MADRID, 17 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, the president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Franco, and a hundred athletes raised their voices this Thursday to call for an end to discrimination against the LGTBI movement in sports.
The High Performance Center (CAR) in Madrid was the scene of an act of vindication on the occasion of the International Day Against LGTBIphobia in Sport, which is commemorated next Saturday, February 19, and along with the two leaders were Olympic athletes and paralympians such as Eva Moral, Marc Tur, Eli Pinedo and Damián Quintero, or Lola Romera, manager of Club Atlético de Madrid.
This event, which was attended by more than a hundred athletes and representatives from the rest of the world of sport, is part of the awareness-raising actions within the ‘Equals in Sport’ strategy promoted by the CSD with the aim of to promote equality, make diversity visible and end discrimination against women, the LGTBI group and people with disabilities in
the sports field.
“These types of initiatives highlight the firm commitment of the CSD in promoting a policy of equality as a fundamental pillar and our maximum commitment is to combat any type of discrimination in sport,” Franco remarked in statements provided by the CSD.
For the leader, “institutions and their representatives” are responsible for “transferring values to society” that make them “better.” “Sport has to be a space of equality that serves as a mirror for all citizens and as such we are going to defend it,” he assured.
“Sport is respect and coexistence. It is an instrument in the fight against hate, against intolerance, against ‘LGTBIphobia’. I claim, as surely all of you, sport against hate. With more culture and more sport, the more we will be able to isolate and eradicate violence whose sole basis is contempt or hatred for those who are different. Let’s say, very clearly and loudly: ‘No to ‘LGTBIphobia’ in sports!'” Miquel Iceta underlined in the reading of a manifest.
The minister and the president of the CSD were some of the participants in the reading of this document together with the former handball player Eli Pinedo, the karate fighter Damián Quintero, the Paralympic triathlete Eva Moral, Lola Romero, and the walker Marc Tur.