Featured events


7-9 September 2012
Brussels Games
Brussels

Brussels Gay Sports will offer a weekend of fun and fairplay in the capital of Europe, with volleyball, swimming, badminton, and tennis, as well as fitness and hiking.

Learn more HERE.
26-28 October 2012
QueergamesBern
Bern, Switzerland

The success of the first edition of the QueergamesBern proved the need for an LGBT multisport event in Switzerland. This year will be even bigger, with badminton, bowling, running, walking, floorball.

Learn more HERE.
17-20 January 2013
Sin City Shootout
Las Vegas
The 7th Sin City Shootout will feature softball, ice hockey, tennis, wrestling, basketball, dodgeball, bodybuilding and basketball.

Learn more HERE.

13-16 June 2013
IGLFA Euro Cup
Dublin
After this year's edition in Budapest at the EuroGames, the IGLFA Euro Cup heads to Dublin for 2013, hosted by the Dublin Devils and the Dublin Phoenix Tigers.

Learn more HERE.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Out lesbian boxer sets sights on the Olympics

We received a link to a story about Patricia Manuel in the Los Angeles Times, but couldn't do a post because the article was behind a paywall. So we were pleased to see a post on the Wide Rights blog that links to this article in Long Beach GazettesSports.com:

You should have heard the story of Patricia Manuel back in 2009. That was the year that the bruising boxer, then 24 years old, impressed in a quality showing at the Continental Championships, defeated the British lightweight champion in London and won the U.S. Nationals title. For the fourth time. It was a landmark year for a rising star, and heads began to turn.

Manuel started training with the best in the business, and undefeated pro fighter Javier Molina dubbed the slugger "Peanut" because of her shaved head. But even with impressive accolades and an amateur record that now stands at 47-12, few outside the tight-knit boxing world took notice. "It's annoying when you succeed and the only ones noticing are the people you already see every day," she says. "If no one knows who you are, then what do promoters want you for?"

So Peanut kept her amateur status, putting her professional dreams on hold. These days she works two jobs to pay her way through training and rehab, but Manuel says that remaining amateur was "a no-brainer." Just a few weeks after that decision, women's boxing became an official event for the 2012 London Olympics, for the first time since 1904.

"This time they're going to see a whole different beast," she says. Manuel will have her chance at the spotlight, and could very well become the first woman ever to represent the United States as an Olympic boxer.

The opportunity also strikes a personal chord. Manuel describes herself as an out butch lesbian, and proud of it. She decries recent hate crimes, regularly works with the non-profit Brown Boi Project and hopes to one day start her own organization to assist the LGBTQ community. A boost in exposure could create a new platform for the Golden Gloves winner to serve as a role model outside the ring.

Keep reading HERE.

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