Most nations at this tournament criminalize gay people, but 1 LGBTQ athlete refused to be silent
Bambanani Mbane gave a shout to her wife during African soccer's WAFCON, at which three more South Africa stars are also publicly out. The post Most nations at this tournament criminalize gay people, but 1 LGBTQ athlete refused to be silent appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
Women’s Euro 2025 is attracting considerable attention, but it’s not the only international soccer tournament for women currently being played.
The 15th staging of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations recently kicked off in Morocco, showcasing the continent’s best players and emerging talents.
While its UEFA counterpart features 16 teams and is held every four years, “WAFCON” is a 12-team competition played every two years.
This edition was supposed to be held in 2024 but was delayed by the Confederation of African Football due to logistical difficulties linked to the global soccer calendar, such as securing the availability of players from their clubs.
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What is also significantly different between WAFCON and Euro 2025 is LGBTQ representation.
Outsports has reported that there are at least 78 out players within the national-team squads taking part in Euro 2025 in Switzerland. Same-sex relationships are legal in all those participating countries.
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The captains of Norway and hosts Switzerland went with rainbow at the Women’s Euro, and so will Germany’s Giulia Gwinn.
However, at this month’s WAFCON, only a quarter of the nations taking part offer similar freedoms to LGBTQ people. Host nation Morocco is among those that still criminalize gay relationships between men or between women.
Regrettably but unsurprisingly, there are no rainbow captains’ armbands or similar visibility initiatives.
However, there was a notable moment in the group stage when a player made a reference to the fact that they are LGBTQ.
South Africa’s Bambanani Mane was named Woman of the Match after her team opened their title defense with a 2-0 win over Ghana.
The 35-year-old defender told reporters afterwards: “This is for my team and my wife at home.”
Mbane, who plays her club football for Pretoria-based Mamelodi Sundowns, married her wife Tsholo Makgaleme in 2019, having been dating for just three months.
However, they chose to not celebrate their wedding until November 2023, enjoying a traditional Tswana ceremony with family and friends.
According to Briefly News, Mbane’s mention of her wife “sparked mixed reactions online,” alluding to anti-gay attitudes expressed by a number of fans on social media, while many others supported her.
In South Africa’s next Group C game, she scored the equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Tanzania, and was named in CAF’s Best XI from the group stage, chosen by technical experts.
South Africa has at least four out LGBTQ players at WAFCON
Mbane was part of the “Banyana Banyana” squad that reached the last 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, but it wasn’t widely known at the time that she is LGBTQ.
Two of her teammates were among at least 96 World Cup players who were publicly out at the time — striker Thembi Kgatlana and goalkeeper Kaylin Swart.
Kgatlana was South Africa’s talisman, memorably scoring a late winning goal against Italy to secure her team’s first-ever victory at a Women’s World Cup.
She did so with her hair dyed in rainbow colors, bringing her to wider attention even before her exploits on the field.
However, she is not playing at WAFCON, having asked not to be selected “for personal reasons.”
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Swart and her long-term girlfriend, Sadie, occasionally share photos with one another on Instagram.
There are at least two more out LGBTQ players in the current squad.
The pinned post on Gabriela Salgado’s Instagram account celebrates her engagement last November to two-time Olympian, Robyn Moodaly. The couple were both members of the 2023 World Cup squad, but Moodaly was not selected for WAFCON.
The other out player is midfielder Refiloe Jane, who married her wife Christa Kgamphe in 2021.
Like with the Mbanes, this wasn’t reported until late 2023 when both couples appeared on a TV reality show called “Sports Wives.”
At WAFCON, Jane scored in a 4-0 win over Mali, which put South Africa through to the quarterfinals.
The 32-year-old’s powerful free-kick just after the half-hour mark was named “Goal of the Day” on the tournament’s official social media accounts.
In the last eight, they will face Senegal. Mali also progressed, and will take on hosts Morocco. Top-ranked team Nigeria meet Zambia, for whom NWSL stars Barbra Banda and Rachel Kundananj have each scored three goals. Algeria go up against Ghana in the other tie.
All seven of those countries sadly retain their anti-gay laws, and certainly in the case of Mali and Ghana, the situation for queer citizens has either worsened in recent times or appears increasingly bleak.
But for those looking for empowering queer stories from African women’s soccer, they can be found in the South Africa squad.
It’s why many in the LGBTQ community will be cheering them on as they bid to reach the WAFCON final in Rabat on July 26 and record back-to-back successes.
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The post Most nations at this tournament criminalize gay people, but 1 LGBTQ athlete refused to be silent appeared first on Outsports.
