Why women’s soccer is so important to queer people

Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images

Someone dressed as Marge Simpson, complete with a gigantic blue wig and a lime green dress, belts out “ Hot to Go! ” by pop icon Chappell Roan to a rapt audience gathered inside a marquee in the middle of a field in the north of England.

There are several people in the large tent dressed as Keira Knightley’s character in “Bend it Like Beckham” – a movie beloved by queer people, and which is particularly popular with lesbians .

And elsewhere in the space, there are a number of Sporty Spice – of the Spice Girls fame – lookalikes wearing sweatpants, their hair scraped back into high ponytails. While Sporty Spice herself, otherwise known as Melanie Chisholm, is not gay, she holds a special place in the hearts of many queer women .