Amongst the most painful, most divisive, most difficult issues in North American soccer is the use by fans of the four-letter word ‘puto’. For some, it’s a harmless word that they’ve been shouting at opposing goalkeepers for decades. For others, it’s a salty, inappropriate swear word you’ll hear at some soccer games. And for many others it’s a homophobic slur that denigrates LGBT individuals and makes attending a soccer game feel like an unsafe space.
The entire conversation was an academic one for me until recently. I had heard ‘puto’ yelled on TV when the Mexican National team played, or in Liga MX, or at LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, and FC Dallas matches.