DIVA heads to Basel in search of queer joy and great football
BY ELLA GAUCI
As I sit in Basel’s St. Jakob-Park stadium, surrounded by German and French flags, there are three things that immediately help me feel at ease. Number one: I can see hundreds of sapphic couples kissing, holding hands and applying face paint. Number two: queer icon and goalkeeper extraordinaire Ann-Katrin Berger has just walked onto the pitch and is standing right in front of me. Number three: as the German national anthem plays, I catch a Pride flag swaying in a sea of red, yellow and black.
I’m in Switzerland, home of great chocolate, cheese and (of course) this year’s UEFA Women’s Euro. Basel is at the heart of this year’s tournament, getting ready to host the coveted final on 27 July. This year’s Euros has already seen major success, with viewing figures for matches like England v Sweden hitting whopping heights of 10 million people. It’s no surprise that the Euros have developed a cult following of LGBTQIA+ people. With a number of out-and-proud players running onto the pitch, Switzerland has become a hotspot for queer travellers this summer.
I arrived in Basel with my childhood best friends on a Wednesday night, full of adrenaline and excitement at being in the heart of Euro mania. We spent Thursday anxiously awaiting the England v Sweden match (17 July) taking place in the evening, making sure we got a great seat at one of Basel’s fan zones dotted around the city. Tables and massive screens had been laid out for people to watch, and soon the city was buzzing with chants of Sweet Caroline and Olé, Olé, Olé. As I looked around the town square, I was struck by just how many people had come out to watch the match. Some people had even opted to sit on the hard, stone pavement just to get a peep at Jess Carter or Beth Mead. There was a table of Swiss old men sitting next to us, and when asked who they were supporting, they simply said: “We’re not rooting for either side. We just like watching football.”
When England won after the nail-biting game, I found myself jumping on top of a table, swinging my shirt in the air. There was no animosity in the crowd, despite the fact that we had been sitting next to a table of Swedish fans. While we may have been supporting different teams, we were certainly united by one thing: we loved how many people had shown up for the game.
Around Basel, it was clear that LGBTQIA+ people had made the Swiss city their home for the weekend. Carabiners, cropped haircuts and rainbow laces could all be seen across the sprawling streets and even in the Rhine. If the football wasn’t enough, there was even an Alison Bechdel exhibition taking place at the Cartoonmuseum, showing some of the cartoonist’s best work. It doesn’t get much gayer than reading snippets of Fun Home while wearing your official UEFA shirt.
Women’s sport has often been seen as a safe haven for queer women and gender non-conforming people. We watched Switzerland play Spain on Friday (18 July), this time plonking ourselves down on the stone floor alongside hundreds of Swiss fans. Even though the home country wasn’t successful, there was still a buzz of excitement in the air.
By the time I got to the stadium to watch the match I had been waiting for all year, I was already filled with queer joy. We were watching Germany v France – arguably one of the most exciting games of the tournament. I couldn’t put my finger on why it made me emotional to be surrounded by so many LGBTQIA+ people who just fucking love football, but it did. And as I watched the Pride flag blow in the wind, held up high, it was clear that this was all about more than football. It was about belonging.
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