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June 21, 2024
Ya_All sports club in Manipur, India, is the country’s first reported football club made up of transgender players. The UN-recognized LGBTQI+-led organization is creating a safe space for the community and fostering inclusion in sports despite facing cultural discrimination.
Ya_All – which translates to revolution in Manipuri – is an inclusive LGBTQI+ network that is working at a grassroots level on queer and youth issues. Its mission is to equip and empower adolescents, youth and the LGBTQI+ community in Northeast India through life skills training and workshops on health and wellbeing. The organization first started as a WhatsApp group and now addresses physical and mental health, gender inequalities, comprehensive sexuality education and sports through advocacy, capacity building and free services for young populations including those from LGBTI+ communities and people living with HIV and psycho-social disabilities.
According to a study by the National Human Rights Commission, around 92% of transgender people in India are denied the right to participate in any type of economic activity. In the sporting world, the LGBTQI+ community also faces discrimination. In 2023, transgender women were prohibited from competing in international women’s cricket.
Football is more than just a game in the Indian state; it has produced many athletes, such as boxer Mary Kom and weightlifter Kunjarani Devi. The people of Manipur believe that if someone represents the country in a sport, they are contributing to society. “It’s difficult to bring up the issue of gender inclusion…but Manipur has a special attachment to football and society doesn’t tend to judge people if they are wearing a jersey,” Ya_All Founder Sadam Hanjabam told the Hindustan Times.
In order to provide more sports opportunities for the community, Hanjabam founded Ya_All in 2017 to make football inclusive for everyone. Despite facing cultural challenges, the inaugural 15-member all-transmen football team – formally introduced in 2020 – displayed their skills and teamwork during local and national tournaments, such as the club’s Queer Games, to raise awareness and promote inclusivity in football.
“For me, football is everything. This team is an important part of my life now. I could not get proper training at a young age but I want to train the younger generation so they do not miss out on any opportunities like I did,” said team member Yaiphabi Sanasam to YourStory. “It is not just a team but a haven where we share our common experiences and mental trauma to help each other,” added player Jen Ningthoujam.
Additionally, the club provides advocacy, capacity building and crisis support. One of its objectives is to strengthen the peer support system of young people and the LGBTQI+ community through training and capacity-building workshops to equip and empower the community. Through its ‘Football for Heal, Football for Peace’ campaign, the transmen football team provides free coaching and support to children in shelter camps.
The club also provides a safe space through an initiative called ‘Shelter Space’, which is reportedly the first co-working and networking space that is owned and run by members of the LGBTQI+ community in India. It offers free counselling, peer-to-peer training and a space to destigmatize conversations around sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental health and wellbeing, drug use and harm reduction.
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