19, said he was hesitant about playing for a team with cisgender — or non-trans — men, as he feared he would not fit in or even suffer violence. So when Martinez told him about his idea for an all-trans side, he quickly jumped on board.

“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’ e-mailed 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.

Players may also choose to use a name that’s different from their legal one, it added. Other regional FAs have limited these modifications up to a certain age group, while the rules vary in other sports.

Fenix’s first game of the season on September 21 ended with a 19-0 defeat. But for its fans and players, trans men having the right to play their favourite sport on equal terms is far more important than the score.