:strip_icc()/s01.video.glbimg.com/x720/10514012.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
Never in the history of Brazilian MMA has there been an active fighter who admits to being homosexual. Although homosexuality is treated naturally among women, with the right to have big names like Amanda Nunes and Jéssica Bate-Estaca as representatives of the LGBT community, in men there seems to be a barrier, but this taboo begins to be broken directly from Laranjal do Jari, a municipality located in the south of Amapá with just over 50,000 inhabitants.
–
Washington Duarte Souza lives there or, if the reader prefers, the “Golden Princess”, as he is known in his academy and even by residents of the city. Openly gay, the 29-year-old fighter received the report of “Fantástico” this week, talked about his life story and told his mother his sexual orientation for the first time (see video report below).
–
–
Washington faces prejudice as Brazil’s first openly gay MMA fighter
– –
Washington does not remember when he was discovered to be homosexual. According to him, it was always something natural throughout his life. At the academy, led by coach Ricardo Macaco and which counts with ex-UFC Tiago Trator as one of the athletes, Dourado (as he is also called by those closest to him) has always been treated with affection by his teammates and is seen as an athlete of talent and potential. to get to big events. But that didn’t stop him from being a victim of prejudice within MMA.
–
– The first part of the prejudice I had within MMA was a guy from a neighboring town. He told my jiu-jitsu teacher that if he lost to me, he would leave town. I won the fight in the first round, I knocked out the boy and he left the city – said Washington, being ratified by Macaco.
–
– There was an episode, a fighter at the time said that if he lost, he would leave. So the fight was closed. The day of the event arrived, Dourado went there and won and the guy was so “whipped” that, for a while, he disappeared. And today he no longer lives in the city.
–
–
Washington Duarte with Tiago Trator and Ricardo Macaco — Photo: Raphael Marinho
– –
His record on the website “Sherdog” (a platform that records results from professional MMA fighters around the world) is five wins and two losses, with three positive results, despite the fighter guaranteeing to have more than 30 fights in his career. For Tiago Trator, Washington is ready to face “the top 1 in Brazil” in the under-61kg category. He also recalled another episode in which he believes prejudice hit his friend and teammate.
–
– I took him to fight in Macapá, he just put on a show, he won the three rounds. In the result the judges gave the fight to his opponent. And everyone who was present at the event saw that he won the fight and I believe there was a certain prejudice on the part of him being homosexual.
–
For fighter Jessica Bate-Estaca, who fought the first fight in UFC history between two homosexual athletes (when she faced Liz Carmouche), it is machismo allied to homophobia that makes it difficult for gay athletes to emerge in male MMA, as the sport be labeled as a “man thing”.
–
– Within the world of MMA, I have never met (male homosexual fighters). We usually see women a lot, now it’s very difficult to have open men. There may be some, but who assumed, until today I have not met. I believe that the same prejudice that there is of having women fighting MMA in people’s view of “ah, it’s not a profession for women”, would also be a very sexist thing for a man to admit he’s gay and be an MMA fighter. The vision that is passed on as an MMA fighter is of the strong guy, super straight, who hits, who fights, that’s the vision. It’s easier for women, women were born full of taboos, professional prejudices, that a woman has to be just a housewife and mother, so, for us, assuming is a reason for strength. To show that I’m strong, I’m decided in my life, I’m gay and I have no problem exposing it to the world because I don’t care what people will say, because my whole life I’ve suffered prejudice – analyzed the former weight champion – UFC straw.
–
Currently, Washington has only had a chance to fight in events in Amapá. With the dream of having the opportunity in bigger events, the fighter believes that his position can encourage other homosexual fighters to come out publicly, and he wants to use the sport to raise the flag against homophobia.
–
– My dream is to fight in big MMA events and have an opportunity that I haven’t had until now. I believe in myself and I have the potential to do so. The only one (gay) out (in MMA) is being me. I know there are more people, but they are afraid of prejudice, of what people will say. They are afraid of the reaction from many parts of the academy. (I ask them) to show up and say their names, beat their chests. I’m here, I also came to be a part, I came to add and I want them to have that courage. Show people that we can go beyond what they try to limit us.
–
–
Washington Dourado poses at his gym in the robe he uses to enter fights — Photo: Raphael Marinho
– –
When the report arrived in Laranjal do Jari, Washington said that he had never told his mother, Maria de Fátima, about his sexual orientation and accepted that this moment be recorded.
–
– I never got to talk to her. She’s heard me called Little Princess, Golden, but she’s never heard from me myself. I feel like it’s time to tell her. I don’t know how my mother will react, because I still haven’t arrived with her to say that I’m homosexual.
–
Nervous, Washington even stuttered to speak, but when he told the camera, he saw his mother just smile and reveal that she had known this since his childhood. The two embraced and, when Maria de Fátima heard her son thank him for his understanding, she replied:
–
– I’m the one who’s grateful. I’m grateful for everything you live, that you’re surviving, you’re winning and may God give you strength and you win in everything in your life.
–
– I was nervous. I’ve always seen friends of mine being rejected by family members. Today is the first time I’m saying this to her. I was nervous (laughs) – said Dourado.
–
–
Maria de Fátima and Washington Dourado — Photo: André Gallindo
– –
Like Maria de Fátima, the public at Washington’s fights tends to support the athlete, who puts on a show in his entries. Always wearing a colorful robe, he enters to the sound of the song “Cheguei”, by singer Ludmilla, and says that the fans are thrilled.
–
– (When I enter the fights) it is a very big vibration because people scream. The emotion is too great, people calling me, screaming my name. “Go, Little Golden Princess!” And right at the entrance there’s Ludmilla’s song: “I arrived, I arrived, messing up all the zorra…”.
–
