Association Les Dégommeuses is a French women’s soccer club which aims to promote both sports among lesbian women and make a statement against lesbophobia.
Last year, Les Dégommeuses invited the South African Thokozani Football Club to join their Foot for Love tournament. This is where the idea originated for The Kick-Off, a documentary film on the South African women’s soccer team in their home environment, the Umlazi Township in Durban. Central theme to this documentary is the way sports can be a tool for the emancipation of women and for South African lesbians in particular.
Even though same-sex marriage is legal in South Africa and the country may have a higher level of tolerance towards LGBTs, black lesbians are faced with persecution and violence. Since 2001 over twenty lesbophobic crimes have been recorded offically. Against this background the Thokozani Football Club promotes empowerment through sport and fights against discrimination and violence by making lesbian women more visible.
Watch a clip, featuring the Thokozani Football Club in Paris:
Foot For Love – The Thokozani Football Club in Paris by Veronica Noseda on Vimeo.
