The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland, ÍSÍ, met today with Samtökin ’78 and Styrmir Sports Club to discuss how the three organisations can tackle queer prejudice with in the sports movement in Iceland. The chairman of Styrmir says that he’s very pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
“It was a great meeting, to put it lightly,” says Jón Þór Þorleifsson, chairman of Styrmir Sports Club, who has just stepped out of a meeting with the head of ÍSÍ, The National Olympic and Sports Association, to start discussions about how to develop queer education amongst sports clubs in Iceland.
“This was just the first meeting and things won’t change overnight, but we are definitely going to form an extensive collaboration to eliminate prejudice against queer people in sports. So the plan is that we continue this together; Samtökin ’78 have a lot of educational material that can be adjusted to the needs of the sports clubs so we’ll probably hold a meeting again soon and take the next step together.”
Jón Þór sounds really excited and by no means wants to blame ÍSÍ for allowing prejudice to exist. “I was really happy to see how much anti-prejudice material ÍSÍ already has – they’ve established ethical rules in every club and so on, but it’s a massive organization with thousands of members so the follow-up might have been a bit tricky. But we all agree, it’s not cool to have prejudice, neither against queer people nor anyone else.”
Styrmir is a queer sports club and as Líney Rut Halldórsdóttir, the secretary-general of ÍSÍ, revealed in an interview with GayIceland last month, the association wants to collaborate with the national queer organization Samtökin ’78 and Styrmir to prepare the queer education. “ÍSÍ contacted Samtökin ’78 right after GayIceland opened the discussion and since then, the board of Samtökin and Styrmir have met for talks. I’m convinced that collaboration between the three organizations will lead to something good,” Jón Þór adds, but the meeting that was held today included the leaders of both Samtökin and Styrmir, as well as Líney Rut and Ragnhildur Skúladóttir, director of education within ÍSÍ.
What can Styrmir possibly bring to the table? “You could call us, and Samtökin ’78, some sort of professional advisors,” Jón Þór says and laughs. “But we just have to wait and see how this all plays out.”
“ÍSÍ contacted Samtökin ’78 right after GayIceland opened the discussion and since then, the board of Samtökin and Styrmir have met for talks. I’m convinced that collaboration between the three organizations will lead to something good.”
Styrmir was established as a football club in 2006 and will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this year. Was the initial aim to create a hub for gay men who didn’t feel that they fitted in with other football clubs? “Yes and also to come up with a new venue for guys to meet and hang out together. It started small, with a few guys gathering in Klambratún park to kick a ball but very quickly the group grew bigger and they organized regular trainings, which then led to them participating in football tournaments abroad as well as hosting one here in Iceland.”
When reading old interviews with the earliest members of Styrmir, they often say that they retreated from sports because of prejudice or fear of coming out to their team mates, and despite an overall decrease in homophobia and more supportive laws and regulations, the newer members are complaining about similar things now, ten years later. Have things not changed that much in the last decade?
“I think that a lot of things have changed within the sports association as well as society as a whole. We do benefit from the privilege that prejudice isn’t a serious problem in Iceland. But obviously, there are bad apples everywhere although individuals who have problems with homosexuality are getting fewer and fewer, thankfully.”
What about Styrmir Sports Club, can anybody join, queers, trans people, bisexuals, straight people etc? “Yes, everybody’s welcome! After all, we emphasize that we’re a sports club without prejudice.”
Which sports are being exercised within Styrmir and how many members are there? “There are regular running and swimming practises. We’ve paused our football and volley ball training for a while but they will probably resume in the fall. There are a few dozen members but as with any club, members’ participation can fluctuate so we simply adjust the timetable to that.”
Is there still need for a club such as Styrmir? “I would say there’s much need for it yes, both as a sports club,” says Jón Þór, referring to the results of an informal survey amongst members of queer Icelandic internet groups which show that 89,2 percent of those whose answered believe that a club such as Styrmir needs to exist, and roughly 86 percent of them believe that Styrmir should be more visible. “But,” adds Jón Þór, “there is also need for Styrmir as a venue for people to meet and get together. Apart from the sports training, Styrmir has organized various events throughout the years, everything from BBQ parties to an international swimming tournament with 500 competitors.”
“I think the need for a club like Styrmir is always going to be there, since it also serves as a way of socialising outside the pitch.”
But supposedly, there will be less need for Styrmir if ÍSÍ succeeds in making every body feel more welcome in their sports clubs? “I think the need for a club like Styrmir is always going to be there, since it also serves as a way of socialising outside the pitch. Of course we all dream of living in a society that’s completely without prejudice but I believe that Styrmir will always be there for us.”
See also: Queer athletes are silenced and ignored • Guðjón Valur: Coaches need queer education • Samtökin ’78: More than willing to assist ÍSÍ
Photos: Courtesy of Jón Þór Þorleifsson and Styrmir Sports Club.