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# Mara Gomez is the first trans woman to play in Argentinian league
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/mara-gomez-is-the-first-trans-woman-to-play-in-argentinian-league/
- Published: 2020-12-02T09:09:15.000Z
- Updated: 2020-12-01T11:23:54.000Z
- Description: Mara Gomez, 22, is the first trans woman to have been signed to a professional football team in Argentina amidst global debates surrounding trans women’s right to play on league level sporting teams.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Sport, Argentina, Football, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Sports, Rugby Football Union, South America, Trans Rights, Transgender, UK

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/mara_gomez.jpg)

**Mara Gomez**, 22, is the first trans woman to have been signed to a professional football team in **Argentina** amid global debates surrounding trans women’s right to play on league level sporting teams. Gomez, who previously played for **Toronto City**, was signed to **Las Malvinas FC** as a striker and is due to make her professional Argentinian debut on **December 5**, playing against **Lanus FC**. At her previous Argentinian club, **Malvines**, she made her name as the club’s top goalscorer and a two-time amatuer league champion.

Gomez shared a[ message ](https://www.sportbible.com/football/pub-talk-trans-woman-becomes-first-approved-for-womens-football-in-argentina-20201128?ref=scenemag.co.uk)on social media after her signing: *“Today, I am officially a player of the highest category of Argentine soccer. The road was long, there were many obstacles, many fears and sorrows. That which one day made me think that I would not be anyone, that I would never have the opportunity to be happy in my life today is reversed. I will be fulfilling one of the greatest goals of my life, that I thought indispensable, which was never going to happen. Thanks to all the people who from the first moment accompanied and supported me”.*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/mara-gomez-1.jpg)

*She also said: “Football helped me change my sexuality and my personality. It was a moment of distraction. I have been treated well in every club I have ever played for. We all take part in the same work and I never felt excluded from any of the squads.”* Many countries, including **England** and the **UK**, have been in debate over whether trans women should be allowed to play in professional sporting leagues. In October, **World Rugby**, the global union for the sport, published a new series of [guidelines](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/world-rugby-rules-against-trans-players/) preventing trans women competing at the highest levels of the game on the basis it is a ‘safety risk’ to other players. However, the **Rugby Football Union** (RFU) in England, said it will continue to allow trans women to participate in the sport as ‘more scientific evidence’ on the matter is needed.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/mara-gomez-argentina-1.jpg)