US Masters Swimming "Swimmer Magazine" apology

Following the legitimate uproar caused by the publication of a homophobic letter in their latest edition, Swimmer Magazine has published an apology. Is it enough?

Dear USMS Membership,

We want to personally apologize to all our members for the pain and anger that the publication of Glenn Welsford’s letter to the editor in the January-February 2011 issue of SWIMMER magazine may have caused. USMS does not endorse or support Mr. Welsford’s opinion.

For those unfamiliar with the issue, Mr. Welsford submitted a letter to the editor in response to a feature story in the September-October 2010 issue of SWIMMER magazine. In that issue, we ran a five-page feature story profiling and celebrating Tyler Duckworth, an openly gay swimmer and reality TV star. In the same issue, we also ran a half-page book review of Jeff Commings’s autobiography Odd Man Out, in which Mr. Commings tells his story as a gay black swimmer. Editor Laura Hamel penned her editorial for that issue celebrating the inclusiveness of swimming and highlighting the acceptance of our differences that our members share with one another.

We should have used better judgment during the editorial review of Mr. Welsford’s letter. We could have asked him to resubmit his letter and made sure it met with stricter standards for such letters. And if we had deemed the second letter appropriate to print, we should have printed an explanation adjacent to it due to the sensitive nature of the topic. And we could have chosen to ignore the letter. While, again, we do not endorse or support Mr. Welsford’s opinion, we respect his right or any other member’s right to have an opinion on a topic we have introduced in the magazine and have it considered for publication.

Language is included in the masthead of the magazine on page 4 that opinions expressed by authors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the policies of USMS. In our next issue, we will add more substantive language that letters to the editor do not reflect the opinions of USMS either. We will also clarify and publish our policies on accepting letters to the editor so that we can continue to allow healthy dialogue within that department. Recognizing the pain and anger that Mr. Welsford’s letter may have caused, we have destroyed all remaining issues of SWIMMER that would have been mailed to members who register past the mailing date and removed his letter from the online version of SWIMMER.

In addition, we would like to publicly apologize to Tyler Duckworth for the publication of Mr. Welsford’s letter.

Swimming for Life,

Rob Butcher
Executive Director
U.S. Masters Swimming

Laura Hamel
Editor in Chief
U.S. Masters Swimming

Scottish world-champion cyclist Graeme Obree comes out

photo Andy McCandish

From BikeRadar.com:

Mon 31 Jan 2011, 11:40 am UTC
Graeme Obree reveals he is gay
By Richard Tyler in London, UK

Graeme Obree, a two-time World Champion and hour record holder, has admitted the torment he faced as he came to terms with his sexuality, after revealing that he is gay to a British newspaper.

In an interview with the Scottish Sun newspaper published on Monday, Obree admitted that the anxiety associated with hiding the fact that he was gay had led to two separate attempts to take his own life, in 1998 and 2001.

"I was brought up by a war generation; they grew up when gay people were put in jail. Being homosexual was so unthinkable that you just wouldn't be gay. I'd no inkling about anything, I just closed down," Obree told the newspaper.

While Obree has only now made it public, he said he had come out to his family (he is now divorced from his wife) shortly after discussing the truth about his sexuality with a psychologist in 2005. He admitted that the revelation had been a particular shock for his parents, though the truth has had a positive impact upon his relationship with them.

"It was difficult and there were lots of tears. It wasn't easy. But the relationship with my parents has been improved by it," he said. "We talked about it and discussed things and we're a lot happier."

Keep reading HERE.

Football against "corrective rape"

We have posted several appeals against "corrective rape", and we're delighted to share this post from Kephra Sennett on In Bed with Maradona. Among her other activities, Keph does the layout of Activate!, the newsletter for and about Gay Games Ambassadors:

“Corrective” rape refers to the practice of men raping lesbians in an effort to punish them, and “cure” them of their homosexuality. The sexual assault is typically accompanied by prolonged violence and torture, and sometimes culminates in murder. This crime has become systemic in South Africa and black lesbians from poor backgrounds are usually the victims.

According to Change.org, 150 women are raped in South Africa every day, more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang raped every week in Cape Town alone, and for every 25 men accused of rape in South Africa, 24 walk free.

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Take Action

Sign Luleki Sizwe’s petition on Change.org. It calls on South Africa’s Justice Minister Jeffrey Thamsanqa Radebe to declare “corrective” rape a hate crime. At the time of this writing, the petition has collected over 140,000 signatures and has the modest goal of 150,000 names.

Sign the Avaaz.org petition that is urging action to end “corrective” rape, and which has collected over 75,000 signatures towards a goal of 250,000.
Support Girls & Football SA by donating using their online module, and by viewing and publicizing their new documentary, “Can I Kick It?

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Avaaz.org puts it another way: “South Africa is the rape capital of the world. A South African girl born today is more likely to be raped than she is to learn to read.”

In 2008, South African national team football player Eudy Simelane was raped, tortured and murdered. She died just several hundred yards from her family home. Simelane was a high profile victim, and her case brought international media attention to the crime. The press wasn’t enough. In 2009, Simelane’s teammate Girlie ‘S’Gelane’ Nkosi died after a similar attack.

It’s no coincidence that both women were footballers. In a country that still defines football as a male sport, it’s difficult to say what might have been seen as the more punishable gender transgression: their lesbianism or their choice to play. The world of professional football was notably – shamefully – quiet on the issue.

“Imagine the impact that an openly anti-homophobic and queer positive WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer) might have, globally,” suggests From a Left Wing writer Jennifer Doyle.

“Actually, why leave this to women?” she asks, referring to the WPS. “Imagine posters [of top players] declaring ‘Simelane was my sister.’”

More on homophobic letter in "Swimmer Magazine"

More news on the homophobic letter we posted on early.  Here is the hateful letter published by the magazine:

Shaken and Stirred

SWIMMER magazine’s (September – October 2010) article entitled “Swimmer on ‘The Real World’ Shakes Up Stereotypes,” did shake me up. Homosexuality is akin to thievery, adultery, and other sins that should not be tolerated or accepted as that of society just coming of age. Homosexuality destroys lives, individually, as well as that of the society as a whole. I am glad for the obvious success of Tyler Duckworth in the water but saddened to hear of his sinful homosexual lifestyle choice.

-- Glenn Welsford, ColumbiaMasters,South Carolina

And HERE is the response from West Hollywood Aquatics. We join our friends in encouraging you and those around you to write your own letter to Laura Hamel (Editor@usms.org) and Rob Butcher (ExecutiveDirector@usms.org) calling for a prompt apology and retraction.

IGLA protests hateful letter in "Swimmer" magazine

From the website of FGG member organization International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics:

Stirred but NOT Shaken
by Frederick Dever
Co-President IGLA / DCAC member

The mission of International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (”IGLA”) is to promote participation in aquatic sports among LGBT individuals. There are countless stories of IGLA Members who have been “saved” by swimming and participating on inclusive LGBT-friendly swim, water polo, synchro and diving teams. Now, IGLA and its member teams may be more important than ever, leading the charge for diversity, inclusion, and excellence in aquatics. Hatred and exclusion are not part of our values.

Swimmer Magazine is the “Official Magazine of U.S. Masters,” and IGLA is a part U.S. Masters Swimming in the United States. In the January-February 2011 issue Swimmer Magazine published an unfortunate and hurtful letter to the editor, ”Shaken and Stirred” by Glenn Welsford, Columbia Masters, South Carolina. The letter characterizes homosexuality as something shameful that destroys lives and is in response to an article printed in the September-October issue of Swimmer Magazine. The referenced article embraced the diversity of two gay swimmers (one white, and one black) who were recently profiled. [One was a review of Odd Man Out, which we wrote about HERE]

IGLA members should be proud that together we continue to uphold the values and mission of our organization. The outpouring of strong support for who we are as gay aquatic athletes and our intolerance for bigotry is being heard loud and clear, thanks to the number of well crafted letters and phone calls to USMS and Swimmer Magazine in response to one man’s homophobia.

It is important to note that there has also been significant support for diversity in swimming. This is noted in a positive letter to the editor that was printed just below the hate mail. Having said this, IGLA believes it is important to distinguish between what falls within the right of free-speech, encouraging discourse and opposing opinions, and what is plain hate, meant to damage and cause harm.

Swimmer Magazine should rethink letters that offer no further discussion about the topics at hand. IGLA believes that diversity makes swimming strong. Communities are built by inclusion and appreciation for all members of the community. Making Swimmer Magazine a forum to vent one’s prejudicial beliefs or distaste for any member of US Masters Swimming is just plain wrong and destructive.

Regardless of whether we get an apology from the Laura Hamel USMS Editor in Chief or from Rob Butcher, Executive Director, our voices will be herd through our continued participation with IGLA and the sports we all love.

IGLA and friends of IGLA still have an important mission that continues to be rock solid. We will continue to be proud of who we are and how we are an important part of the USMS Swimming family.

We may be “Stirred” by this unfortunate letter in our Swimming Magazine but IGLA is not “Shaken”.

Swim Proud.

Amazon.com:

Gay football players not necessarily flamboyant, according to The Independent

In this extract from thei profile of MBE honoree Aslie Pitter, The Independent is amazed that gay men can play football without swooshing:

They do not, in other words, stand out in the crowd. No player rushes in the opposite direction of the approaching ball, arms flailing and shrieking theatrically. They perform much as one would expect of any team that plays in the Middlesex County League (albeit one currently languishing towards the bottom of the table).

Their ascension into this league, several years ago now, played a crucial part in cementing their reputation as, for want of a better term, a "proper" team. Previously, they had played only other gay teams that began to spring up in their wake – and, every four years, in the Gay Games, the world's largest sporting and cultural event organised by and specifically for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) athletes. When they found themselves promoted into a straight league, says 29-year-old first-team captain Doug Edward, straight players had to take them seriously.

"The initial reaction was, I suppose, inevitable," he says. "Most of the teams were wary of losing to a bunch of queers, or else were convinced they'd beat us easily. But once we proved our worth and beat them, regularly, that attitude stopped pretty much all together. We were just another football team, and treated accordingly."

Any vocal criticism that has come their way has emanated, perhaps surprisingly, from within the gay community itself.

"We've had far more prejudice from the gay community than we ever had from the straight," confirms team manager Eric Najib. "When they first heard of our existence, we got an awful lot of sniggers. They asked whether we were trying to be butch. All ridiculous, of course, but I suppose, to many people, gay people included, being gay means going out and drinking and dot dot dot, not indulging in sport."

Pitter says he has frequently come up against similar reactions: "I had to explain to many of my friends that, no, I don't just like show tunes but Van Halen as well. It is possible for a gay man, or woman, to like things other than the obvious. Should it really be such a surprise?" He sighs; this isn't the first time he has had to stress this.

Focus on Cleveland+Akron: USA Hockey Youth Tier II Under-18 National Championships

USA Hockey Youth Tier II Under-18 National Championships will take place from March 30 to April 3 at Mentor Civic Ice Arena & Gilmour Academy Athletic Center. The event brings together 48 boys youth hockey tournament teams from across the USA.

More info HERE.

IGBO launches online member community

FGG member organization International Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO) has launched an exciting online member community:

Welcome IGBO Members!

Our new IGBO member community allows much-needed organization of member accounts, secure member profile information, and a host of online collaboration and social networking tools! The IGBO Member Community allows you to personalize your own member area within the site. It also gives you access to 30+ IGBO member blogs, 40+ IGBO member forums & message boards, new downloadable Media galleries, new WIKI online documentation area, and much more!

Only IGBO members can access areas and content within the IGBO Member Community site. If you are a member, and do not have an IGBO user account set up, you are welcome to set up your account right now. Registration takes only five minutes. Your information is secure and encrypted using the latest online security encryption tools.

For help accessing this community site, please direct your questions to any IGBO board member or our IGBO webmaster. Once logged in, you can post forum questions for additional assistance.

In Unity, Fellowship and Communication,

IGBO Online Communications Committee

Pat Griffin is first to post on new "Our Group" blog

Pat Griffin of GLSEN Sport Project was asked to provide the first post to the "Our Group" blog. The Federation of Gay Games has been pleased to support Our Group, in particular by inviting FGG member organization Team Philadelphia to host Our Group for the panel discussion mentioned below. Here's more info on Our Group from the blog:


Our Group is an outreach and support organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) high school and college student-athletes and allies. It serves as a network to connect LGBT student-athletes with other LGBT student-athletes. Our Group is also dedicated to educating athletes, coaches, administrators, and fans to foster a sports community that is accepting for ALL athletes, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Our Group was born in January of 2008. Seven current and former LGBT student-athletes came together to discuss the different issues and challenges that LGBT student-athletes face, and more importantly, the different ways that they could help eliminate the homophobia that exists within athletics. They believed that by creating a space where student-athletes could access existing resources for LGBT athletes, as well as safely and easily communicate with other LGBT student-athletes, that they could help the many athletes who feel they must remain in the closet to participate in sport.

With the help of John Amaechi, Pat Griffin, Jeff Sheng, and Ted Rybka, this group of athletes started the arduous task of locating and contacting other LGBT student-athletes in order to make the dream of creating an LGBT student-athlete and ally organization a reality. After just two years, Our Group found over 200 supporters, became incorporated in Arizona with the goal of becoming a 501(c)3, began participating in panel discussions across the country, attended the 2009 Creating Change Conference in Denver and the Sport, Sexuality, and Culture Conference in Ithaca, hosted a panel discussion at Philidelphia Gay Sports Week, and more importantly, has been setting the foundation to create a network that provides the best resources to LGBT student-athletes and allies across the country.

Our Group continues to grow each day as we meet new student-athletes, hear their stories, and offer a place where student-athletes, former or current, can fearlessly take part in a growing community of like-minded individuals. Whether people utilize the OG website and forum or attend one of the advertised conferences and panels – Our Group hopes to offer the resources and support that any athlete may want or need.

Vancouver's Out in Harmony celebrates 20 years with greatest hits concert

Celebrating 20 years, Out In Harmony (formerly the Vancouver Lesbian & Gay Choir) present[ed] Looking Back, Looking Forward on Saturday, January 22, 2011.

In choosing the theme and music for the concert, Out In Harmony took a look back over their repertoire of the last 20 years and chose the gems, milestones, and the favourites of both audiences and singers. A "greatest hits" concert, the choir promises to dust off such classics as “Some of My Best Friends are Straight”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Va Pensiero”, inviting music lovers to take the trip down memory lane along with them.

Founded in 1990 as the Vancouver Lesbian & Gay Choir, Out In Harmony traces its history back to the Vancouver hosted Gay Games III. As the Games came to a close in 1990, the founding members of the choir met to discuss starting a permanent, openly lesbian and gay chorus in Vancouver. By September of that same year the first rehearsal took place.

In 2010 the choir changed its name to Out in Harmony representing its diverse membership which includes more than just Lesbians and gay men. Out in Harmony strives to be a community choir, welcoming and encouraging everyone who understands the importance of, and wanting to be part of, a supportive and public singing group that actively identifies as ‘Non-Straight-&-Narrow’.

BAR column focuses on young LGBT athletes

Roger Brigham devotes his Bay Area Recorder column to young LGBT athletes, speaking with Pat Griffin of GLSEN's sport project and Athlete Ally's Hudson Taylor:

Highly publicized suicides in recent years are grim reminders of the pervasive risks LGBT teenagers face every day of their lives. Swamped by feelings of isolation and condemnation, not knowing whom to turn to or even what to say if they found someone to talk with, many live a cold and vulnerable life, desperate with the uncertainty of whether it indeed will ever get better.

Those feelings of "Am I the only one?" can be especially powerful for young LGBT athletes. Professional role models in elite sports are few and far between, not the subject of the stories they read in sports sections on a daily basis. They see flamboyant displays in annual Pride parades, they are exposed to caricatures in sitcoms, and they read about the comings and goings of gay celebrities from the world of cinema and music, but the only time they encounter a mention of gays in sports may be when the gym teacher calls for a game of "Smear the Queer."

Paradoxically, while gay-centric recreational and competitive sports have blossomed over the past three decades in most of the Western world, adolescent sports remain a lonely and hostile environment for the vast majority of young queer athletes.

Keep reading HERE.

John Amaechi at launch of UK LGBT History Month: "Well-meaning is just not good enough anymore"

Amaechi speaking at University of Salford
also seen, Lou Englefield of Pride Sports and EGLSF

Listen to an extract from Gay Games Ambassador John Amaechi's speech at the Northern Launch of UK LGBT History Month at the University of Salford.

In het Nederlands: Kluun: In zijn roman "Haantjes" blikt hij terug op de Gay Games V

From Bol.com:

In januari verschijnt Haantjes, Kluun's derde roman, gebaseerd op een waargebeurd zakelijk fiasco.

Amsterdam, 1998. Iedereen verdient geld. De beurs floreert, de reclamewereld bloeit, het nachtleven bruist. RoXY en iT zitten wekelijks vol, Amsterdam is on top of the world. In dat jaar beginnen Stijn en Frenk, voor de lezers van Komt een vrouw bij de dokter en De weduwnaar geen onbekenden, hun creative & marketing agency Merk in Uitvoering. Het gaat ze voor de wind. Tot Charles 'de schuld van alles' langskomt met een briljant idee voor de GayGames, die in de zomer van 1998 in Amsterdam worden gehouden. Niet gehinderd door enige kennis van de gayscene danwel door het kritische commentaar van vrouwen in hun omgeving, besluiten Stijn en Frenk Merk in Uitvoering nu eens écht op de kaart zetten.

Kluun's bruisende roman Haantjes is een terugblik op het leven van Stijn en Carmen, toen hun yuppenbestaan nog zonder zorgen was. Hoewel, wie zorgt er voor de amper drie maanden oude Luna, nu Stijn elke avond met GayGames-souvenirs op pad moet?

Dit boek verschijnt in een witte en een roze uitvoering en worden assorti geleverd.

Auf Deutsch: 3. Queer Dance Festival am 26. Februar 2011 in Berlin

Von Vorspiel Berlin:

Die lesbisch-schwule Tanzszene trifft sich zum 3. Queer Dance Festival am 26. Februar 2011 im Ballhaus Walzerlinksgestrickt.

Es ist wieder an der Zeit, die Vielfalt der lesbisch-schwulen Tanzkultur gebührend zu feiern!
Unter dem Motto „Berlin tanzt. Zusammen“ vereint das Queer Dance Festival auch in diesem Jahr verschiedene Projekte zu einem schillernden tänzerisches Miteinander. Egal, ob klassischer Paartanz, Reihentänze, Line Dance oder Salsa-Rueda, das Queer Dance Festival bietet für alle Geschmäcker etwas.

Das Festivalprogramm gliedert sich in zwei Teile:


Ab dem frühen Abend finden in verschiedenen Sälen Schnupperstunden der teilnehmenden PartnerInnen statt. Tanzende und Tanzinteressierte bekommen hier einen Einblick in das jeweilige Tanzprojekt und sind herzlich zum Mittanzen eingeladen. Während TanzanfängerInnen erste Schritte wagen, können sich erfahrene TänzerInnen in Hüftschwung und Schwebetechnik üben und allesamt ganz ohne PartnerIn im Linedance ganz andere Tanzerfahrungen machen.


Unsere Vorspiel-Auftrittsgruppe Orientalischer Tanz/Oriental Tribal Style unter der Leitung von Tara wird übrigens zum vorerst letzten Mal eine Darstellung zum Besten geben. Wir hoffen auf viele ZuschauerInnen.


Glamouröser Höhepunkt dieses Jahres wird die Queer Dance Party ab 20 Uhr sein. Zu Musik vom Feinsten, präsentiert von wechselnden DJs, wird das Parkett des großen Saales im Ballhaus Walzerlinksgestrickt zum Glühen gebracht.


Das Festival wir von Gerd Theerkorn und Sonja Kull organisiert.

Weitere Informationen findet ihr unter www.gaydance.de/queerdancefestival/

Flag Football: The Movie trailer

More on the Flag Football: The Movie website HERE.

Gay Games Ambassador to sing US national anthem at NBA basketball game

Tuaolo singing at FGG 25th Anniversary Dinner in 2007 (photo Rick Gerharter)

Outsports reports that Gay Games Ambassador Esera Tuaolo will be singing the national anthem at the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team's LGBT night next Wednesday (tickets still available).

They add that: "Esera was the first NFL player to sing the Star-Spangled Banner before a game he played in; He’s also sung it at the Pro Bowl and for various NFL and NBA teams. Esera will also be at the pre-game reception at the City View terrace at Staples Center, along with the NOH8 campaign."

Blake Skjellerup tells LGBT athletes to not be cowards and to come out

Ursula Holl

A provocative post from out speed skater Blake Skjellerup on Hypervocal.com:

Right now there is a little German gay boy sitting in his room, wondering how he can be gay and make it into the professional world of sports. That used to be me, just with out the German part (although I am a fan of Wiener Schnitzel). Yes, I know Wiener Schnitzel is Austrian, but I liked the pun.

To be honest, I am a little tired of featuring items that do not emit a positive message. I would quite like to be writing about rainbows and unicorns, as they are magical and beautiful. However, as this is an issue close to my heart, again this week I need to highlight the struggle that is LGBT human rights.

Before today I had never heard of Ursula Holl, a professional football (soccer) player for the FCR 2001 Duisburg club, which plays in the German Women’s Football League. Holl is also a member of the German National Women’s team. She’s also a lesbian. That’s irrelevant to her football career, but it’s relevant to this article.

Holl is married, her sexuality positively accepted across the board, and she is the only international female football player to be married to a woman.

Speaking candidly with German news source Bild (it’s in German, I had someone translate for me), Holl said “If I had not married, I would not have gone public with my homosexuality. This is my private affair. But the step to become married was consciously made. Therefore, I have no problem with everyone knowing. And furthermore,” she says grinning, “I have a wife that I need not hide.”

“I think it is problematic that gay players should come out,” referring to her male football colleagues. “The more you disclose about your personal life, the more vulnerable you are. And the fans in the stadium can be very, very cruel. These public hostilities would be difficult to bear…I would not advise any football player to come out.”

If I had the opportunity to ask Miss Holl a question, I’d ask her whether she believes cowards make good athletes. In the world of sport you cannot lack the courage to endure dangerous or unpleasant things. Pressure, pain and defeat are just some of the many characteristics one most overcome to be a successful athlete.

Adversity motivates. The world of sport is full of heckling, sledging, and abuse. I doubt when Gareth Thomas takes to the field and hears the word “faggot” or “homo” he runs back to the locker room crying. I am sure the comments only spur him to want to obliterate the opposing team even more.

I do not wish to attack Miss Holl for her comments. She is not being homophobic or attacking a group of individuals. She is merely stating her opinion as a fellow athlete, a fellow homosexual. Wherever the stigma of having to hide who you are because of your sexuality came from, that time is now over. There is no shame in being harassed or insulted for what you truly are. Own it. Use it. I am a homo, a faggot, butt pirate, pillow biter; I take no shame in that. Thank you, genius spectator, for stating the obvious.

Keep reading HERE.

Gay Games medal-winning formation dance group reach semi-finals on UK TV dance contest

From WelshIcons.com:

Swansea born Adrian George has beaten thousands of other hopefuls to a place in the live semi-finals of TV talent contest Got to Dance on Sky1.

Adrian George is a member of Guyz in Sync, the UK’s only all-male Latin and Ballroom formation dance team. The semi-finals featuring just the top 28 acts start on 30th January 2011. Guyz in Sync will be on screen in the second semi-final on 6th February 2011.

Guyz in Sync are twelve dancers aged 27 to 50 from various professional backgrounds who first came together to compete at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) sports event World Outgames 2009 in Copenhagen. In their first competition they took the Gold medal. In August 2010 they brought home the Silver from the Gay Games Cologne, retaining their title as the world’s best all-male Latin and Ballroom formation team. Got to Dance is their first major step towards bringing the exciting world of same-sex Latin and Ballroom dancing to a broader public.

Below, their performance at the Gay Games VIII Unity Ball

"Subtle" homophobia in recruiting for women's college sport

From ESPN The Magazine:

On homophobia and recruiting
Coaches will use a subtle vocabulary to qualify certain programs; it's become pollution

On every top recruit's college visit, there comes the moment of the final pitch, when the head-spinning hoopla finally gives way to the business of basketball, when the high school girl steps away from the rah-rah of all the games and the ego-stroking of all the VIP intros to sit down with the head coach. During one teen's big moment, a heart-to-heart with Iowa State's Bill Fennelly, the decorated coach of 23 years sang an insistent refrain. "He kept drilling that 'this would be a family,'" says the player, who asked not to be named. "'You should come here,' he said, 'because we're family-oriented.'"

To the recruit, those seemingly comforting words cloaked a deeper meaning. Two of the four schools she was considering were purported to employ lesbians on their staffs. Her stop in Ames, in fact, was on the heels of a trip to one of those allegedly "gay programs." There, coaches avoided discussing anyone's off-court lives. Iowa State, in contrast, pushed the personal hard. "They threw it out constantly," says the player, who became a Cyclone. "'Iowa has morals, and people who live here have values, wholesome values.'" The implication, to her and to another former Cyclone who confirmed her account, was that at other schools, "there's something going on you don't know."

The messaging continued after she joined the Iowa State squad and started to help recruit younger players. Coaches told all the Cyclones to emphasize their "environment" to any visiting recruits: married head coach, straight assistants, kids running underfoot. "Tell them we're family- oriented," the player recalls. "According to the coaches, it needed to be said."

Why, exactly, depends on whom you ask. Gay rights activists, coaches and players speak at length about what they see as a longtime and underhanded recruiting tactic in women's sports: Pitches emphasizing a program's family environment and implicit heterosexuality are often part of a consciously negative campaign targeted at another program's perceived sexual slant. In a survey of more than 50 current and former college players, as part of The Magazine's seven-month look at women's basketball recruiting, 55 percent answered "true" when asked if sexual orientation is an underlying topic of conversation with college recruiters.

Keep reading HERE.

After uproar at firing of lesbian coach, Belmont University adds sexual orientation to anti-bias policy

From Inside Higher Ed:

Change of Heart at Belmont
January 27, 2011

When Belmont University faced an uproar over the ouster of a lesbian coach in December, administrators insisted that they did not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. But critics noted that though the university's anti-bias policy prohibited several types of discrimination, sexual orientation was not on the list.

On Wednesday, the university announced that its board has changed the policy and that henceforth, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would be officially barred. Further, the university added a new preamble to its anti-bias policy stating that Belmont is a Christian university and that the university strives "to uphold Christian standards of morality, ethics and conduct."

Many colleges affiliated with Christian denominations that question sexual relationships outside of heterosexual marriage do not include sexual orientation in their anti-bias policies; the same is true for many nondenominational Christian colleges with ties to such denominations. (Belmont was for many years affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and today calls itself "a student-centered Christian community with a rich Baptist heritage.")

Keep reading HERE.

W języku polskim: Gejowska "Olimpiada" 2014 w Cleveland, USA

From Gej Centrum:

Gay Games IX, czyli Gejowska Olimpiada odbędzie się w Cleveland, stanie Ohio, USA. Ostatnio słyszeliśmy wiele kontorwersji wokół imprezy. Wszytsko z powodu tego, że firma zajmująca się organizjacą imprezy w Ohio, Cleveland nie mogła się dogadać z Komitetem Głównym Gejowskiej Olimpiady. Ostatecznie Komitet zdecydował, że Gay Games odbędą się Ohio i będą organizowane przez inną lokalną instytucję.

Gay Games to największa sportowa i kulturalna impreza na świecie, w której borą udział sportowcy i artyści LGBT. Pierwsze zawody odbyły się w San Francisco w 1982 roku. Podobnie jak na zwykłej olimpiadzie, podczas ceremoni zapłonie olimpijski znicz.

Jak dotąd Gay Games odbyły się w San Francisco, Vancouver, NewYork, Amesterdam, Sydney, Chicago i Kolonii. Oryginalnie Gay Games miały nosić nazwę Gejowskiej Olimpiady, za czym zaprotestował Komitet Olimpijski USA, pozywając do sądu Komitet Gay Games. Ustalono, że nazwa “Olimpiada” jest zrezerwowana wyłącznie dla Igrzysk Olimpijskich. Niektórzy sugerowali, że za protestem kryła się homofobia, ponieważ nazwa Olimpiada nie jest zarezerowowana wyłącznie dla Igrzysk Olimpijskich ale także dla Olimpiady Specjalnej. Jednocześnie niektórzy argumetują, że Międzynarodowy Komitet Olimpijski jest znany z obrony nazwy, która ma się kojarzyć tylko z tą wyjątkową imprezą.

Out gymnasts at Temple University in Philadelphia

Dash Sears, photo Scott A. Drake

A tip of the hat to Gay Games Ambassador Brian Sims for pointing out this story from Philadelphia Gay News:

Out gymnasts reach new heights at Temple

One local college sports club is turning the stereotype about the intersection of gays and sports on its head.

Gay athletes are certainly no oxymoron at Temple University, whose 21-member men’s gymnastics team contains three out students.

While each of the trio — junior Evan Burke and sophomores John Gaffney and Dash Sears — had a unique coming-out experience, they all agree that the environment of the team and the university allows them to flourish.

Keep reading HERE.

Interview with future MBE Aslie Pitter, founder of Stonewall FC

From the London Evening Standard:

Black, gay, bullied: a footballer's journey to honours at the Palace
David Cohen
27 Jan 2011


"Can you imagine," said Aslie Pitter, "what the comments might have been had the linesman in this week's football sexism row been an openly gay man? I mean, I would bet anything that the off-air comments would have been just as derogatory, if not far worse."

Pitter was speaking to the Standard after having his suit fitted for his upcoming visit to Buckingham Palace, where he will receive his MBE for tackling homophobia in football and for his work with Stonewall FC, the country's first gay team, founded 20 years ago.

"I'm often asked, 'Have things improved in football since 1991?'" he said. "The answer is: how many openly gay players do you see in the Premiership today? There are none. Zero. Think about that. Apart from Justin Fashanu - who only came out at the end of his career and whose footballing brother John disowned him - there has been nothing. Rugby, in comparison, has made tremendous strides. Gareth Thomas has come out as gay, as have others, but football is stuck in the Dark Ages.

Keep reading HERE.

Hightlights from UK LGBT History Month program

This is a selection of sports-themed events from the first two weeks of LGBT History Month in the UK. Find the full calendar and more about these events HERE.

Manchester/Salford: The Official Northern Launch of LGBT History Month 2011 - Evening Reception
Formal reception to celebrate the Launch of LGBT History Month. Confirmed speakers inlclude LGBT Academic Patron, Professor Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Salford, Sarah Williams, Equality Manager for the Rugby Football League and John Amaechi, the first openly gay NBA Basketball player.
Date Thursday, 27th January 2011
Times 6.00 - 7.30pm

*FULLY BOOKED* QUEER QUESTION TIME
Description
*Please note. This event is now fully book with an extensive waiting list*
BBC Radio 4's EVAN DAVIS hosts what promises to be a "convivial but edgy" public debate to mark the beginning of LGBT History Month in Southwark, covering this year's LGBT History Month theme, "Tackling homophobia and transphobia in the world of sport", as well as a broader discussion on LGBT issues.
Your panellists will include:
MATTHEW PARRIS - Former MP, Times columnist, author and broadcaster.
JOHN AMAECHI - retired NBA basketball, psychologist, educator, and political activist.
SUE SANDERS - LGBT activist and co-chair of Schools Out.
Other special guests to be announced.
Submit your questions before the night to askqqt@gmail.com
Date Tuesday, 1st February 2011


The Brief Encounter: Darren Ollerton of The Justin Campaign
Description
Speaker meeting, open to all, organised by CAGS in the series The Brief Encounter. The speaker will be Darren Ollerton of The Justin Campaign as part of LGBT History Month. See http://www.cags.org.uk/brief.htm
Date Tuesday, 1st February 2011

Norwich: Exploring Gender Roles, Stereotypes, and Bullying within Sport and P.E.
Description
Exploring Gender Roles, Stereotypes, and Bullying within Sport and Physical Education
Dr Rock Braithwaite (EDU)
This interactive presentation examines the gender ideologies and connections to movement based environments. Activity and discussion will focus on the ways in which prevailing gender ideologies constrain achievement in sport and physical education contexts. Potential solutions are explored to establish gender equity.
Date Wednesday, 2nd February 2011

London: Trans People Accessing Sport Art Project
Description
Gendered Intelligence have collaborated with community arts organisation ActiveArt to deliver an art project for young trans and gender variant people aged 13 - 24 years.
The project will consist of 5 workshops throughout January and February 2011, culminating in a public exhibition at the end of February.
We will be looking at the following themes to create a collaborative piece of art to be used for social change:
- Barriers to sport for trans and gender variant people.
- Celebrating trans people in sport.
- What does sport mean for you?
Date Saturday, 5th February 2011
Date Saturday, 12th February 2011

Cambridge United Football Club supports LGBT history month
Description
CUFC and Cambridge Fans United are supporting LGBT history month as part of their 'Kick it Out' campaign. There will be stalls of information about LGBT history month inside the stadium
Date Saturday, 5th February 2011

Nottingham: Monday Badminton with Badminton Social
Description
Badminton Social is a gay-friendly group which meet every Monday to socialise and play badminton. It attracts people of all levels of badminton ability. Monday night sessions involve playing people in a variety of doubles games. It's an opportunity to meet new people, make friends and get some exercise.
Date Monday, 7th February 2011

London: Artist and Activist Seminar: BiGS Against Homophobia (LGBT History Month)
Description
Screening of Brighton Bandits (Ian McDonald, 2007), followed by a discussion with the film maker.
Brighton Bandits is the first ever in-depth documentary about a gay football team. It debunks the myth that gay men don't play football. Brighton Bandits captures the passion for football in the gay community and allows the players to emerge as people with bold and poignant stories to tell. Sprinkled with humour and pathos, Brighton Bandits moves rhythmically between thought-provoking views to football action. With no commentary and no musical score in the film, the voices of the players and the sounds of the pitch keep it raw and real.
Date Monday, 7th February 2011

Nottingham: Tuesday 5-a-side with Nottingham Ball Bois FC
Description
Nottingham Ball Bois host a 5-a-side football kick-about every Tuesday evening at 8pm.
The emphasis on Tuesdays is on fun, and we have a wide range of participants of all ages and abilities - from experienced players to people new to the game. Tuesday 5-a-side is supported by Sport Relief, administered locally by Nottinghamshire Community Foundation.

Ballbois past, present and future are welcome, but if you are planning to come along please mark yourself as attending at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122848957784093
Alternatively, and especially if you are a newcomer to Tuesday 5-a-side, please use the contact details at http://www.nottinghamballbois.com/index.php/events/details/155-tuesday-5-a-side.html and someone will look out for you when you arrive.
Date Tuesday, 8th February 2011

Nottingham: Seminar: Homopobia in Sport and Issues in LGBT Sport
Description
Presentation from Nottingham Ball Bois FC as part of the Nottingham Trent University Sports Seminar Series. The presentation will examine homophobia in sport; the role of gay sports clubs and the teaching of LGBT issues in sports education. Attendance is free, but please email info@nottinghamballbois.com to reserve a place.
Date Wednesday, 9th February 2011

News from Queer Comrades: Sports Illustrated China features LGBT sport!

From our friends at Queer Comrades comes amazing news about the Chinese edition of Sports Illustrated:

Dear all,

Some great news from China! The new edition of Sports Illustrated China
dedicated its cover and a 9 double-page spread to LGBT and sports. All of
our Queer Comrades teammembers were featured in the article, which gives
large attention to the Gay Games. Deng Fangmin (who received a scholarship
for the Cologne Gay Games) received the most attention, but also Wei
Jiangang and me, Stijn, (we both were invited as journalists to cover the
Gay Games) were interviewed and photographed for the issue.

We made a [video] news item on the LGBT issue of the magazine, which you can watch
here: http://www.queercomrades.com/news/sportsillustrated/

Sports Illustrated is a pretty big Sports Magazine in China, just as in the
US. We're confident that the report will go a long way in promoting the Gay
Games and other LGBT Sports events to the public in China.

With kind regards,
All the best,

Stijn Deklerck
Producer
Queer Comrades

While we're talking about Sports Illustrated China, a few months ago they also republished the US edition's feature on Gareth Thomas. For readers of Chinese, they can find that story online HERE.

Focus on Cleveland+Akron: ASICS U.S. Open Wrestling Championships

U.S. Open Wrestling Championships will take place from April 7 to 10 at Public Hall, Cleveland Convention Center. The nation's top wrestlers in the three Olympic styles of men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman will compete at Public Hall. The Men's FILA Junior National Championships include the nation's top athletes who are 17-20 years old, competing in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

More info HERE.

Take advantage of close-out prices for IGBO 30th Anniversary merchandise

FGG member International Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO) celebrated its 30th anniversary last year in Columbus, Ohio.

Their special anniversary merchandise is still available at their online store, at close-out prices.

You can purchase, for example, a polo shirt worth USD 40 for only USD 10!

To visit the store, click HERE. 

John Amaechi to speak at Global Sports Forum Barcelona

Officially supported by the City of Barcelona, the Global Sports Forum Barcelona, 9-11 March, is an exchange platform attracting a wide range of personalities from the world of sport. Thanks to its unique emphasis on the position of sport at the heart of modern society, the Forum is a place where people come together and debate issues, the aim being to highlight sport in all its dimensions: economic, social, political and cultural.

Among the featured speakers is Gay Games Ambassador John Amaechi, who joins speakers from sports organizations and the media, and athletes including Jonah Lomu and Mia Hamm. Read John Amaechi's profile on the GSFB website HERE.

The Global Sports Forum Barcelona offers a warm welcome to:

* Sport federations, clubs and organisations
* Former and current athletes
* Political leaders and government representatives
* Representatives of local bodies
* Business leaders
* Marketing and sponsorship decision-makers
* Foundations, NGOs and charity organisations
* Health experts
* Academics and education stakeholders

En français: La FSGL sera présente au premier salon LGBT à Lille

SALON LGBT DES 29 & 30 JANVIER 2011 A LILLE
Salle municipale du Gymnase
(7 Place Sébastopol 59000 LILLE)
Entrée : 2€
(reversée intégralement à la LGPLille, organisatrice de l'événement)
Horaires :
Samedi 29 janvier : de 11h00 à 18h00
Dimanche 30 janvier : de 12h00 à 18h00

Infos ICI.

More on the University of Denver panel discussion on "Invisible Athletes"

From the University of Colorado's student newspaper, Duclarion.com:

At a discussion about issues facing gay and lesbian athletes on Thursday night in the Driscoll Ballroom, panelist David Farber said the aim of all-gay sports organizations, like Denver's GForce Hockey Club, is to make openly-gay athletes fully accepted on traditional teams.

"The end goal is for our organizations to not have to exist anymore," he said.
Farber described a time in the future when openly-gay athletes would be seamlessly integrated into their sports at all levels, from youth to pros.
At this point, he said, a combination of straight and openly-gay athletes on professional teams would be natural, and all-gay organizations would not be necessary for athletes to feel fully accepted on the playing field.

"You can be gay and play sports; these things aren't mutually exclusive," he said.

Keep reading HERE.

Athlete Ally reaches 1300 pledges: how about you?

AthleteAlly.com was created by HUDSON TAYLOR as a resource to encourage athletes, coaches, parents, fans and other members of the sports community to respect all individuals involved in sports, regardless of perceived or actual sexual-orientation or gender identity or expression.

As of today, 13,000 people have taken the Athlete Ally pledge.You can take it HERE.

 “I created the Pledge so that we, as an athletic community, can take proactive steps to end homophobia in sports. When we inspire entire teams and athletic departments to commit to a new standard of athletic integrity, we will change the environment in locker rooms and on playing fields. Adding your name to the growing list of supporters is the first step to make a difference.”

— Hudson Taylor

University of Denver hosts panel on "Invisible Athletes" featuring Patrick Burke

More info HERE.

And listen HERE to Glenn Witman of G-Force Hockey and Patrick Burke on the Outsports podcast, where they spoke of the hockey team's mission of overturning stereotypes in sports and Burke's role in battling homophobia.

FGG participates in Agora du sport

A quote from gay tennis player Bill Tilden is featured in the Museum: "Tennis is more than a sport: it's an art, like the ballet"

The annual Agora du sport conference was held last week at the French National Tennis Museum at the Roland Garros tennis center. The conference was an opportunity to share experiences on a variety of themes. Among the subjects, a session on women in sport, where one of the rare women to head a male sports club (the handball club of Ivry, near Paris), spoke of her pessimism as to the evolution of sports institutions that remain boys clubs. Other speakers, such as French tennis star Nathalie Dauchy, spoke of the impact the lack of media attention has on women's sports. FGG representatives spoke of the custom in LGBT sport of having male and female tandems for key positions, a solution which interested many, but seems difficult to reconcile with current French law (which nonetheless favors in theory gender parity).

One of the participants made a call for action in favor of women's sport at an international level, calling on the International Olympic Committee to enforce its policies and protecting athletes from the intrusion of religion in sport, citing the example of the Iranian girls' team participating in the recent Youth Olympics, who were allowed to compete with their heads covered, contrary to established principles and rules.

Focus on Cleveland+Akron: ASICS University & FILA Cadet National Wrestling Championships

ASICS University and FILA Cadet National Championships will take place on April 20-23 at University of Akron's Louis and Freda Stile Athletic Field House. ASICS University athletes are 18 to 24 years of age and will feature some of the nation's top wrestlers from college wrestling programs and the U.S. Military team. FILA Cadet Nationals will feature many of the best high school wrestlers in the United States ages 15 to 17.

More information HERE.

Registration for IGLA 2011 Hawaii now open

The 2011 championships of FGG member organization International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) will take place from July 6-10 in an amazing place, this year: Honolulu, Hawaii!

More info and online registration are available HERE.

All Gay Games Amazon shops now on this blog

Links to all our Amazon stores (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr) are now available on this blog, along with a selection of featured products. Click HERE.

Search Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr

When you begin your search of your local Amazon site on our search boxes, any purchases you make generate commissions for the FGG! Find the boxes HERE.

Frontrunners run in February in Paris and Sydney

On Sunday 13 February Frontrunners Paris will hold their traditional Course de la St Valentin, which features couples running in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont while holding hands. The race has a limit of 600 runners, so sign up now! More info HERE.

And on Saturday 19 February, Sydney Frontrunners will be holding their annual Little Black Dress Run, a fun/draiser (see video below). More info on registering HERE. 

John Amaechi to appear at launch of UK LGBT History Month

From the website of UK LGBT History Month:

The BBC's Evan Davis, presenter of the Today Programme on Radio 4, helps to launch LGBT History Month 2011 in Southwark with Queer Question Time at Southwark Council's Tooley Street headquarters on Tuesday 1 February 2011.

MC Stewart Who? will open the evening at 7pm with a performance from the Pink Singers.

This will be followed by Queer Question Time at 7.30pm. Evan will chair an hour-long public debate with a panel of 5 local, national, and international LGBT icons and commentators, including Matthew Parris (writer, broadcaster and Times columnist), Sue Sanders (LGBT activist and co-chair of Schools Out), John Amaechi (psychologist, New York Times best-selling author and former NBA basketball player), and Angela Eagle MP (Westminster's first out lesbian). A fifth panelist will be announced closer to the time.

This is the seventh year that LGBT History Month has been marked across the UK. It is an annual celebration of the lives and achievements of the LGBT community, with a special theme this year of "tackling homophobia and transphobia in the world of sport". Queer Question Time will cover this topic as well as broader issues facing the LGBT community.

Queer Question Time
1 February 2011 - 6pm
Southwark Council, Atrium
160 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2TZ
Refreshments will be served. Admission is free but advance booking is strongly advised as places are limited.
To book your place contact Helen Laker on 020 7525 0848 or Helen.Laker@southwark.gov.uk

Auf Deutsch: Kaya Yanar als Farrad auf Gay Games VIII

Comics Kaya Yanar and Paul Panzer take on the roles of a TV crew from Al Jazeera at Gay Games VIII.

Author Jeff Commings reads from his autobiography "Odd Man Out: True Stories of a Gay Black Swimmer"

In the first book to tell the true story of a gay African-American swimmer, Jeff Commings writes about his teenage years and most of his 20s, when he was afraid to live openly as a gay man among friends and family. Though he was a member of several USA Swimming national teams and competed in two Olympic Trials, his fear of rejection from those he loved and respected severely affected his life socially and athletically.

Commings was the first African-American to win a gold medal in swimming at the Olympic Festival and was the first African-American swimmer to compete at the Pan-American Games, but he went through his swimming career feeling like he was just like everyone else - except when it came to his sexuality.

In ODD MAN OUT: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Commings reveals intimate details of his life, many of which have never been made public. But this book is much more than the story of a man’s journey to discover his place in a world he feared would shun him. It’s also the story of a black swimmer who rose to elite status when he saw very few on pool decks with his skin color.

Buy this book at our Amazon.com store below, or get a signed copy HERE.

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Register for IGBO annual tournament and meeting in Toronto

From the website of the host of Federation of Gay Games member organization International Gay Bowling Organization's annual tournament:

Toronto is honoured once again to have been selected to host an IGBO event. In 1991 we hosted the IGBO Annual and in 1997 we hosted IGBO Mid Year with both events being deemed fun for all.

For 23 years Toronto has hosted the Maple Leaf Classic annual bowling tournament with great success. We are proud to say that committee members, past and present, and many more volunteers have come forward to be part of the IGBO Annual 2011 Committee. This will make us a strong committee with a wealth of knowledge and expertise to host the 31st IGBO Annual Tournament.

Register HERE.

Billie Jean King compares professionalization of women's softball with women's tennis

From a post by Gay Games Ambassador Billie Jean King on the current status of women's professional softball:

Women's softball has been removed from the Olympics beginning in 2012 and it has definitely changed the future of the sport. Now, a new professional league has surfaced. National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) is the name of the league and it needs the stars of American softball to make it work. Seems like a perfect opportunity, doesn't it? Play on the national team and play professionally. It's been done in many sports for years.

But just as we faced opposition 40 years ago, so are our softball stars. Jessica Mendoza, along with other members of the Olympic team, including Natasha Watley, Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott, Caitlin Lowe, Lauren Lappin, Andrea Duran and Vicky Galindo, are asking the same question we asked in 1970 -- "why can't we do both?"

Jessica and her teammates have to choose between the national team and a professional league and they have opted to play exclusively with the NPF. They are sticking together, standing side-by-side. Jessica Mendoza is a leader and she, like her teammates, is very passionate about the future of their sport, and the opportunity of their chosen profession. They are making tough decisions.

If everyone works together it will work out. We may have disagreed with the USTA 40 years ago, but now we enjoy a very productive relationship with the organization. The softball players have a difficult road ahead and this generation will not reap the real benefits, but they will lay a strong foundation for those generations who come after them. These women are being brave and considerate of those who will come after them.

Read in full HERE.

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Football v Homophobia 19 February 2011

On February 19th 2010, The Justin Campaign launched Football v Homophobia – An international day opposing homophobia in football, which provided an opportunity for individuals, communities and teams the world over to communicate their disapproval of homophobia in football and celebrate football’s diverse following under the banner of Football v Homophobia.

We intend that Football v Homophobia on Feb 19th will become the one day out of each year where individuals, community groups, teams and clubs all over the world can express their disapproval of homophobia in football by celebrating under the banner of Football v Homophobia.

We hope that you can express your support for the day next year and ensure that this initiative significantly changes how LGBT people are perceived and treated in football.

Remember you don’t have to be a football fan or sports group to back the campaign! Impacting on homophobia in football will communicate a zero tolerance attitude to homophobia in any shape, or form, across the world.

More info HERE.

Info on Linday England's photo shoots for Football v Homophobia 2011

From Just a Ball Game?:

This year if you live in Manchester, London or Paris you can be part of a EURO TRI-CITY 24 hour event 15/16th of FEB. Come along in your football colours (or any sports colours) and join in the photo shoots.
Raise the FOOTBALL v HOMOPHOBIA banner and raiser awareness.


Below are the details of the Manchester, London and Paris meets.


15th Feb Manchester.. Vanilla
39-41 Richmond st, m1 3wb

Vanilla will host the first photo shoot event from 7pm-11pm.
You can call in for a drink and raise you glass in honour of Justin Fashanu and help out to raise the banners, flags, shirts and other football colours (and sports colours) to raise awareness of homophobia in football and also celebrate LGBT history month.
I am planning a group picture for around 8pm with the banner and then folk can have whatever sort of football v homophobia related picture they want for the rest of the evening whether they stay all night or just 5 mins.
Its hoped also that we will show the 40 min film Brighton Bandits.
We will give everyone flyer's and posters and stickers to take away with them to use on 19th at their own team event, club , uni/ student meet or workplace to recognise F v H day. we will give out T-shirts and footballs as prizes. The England flags will be signed to pass on to football authorities and government as a petition asking them to take action against homophobia in football.
As Vanilla is the women's venue we want as many girls and trans folk to attend the event.

Next day 16th i will transport the banner to London for a 9.30/9.45 am meet and photo shoot at 10am, it's more than likely the event will take place outside the TUC headquarters on Great Russell ST. in London. We will recognise F v h day and LGBT history month.
We have asked the GEO if we can do the photo shoot outside no10 or Westminster with David Cameron or the sports minister.(we will be told by 31st Jan if this is too happen.
If this fails we will have the photo shoot outside TUC headquarters with TUC leaders union staff and Football authorities and representatives from the LGBT community, we will be handing out flyer's etc to the public etc once again.

An hour later i will head off on Euro star to Paris for the final photo shoot at 6pm (so as to be inside the 24 hour deadline) at either Stade de France or Eiffel Tower along with friends from Paris and hopefully members of the Paris Foot Gay football team. Again we will raise the banner and fly our colours for Football v Homophobia.

Watch Greg Louganis on Oprah this Tuesday

Keep your eyes out for Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis on Oprah this Tuesday 25 January! The theme is "'Coming out' on The Oprah Show: 25 years of unforgettable guests". From the website:

In a landmark interview, an iconic athlete told the world he's gay. Now, Greg Louganis is back. Plus, the world's only openly gay prince has big news.

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