Out Diver headed to Beijing China for Olympics

MATTHEW MITCHAM is brave enough to dive from a 10-metre platform for Olympic gold and courageous enough to do what no Australian athlete has done.

Months out from the Games, Mitcham has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media for the first time, in an exclusive interview with the Herald. He has also applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program to have Lachlan near him in Beijing.

Read the full story on the Sydney Morning Herald Online.

CLICK HERE.

Michelle Ferris Audio Interview "Grandstand in Motion" program

Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris is interviewed on Radio ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) program Grandstand in Motion.

The interview with Michelle Ferris is the 3rd choice in the audio stream. http://blogs.abc.net.au/inmotion/2008/05/index.html

Two-time Olympic silver medallist Michelle Ferris was Grandstand In Motion's Life Coach, offering her reflections on her cycling career and the rapid transition she made from the junior to senior ranks.

Grandstand In Motion: Highlights
Grandstand In Motion explored the humanitarian contribution sport can make internationally, both at the professional and grass roots level.
Tracey Holmes and co-host Andy Harper spoke with Australian International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and regular Grandstand In Motion guest, Kevan Gosper, about the IOC's aid efforts following the recent earthquake in China.
You can listen to highlights of Gosper's appearance on Grandstand In Motion, as well as other features from Saturday's program below:

Chicago Qrew rowers continue after Gay Games

Many sports groups are formed leading up to a Gay Games event and many start after a Gay Games event. It is the nature of the Gay Games movement. Chicago Qrew rowers started up for Chicago Gay Games and they continue the sport. Ross Forman wrote this article for the Windy City Times Times.

Click HERE to read the article online.

Michelle Ferris nNamed Gay Games Ambassador!

Michelle Ferris, Cycling World and Olympic Silver Medalist, Named Gay Games Ambassador

Federation of Gay Games names elite Australian athlete to join international roster of sports and cultural stars promoting the quadrennial Gay Games

Australian Michelle Ferris, one of cycling’s all-time sprint stars with multiple world and Olympic medals to her credit, has been selected by the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) to be the newest Gay Games Ambassador, an international group of prominent individuals supporting the Gay Games.

The eighth edition of the quadrennial Gay Games takes place in Cologne, Germany 31 July to 10 August 2010.

“I relish the opportunity to be a Gay Games Ambassador”, said Ferris. “The Gay Games provide a unique opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender athletes and artists from around the world to come together in celebration. By highlighting our sporting and cultural achievements under the three Gay Games principles of ‘Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best’, we have the opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments in a safe and supportive environment.”

Ferris’ 20-year cycling career peaked with a series of silver medals in the sprint and 500 metre time trials at the Olympic games in 1996 and 2000 and at the UCI World Cycling Championships from 1997-1999. She captured her country’s heart at Sydney’s 2000 Olympics when, after finishing in the runner-up position in the sprint to her perennial rival Felicia Ballanger of France, she said it didn’t matter because the most important thing was that she’d set a new personal best.

After retiring from the rigors of full-time cycling training and traveling, Ferris climbed back on her bike for the competitive yet less pressure-packed 13th UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships held in 2007 in Sydney. She won gold in both the sprint and 500 m. time trials in the 30-39 age category and added a third gold in the 12.5 km. points race for ages 30-44.
Today, Ferris sees her athletic accomplishments as a way to bring attention to other important issues, such as those epitomized by the Gay Games.

“Until we have full legal and societal equality”, stated Ferris, “gays and lesbians, especially those with a public profile, should come out. Elite athletes have the responsibility and the honour of serving as role models for the LGBT community, and we can do this by living our lives proudly”.

The Gay Games Ambassadors represent a broad range of achievement in sports, the arts, business and government. Michelle Ferris joins an illustrious roster that includes: from the U.K., musician Sir Elton John, world power lifting gold medallist Chris Morgan, and former National Basketball Association player Jon Amaechi; from South Africa, Olympic beach volleyball player Leigh Ann Naidoo; from Germany, world and Olympic champion cyclists Petra Rössner and Judith Arndt; from Australia, world champion trampoline gymnast Ji Wallace; and, from the U.S., tennis legend Billie Jean King, Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis, Olympic gold medal swimmer Bruce Hayes, champion figure skater Rudy Galindo, rock star Melissa Etheridge, former U.S. Ambassador James Hormel, former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean, former National Football League players David Kopay and Esera Tuaolo, actors Judith Light and Amanda Bearse, and photographer Tom Bianchi.

“The selection of Michelle Ferris to be a Gay Games Ambassador is the FGG's way of recognizing her contributions to the international sport and culture community as a world champion, an Olympic medallist and an elite cyclist”, said Kate Rowe, Sydney-based FGG board member and Vice President for Diversity. “We feel truly honoured that Michelle Ferris has accepted our invitation to become an Ambassador for the Gay Games”.

Ferris and the other Gay Games Ambassadors will promote the upcoming Gay Games VIII around the world at sporting events and public gatherings in collaboration with the FGG. Although retired from elite competitions, Ms. Ferris continues participating in Masters cycling events and is looking forward to competing at her first Gay Games in Cologne.

SSO Article LINK HERE.

Men's Chorus in Paris Sing to the FGG

While hosting a reception at the LGBT Centre in Paris, the Federation of Gay Games party attendees were treated to a few songs from the men of Paris. Check out this YouTube Video.



May 2008

Billie Jean King awarded honorary degree from Boston University

Gay Games Ambassador Billie Jean King has been honored by Boston University with an honorary degree for her contributions to society.

Read the post on Boston University Blog.

International Gay and Lesbian Football Association

Interview with Mikey Collins: What Everybody Ought To Know About Gay Soccer In England

By Amanda May 1, 2008

The International Gay and Lesbian Football Association, better known as IGLFA, is an international organization dedicated to “fostering and augmenting the self respect of gay women and men throughout the world, and engender respect and understanding from the non-gay world, through the medium of football (soccer).”