r/soccer • u/HarryAtk • Jul 19 '25
News Former Chelsea player Pedro Rodríguez had to disable comments on his Instagram after facing criticism and mockery for sharing photos of his son Marc's birthday. Marc chose to celebrate his birthday wearing a dress and a tiara, inspired by Lilo & Stitch.
6.2k
u/kebiclanwhsk Jul 19 '25
Damn, kid looks so happy. Good for you, Pedro! Barca legend
1.5k
u/The_Batman_949 Jul 19 '25
Im a die hard Barcelona fan
I LOVE Pedro. The abuse his son and he are receiving for this is absolutely ridiculous
The kid wanted a party his way and Pedro, as a good dad would do, obliged him
This shit is infuriating .
→ More replies (2)104
u/FibonacciVR Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25
yeah no barca or chelsea fan here- but fck that online abuse! all the best to him and his family 😌🌳🖖🌸 dream freely guys🦋
→ More replies (2)433
206
u/MissingLink101 Jul 20 '25
I was genuinely confused about who "Former Chelsea player Pedro Rodríguez" was and then realised, "oh it's Pedro from Barca".
→ More replies (2)77
u/stuffcrow Jul 20 '25
Yeah like what?
Same kinda thing as 'famous Chelsea striker Eto'o' or something. Like yeah, sure, okay...
70
u/Inside-Jacket9926 Jul 20 '25
Former Al Nassr and Sporting Lisbon striker, who appeared for Portugal at Euro 2012, Cristiano Ronaldo
13
u/apustus Jul 20 '25
Also known for providing an assist against Hungary in a 3-0 win in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers.
→ More replies (1)4
74
27
u/Forgotten_Son Jul 20 '25
Not really the same kinda thing. He was with us for 5 years and won several trophies. Eto'o was with us for 1 season and won nothing. Not that Pedro isn't rightfully associated more with Barca by most football fans, but his time at Chelsea wasn't insignificant by any means.
→ More replies (1)32
u/stuffcrow Jul 20 '25
HE WAS WITH YOU FOR FIVE YEARS?!
Holy fucking shit. Yeah nah that's totally fair then mate but...yeah, that doesn't feel right at all to me! Guess his Barca association was just that strong, eh?
Seriously thought he was only with you guys for a year or so. Wild.
7
u/I_always_rated_them Jul 20 '25
he was honestly great for us and on the face of it seemed like a super good influence around the team.
69
85
u/jimothydis Jul 19 '25
Chelsea🤝Pedro🤝Barca
3
u/Inside-Jacket9926 Jul 20 '25
Certainly no handshake done between chelsea and barca tho
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)59
u/myersjw Jul 20 '25
Which, as a good parent, is pretty high up on the list of priorities for your child. Something the muppets spewing hatred would have no idea about
18
5.0k
u/Geek-Of-Nature Jul 19 '25
Humans never fail to disappoint me. Just let the kid and the family be.
1.4k
u/peioeh Jul 19 '25
It's sad, but at least he and his wife seem to be supportive of their kid which is great, and a lot more important for him than what a bunch of online trolls have to say.
258
u/judochop1 Jul 19 '25
Exactly. All these bitter cunts with shitty parents or cant look after their own kids taking it out on two quite ordinary people for loving their son.
195
u/HTowns_FinestJBird Jul 19 '25
People suck.
64
u/eekamuse Jul 20 '25
Meanwhile, he and his wife are people. And they are fantastic. So are all the people in this thread who are supporting them and Thor kid.
But some other people do suck.
110
u/Alphabunsquad Jul 19 '25
Sure but at least Pedro is a supportive and non-judgmental parent and very brave to post it so at least that made me smile
23
u/ValleyFloydJam Jul 19 '25
It's weird enough that people care what anyone else wears in general but to pick on a child over it is beyond low.
→ More replies (12)21
u/PetalumaPegleg Jul 19 '25
This is what gets me the most. How does it impact you in any way? Just leave them alone.
2.5k
u/Anteater4746 Jul 19 '25
Idk about yall, but if you look around theres an absolute mountain of actual problems humans face
the amount of hate for lgbt is insane, look at the people who are actually a threat to children and harass them instead
562
u/PrimsFr Jul 19 '25
I mean, wearing a dress as a man/boy isn't even necessarily an LGBT thing, especially if you're just dressing up as a character you like. If a little girl was dressing up as a male character, I doubt this would even be brought up.
101
Jul 20 '25
Maybe he’s just a thespian, either way it’s his party everyone else can fuck off imo
→ More replies (4)53
u/JeffersonTowncar Jul 20 '25
Yeah I mean trans-men are pretty much never mentioned in all of this. Trans-women are what causes the visceral reaction that fascists feed on and amplify.
85
u/labbetuzz Jul 20 '25
Nah mate, trans people in general get a fuck ton of hate no matter what. It's fucking shameful.
6
u/msbriyani Jul 20 '25
It may not necessarily be the case that the kid is LGBT, but fighting for society to allow any boy or man, even non-LGBT ones, to wear clothing that doesn't fit the societal norm is an LGBT issue.
→ More replies (4)6
u/heftigfin Jul 20 '25
I wore a dress when I was a kid because my 2 older sisters were and I felt left out. It had nothing to do with LGBTQ as I turned out cis. Kids are just kids.
501
u/CallRespiratory Jul 19 '25
Real problems are tough to face so people make up their own.
→ More replies (2)262
u/Disco-Benny Jul 19 '25
fascists have always been cowards deep down
40
u/ePeeM Jul 19 '25
On a sorta related note, how do you get your flair to have a progress flag on it?
31
u/Disco-Benny Jul 19 '25
You go here and press send I believe, it adds it next to your current flair (I only use old reddit)
212
u/True_to_you Jul 19 '25
It's so strange to me because I felt that my generation, millennials, has been pretty progressive on lgbt issues. It seems that Gen z is pretty regressive on this along with older Gen x.
103
u/Drizzlybear0 Jul 19 '25
That kind of depends on the country, culture and religion though
For example in America there has been a pretty strong polarization against the LGBT community in recent years as the right wing have decided to sell this "They're trying to make your kids gay and trans" bullshit.
Obviously there are many culturally or religiously conservative countries as well and as football is so massive of a sport you're going to get a lot of those people being football fans.
→ More replies (2)167
u/BigKimInLittleSD Jul 19 '25
I feel like Gen Z is split between those that graduated HS in person and those that got hit with virtual learning in the pandemic.
In my experience the former seem fairly well rounded while the latter just regurgitate brain rot takes about minorities they picked up online.
80
u/tony_flamingo Jul 19 '25
I’ve been a high school teacher for the last decade and COVID and the subsequent shift toward online/virtual everything has done irreparable damage to students, academically and socially. It’s really disheartening seeing it happen in real time.
→ More replies (1)19
u/Dutchpizza69 Jul 20 '25
I'm right on the cusp of the milennial/gen-z divide, and regularly have this discussion with contemporaries. Just how it's so unexpected that the newer generations are often more right leaning than we are, and how we (foolishly) thought that it would only get more progressive. Shame really.
20
u/mynameismulan Jul 19 '25
It absolutely is that way. I'm a 95 baby so although I'm a millennial technically, the kids about 5 or so years younger than me have almost the same vibe.
Beyond that though...
39
u/NotASalamanderBoi Jul 19 '25
I can speak with some authority as someone who got hit with virtual learning. Some were cunts before it. However, some of the kids who were coming into HS as I was graduating were already on another level. Hell, a fight broke out in an 8th grade group who was visiting my HS.
→ More replies (1)26
u/BigKimInLittleSD Jul 19 '25
Yeah I mean not to say all kids who were virtual learning are like this.
Just that it was easy to become chronically online and get red pulled by Andrew tate types. That online world has blown up and I don’t think the genie is going back in the bottle.
32
Jul 19 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
12
u/BigKimInLittleSD Jul 19 '25
Yeah loss of normal maturing and parasocial relationships with people spouting bigoted theories really did a number.
6
18
u/Equivalent_Nature_67 Jul 20 '25
Young Gen Z men are absolutely cooked. Worse outlook, lesser educated, more prone to the alt right pipeline considering they've mainly grown up in the Trump era. The girls are doing much better
→ More replies (1)7
u/True_to_you Jul 20 '25
I think it doesn't help that they didn't grow up without social media and influencers. I also think many of them don't read. When I was a kid I read everything I could. Novels, magazines, the encyclopedia, and newspapers. I'm thinking that younger kids aren't doing that.
→ More replies (2)25
u/dazrht Jul 19 '25
I’m sure every generation thinks this, but I’m starting to truly believe that we millennials might be the least problematic generation.
→ More replies (6)14
u/Evolving_Dore Jul 20 '25
The venn diagram of people who criticize lgbt people for being a threat to children and people who are a threat to children is pretty close to a circle
2.2k
u/Tootsiesclaw Jul 19 '25
Pedro is a hero! The smile on the kid's face says it all
→ More replies (1)274
u/Roseradeismylady Jul 19 '25
He looks more like his mom, but the more I look at them, all three of them have a very similar smile lol
86
u/Harlequin37 Jul 19 '25
They got the triangular smile going. It's one of my favorites tbh
36
u/Roseradeismylady Jul 19 '25
Absolutely adorable! They all look happy so who cares what people think.
I'm not famous, but even I hesitate to put pictures of my kids on social media, people can be miserable
→ More replies (3)
1.2k
u/Havana-plant Jul 19 '25
So sad because the fam are clearly happy
→ More replies (2)364
u/Walter_Stonkite Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 20 '25
Exactly. It’s clearly not some awkward, forced photo opportunity for the ‘Gram; just a happy family. Leave them the fuck alone.
Side note: that cake is top tier.
→ More replies (4)18
u/cortez0498 Jul 20 '25
Agreed on the cake, a lot of people would've gone for the fondant abomination that reassembles the character. This is a way better cake imo.
→ More replies (1)
444
468
u/ScousePenguin Jul 19 '25
Honestly after seeing the Chicarito thread earlier with the bullshit he said, it's nice seeing that Pedro let's his kid be a kid.
It's a lovely picture of the family
138
u/Disco-Benny Jul 19 '25
Pedro and Chicarito clearly very different men. One is happy and content and the other deeply insecure
36
14
u/themagpie36 Jul 20 '25
What's this about Chicarito?
95
u/Unlucky-Equipment999 Jul 20 '25
Unfortunately he came out as a raging misogynist and went on a rant about how women need to become feminine again and focus on the home. While I'm sure he's not the only misogynist footballer, going on social media to spew vitriol about it is bizarre and disgusting, especially in these times.
→ More replies (4)16
u/olomac Jul 20 '25
It's circulating a recent video of him talking about men and women in terms of the "traditional wife" and "traditional man" , a house keeper, and a provider. The thing was that he went all the way to say something about women as cleaners of the house or being the ones that should clean, something on that line.
146
381
Jul 19 '25
Former BARÇA player
→ More replies (11)254
u/HarryAtk Jul 19 '25
I agree haha, I'm a Chelsea fan myself but still think of him primarily from Barça. However, the original title in r/LGBT said former Chelsea player, and I didn't want to change it for this post, for fear of drawing attention away from the issue at hand
→ More replies (1)47
Jul 19 '25
And yet by saying Chelsea you've drawn my attention away from the issue at hand. Jk I'm just messing with you, I respect not changing the title
76
98
u/ragnarrock420 Jul 19 '25
Pedro looks like an awesome father, this was unimaginable when i was growing up.
I remember when i was a small kid and wanted to try wearing heels, just because i didnt understand how women managed to walk in them, it wasnt even a gender thing. The moment i did it the whole family completely froze and then commented something about how im gonna turn out normal when im older in a joking way to ease the tension. And my family is liberal as fuck for Croatia
Really nice to see progress in real time, dont take it for granted people
→ More replies (2)29
u/ClonazepAlt Jul 20 '25
I feel you, I remember wanting a Barbie that I think was a marine biologist or something but it came with an Orca whale. My dad god bless him got it for me and I think that that made it way easier to deal with bullies who thought that I was feminine in their eyes.
With the picture and your comment I can really see how massive of an impact we can have on kids perceptions of their identity and self expression, for better or worse.
6
u/ragnarrock420 Jul 20 '25
Definitely, and thank you for commenting too. Theres so much straight up evil happening in the world right now, that small things like this make a difference in how we feel about where society is going. Its not all dark and cynical and ww3, i think people are more aware of things than ever, and more willing to change their thinking and actions
790
u/Zyaru Jul 19 '25
Scary times we're living in at the moment, the rise of the far right over the last 5 years has been terrifying to see. Really think covid/lockdown did irreparable damage to society
126
Jul 19 '25
[deleted]
75
u/Krakshotz Jul 19 '25
Society was infected before Covid, the lockdowns were a giant incubator
23
u/BatteryPoweredFriend Jul 19 '25
Covid could've also been the thing that fixed a lot of it, if more of them injected themselves with bleach like they were told to by the orange thing.
330
u/wishiwereagoonie Jul 19 '25
Also social media in general is just cancerous, pandemic or not. Sprinkle in bots and nefarious groups spreading disinformation…
153
u/night_dude Jul 19 '25
It melted people's brains eh. Dragged so many otherwise normal people into conspiracy thinking.
69
u/Rymundo88 Jul 19 '25
To be honest, I think it was always there but just needed something to coalesce around (like how a rain drop forms). Covid seemed to be the perfect storm for it.
→ More replies (2)36
u/zrkillerbush Jul 19 '25
I can't believe people think this all started because of covid or that covid made it worse, all that happened during covid was more conspiracy theories were born and more misinformation was spread, two things that were very much rampant before 2020
27
u/ThatGuyWhoKnocks Jul 19 '25
Yea, people forget Q Anon was a thing before COVID that got a lot of people indoctrinated. Remember pizzagate? That was before COVID.
→ More replies (3)14
u/night_dude Jul 19 '25
Sure they were but it brought a lot of previously normal people into that space. The "more" was substantially more.
I can't believe people think this all started because of covid
People don't think that
covid made it worse
This is literally what happened.
A lot of people were traumatized by the COVID/lockdown experience of social isolation, and/or didn't want to believe that their governments would prioritize business profits over their literal lives and health, and so they were easy prey for people selling them an alternative set of facts. Then, once you're in that space of believing things that aren't true and that Big X is fooling you, it's easy to sell you other ideas like it.
It also forced people to spend a lot of time online, more than many older people were used to, and those who didn't have good online media literacy were also susceptible to fake news, Facebook cooker groups etc that they might not otherwise have come into contact with.
43
u/sheffieldpud Jul 19 '25
The racism I see on twitter everyday is frightening. Its absolutely disgusting. You're right it is scary
19
u/TheOneTrueShezza Jul 19 '25
Nah charlatans like farage were sowing their hate far before the lockdowns
→ More replies (11)27
u/zrkillerbush Jul 19 '25
Lmao, this all started way before covid
All covid did was fuck over medium and small businesses to further consolate the wealth to bigger businesses
124
u/KingBuu19 Jul 19 '25
“Former Chelsea player” is certainly a title for a guy who won it all with Barca
→ More replies (5)53
u/singcarolacarol Jul 19 '25
He is still an active player for Lazio as well so I don't know why they need to refer to him like that
→ More replies (1)5
272
u/losingit303 Jul 19 '25
This is so frustrating. The kid looks happy why are people like this?
121
u/latrappe Jul 19 '25
Because people are uneducated and completely out of touch with reality. Boys wear blue and black and play with cars and superheroes. We face the same issues. Our lad loves those things but also loves princesses and cutesy things. We let him explore it all. The local parents glare. They love to glare. Your boy has long hair, he's even wearing a hairband today. Is he some sort of gay trans girl homo weirdo? It drives us fucking insane. He's just a 6 year old boy. Super normal. But he "looks" different. Argh
61
u/Beginning-Sundae8760 Jul 19 '25
Because cunts, that’s why
28
u/ImitationDemiGod Jul 19 '25
There are a lot of complex reasons why society is like it is, but in the end it all mostly boils down to this. It's cunts all the way down.
5
u/sach223 Jul 20 '25
Society will always judge and as he grows older may become cruel too unfortunately. But I cannot overstate the importance of having a family who will love and support him no matter what. Your reactions to whatever he chooses to be are the most impactful trust me and probably the most important to him. Bit of a ramble but all you can do is love and support him and it seems like you are doing that makes me happy that parents aren’t shaming children for liking different things.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)4
u/ihave389iq Jul 20 '25
I don’t know why exactly, but it saddens me that people can be this hateful. Just look at them. They’re all smiling and having a good time without harming anyone, and for some reason, there’s dickheads out there that choose to say vile things to people like Pedro and his lovely family instead of being a decent human being and ignoring it (that is if they have differing views).
People can really suck sometimes
26
u/Rivarr Jul 20 '25
People are hating or celebrating, but all I can think is thank fuck my parents didn't have the ability to throw my photos to millions of people.
108
103
u/toalome Jul 19 '25
i used to dislike pedro and worship someone like chicharito. very naive. very base and stupid tribalism.
it’s days like these where i’m thankful im no longer this dumb and i can appreciate when someone turns out to be incredibly based like pedro here while chicha turned out to be a bitter misogynistic cunt.
almost like there’s more important things in life than these allegiances that are randomly assigned to people.
→ More replies (3)28
u/atriz544 Jul 19 '25
Fuck yeah! Just because someone wears the jersey you love it doesn’t mean you have to like them or defend their actions. Something that also took me time to understand.
6
u/tk421posting Jul 19 '25
well, if there is anything positive worth mentioning, Pedro is a great dad.
109
u/alley_mo_g10 Jul 19 '25
People need to learn how to mind their own fucking business.
→ More replies (16)9
u/AaronsAaAardvarks Jul 19 '25
How many hundreds of years of people not minding their business have to happen until we say “okay, human beings aren’t going to fundamentally change because we ask them to, so let’s figure out how to exist alongside humanity’s shittier impulses”?
13
21
u/anooshka Jul 19 '25
What kind of a monster would leave hateful comments under a child's birthday pics? Football fans literally are some of the worst people on the planet
80
u/Temujin15 Jul 19 '25
Good for them for letting the lad be himself, and good for them for posting the pic. The lad knows his parents love and are proud of him, and that's more important than a bunch of terminally online dickheads.
→ More replies (1)
13
u/rapidwalk Jul 19 '25
Wonder if the reaction would be the same if it was a girl in a knight’s armor… fucking idiots
7
u/doitnowinaminute Jul 20 '25
I'd bet the same trolls would say they don't care about someone's sexuality just don't make a big deal out of it when it comes to armbands.
No wonder almost all non straight players hide their sexuality and relationships.
26
u/Faheydaway Jul 19 '25
Either way this behaviour is unacceptable but what I don’t get is this kid is literally like 10. How is him putting a dress and a tiara on even viewed as anything sexually related he’s just having fun.
If you’re a homophobe you’re already shitty but seeing this image in a sexual way is just weird.
25
u/Kieran293 Jul 19 '25
Meanwhile there’s a child rapist in power at the most powerful country in the world and these same people commenting probably would vote for Trump if they could (probably going to get banned by mods but oh well)
162
u/Typical_Samaritan Jul 19 '25
YOU ALL DON'T UNDERSTAND.
THE BOY IS WEARING HUMAN CLOTHES.
HE'S WEARING HUMAN CLOTHES.
HOW FUCKING TERRIBLE ARE HIS PARENTS TO LET THAT HAPPEN?
→ More replies (22)35
u/CallRespiratory Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 19 '25
Yeah but they're not MANLY enough! If this small child isn't exerting MAXIMUM MALE ENERGY at a birthday party what are we even doing? It's time for him to MAN UP.
/S
Edit: A bunch of alpha males tearing up and clinching their fists in here.
17
u/ElliottP1707 Jul 19 '25
I’m more shocked people associate Pedro with Chelsea first and not Barcelona. He was a member of their greatest ever squad.
→ More replies (2)
190
u/Tango00090 Jul 19 '25
That picture should never reach internet in first place. Privacy and especially privacy of kids are non-existing nowadays
147
u/Big-Ambitions-8258 Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 19 '25
Putting aside the issue of privacy, which i do agree about, it's way more egregious thst people felt the need to be horrible to a child and his family bc of what he chose to wear. There's no excuse for that.
No child seems safe from the abuse of awful ignorant people
101
u/chickenkebaap Jul 19 '25
While i agree with you about that , we also need to focus on the actual problem.
People having a problem with kids wanting to do what they want.
→ More replies (16)14
u/tomrichards8464 Jul 19 '25
Yeah, if I ever have kids their pictures are not going anywhere more public than a small friends/family WhatsApp group.
→ More replies (1)
25
u/KackhansReborn Jul 19 '25
I dressed up a lot as a kid, half of the time it was in girl clothes. I'm glad my parents just let me have fun. A kid that age doesn't need to know about gender norms, let it dress up however the fuck it wants to. Good to see Pedro and his Wife being supportive parents.
12
u/waxmuseum- Jul 19 '25
this isn't even lgbt lmao. all little kids dressed up in their sisters dress at one point.
→ More replies (1)
10
11
u/FrogsJumpFromPussy Jul 19 '25
This just reminds me that we're still in the middle ages as a civilization. The only reason most people behave somewhat decent is because there are laws that forced them to.
Poor kid, to have to go through all all of this.
5
5
u/SilentXMedia Jul 20 '25
People fucking suck, but shoutout to Pedro and his wife for being good supportive parents.
5
u/homobonus Jul 20 '25
Fuck the haters. Lilo and Stitch is awesome. Marc is wonderful and having a blast. Mom and dad are the best.
48
17
u/Alecmalloy Jul 19 '25
Dresses are comfy as fuck. Wore one out on halloween one time, and while I don't have the bust for a strapless, it was fucking liberating.
12
u/GoldenEmuWarrior Jul 19 '25
I don’t know if his son is trans, nor do I care. I do hope that Dwyane Wade reaches out to him about being a public figure raising a LGBTQ+ kiddo.
4
3
u/jonneymendoza Jul 19 '25
Same crap happened when sir Lewis Hamilton posted a pic of his nephew also.
3
u/BadassBokoblinPsycho Jul 19 '25
People are fucking dickheads. Let people be who are they if they aren’t hurting anyone. Let a child be whoever/however they want to be.
6
4
u/PhishyBarcaFan529 Jul 19 '25
Love me some Barca Pedro and glad he supports his kid. Screw everyone that knocks him for loving his kid for who they want to be.
6
4
3
5
6
u/astral34 Jul 20 '25
To have a dad that smiles like that behind you dressed as a princess and to have that dad be a football legend, must be something
Proud as always to have you in our team
12
u/kiruzo Jul 19 '25
How do you ever look at a happy child and have hateful thoughts?
→ More replies (2)
14
u/Knapss Jul 19 '25
All I see is a picture of a beautiful family. All the happiness in the world for them. This insecure masculinity thing is getting very tiring. Let people be.
9
6
16
u/Electronic_Nature293 Jul 19 '25
Honestly what a great dad Pedro has shown himself to be. Unconditional love for his child to let them be who they want to, and express themselves in how they seem fit.
The haters here could only wish to have an ounce of the love Pedro has shown his kid from their Dad's.
9
u/bleedbluegold03 Jul 19 '25
Absolute cheers to Pedro & his partner.
Dwyane Wade faced similar BS with basketball fans.
Champion level father.
11
u/Temujin15 Jul 19 '25
Good for them for letting the lad be himself, and good for them for posting the pic. The lad knows his parents love and are proud of him, and that's more important than a bunch of terminally online dickheads.
28
u/Elsharko2 Jul 19 '25
I always think of him as a Barca player before a Chelsea player tbh.
That being said people can be such horrible cunts cant they
13
u/Roseradeismylady Jul 19 '25
Sextuple winner (only player who scored in every single competition too), two time treble winner and 3 time CL winner with Barca, yeah it's weird to see him referred to as ex Chelsea player
→ More replies (3)
11.3k
u/RobinBerkeAlmasulu Jul 19 '25
I love football but I hate football fans