As of 17 August 2012, the Federation of Gay Games blog is hosted on our new website:
www.gaygames.org
See you there!
Featured events
| 7-9 September 2012 Brussels Games Brussels  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  Learn more HERE. | 13-16 June 2013 IGLFA Euro Cup Dublin  Learn more HERE. |
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Auf Deutsch / Team Muenchen Streetboys in Budapest
An interview with Rainer Schweyer of Team Muenchen Streetboys football team, a member of FGG member organizations Team Muenchen and IGLFA on their participation in the football tournament at the 2012 Eurogames in Budapest:
Rainer Schweyer ist Manager der »Team München Streetboys«, dem einzigen schwulen Team im regulären Ligabetrieb des DFB. Im ballesterer-Interview spricht er über die Drohungen bei den EuroGames in Budapest, Homophobie am Platz und die möglichen Folgen eines Promi-Outings.
Stefan Heissenberger | 15.08.2012
Warum sind die »Team München Streetboys« hier in Budapest?
Rainer Schweyer: Die diesjährigen EuroGames finden ja zum ersten Mal in einem osteuropäischen Land statt. Gerade in Ungarn, wo gleichgeschlechtliche Lebensformen von der Regierung nicht unterstützt werden, ist es wichtig, uns solidarisch zu zeigen.
Wie habt ihr die Hetze der rechten politischen Parteien gegen die Spiele aufgenommen?
Diese Äußerungen waren für uns eine Zusatzmotivation, hierher zu kommen. Wir haben den Zuschlag für Budapest von Beginn an unterstützt und mitverfolgt, insofern sind wir von der Haltung der Stadt nicht überrascht.
Weiter lesen
Rainer Schweyer ist Manager der »Team München Streetboys«, dem einzigen schwulen Team im regulären Ligabetrieb des DFB. Im ballesterer-Interview spricht er über die Drohungen bei den EuroGames in Budapest, Homophobie am Platz und die möglichen Folgen eines Promi-Outings.
Stefan Heissenberger | 15.08.2012
Warum sind die »Team München Streetboys« hier in Budapest?
Rainer Schweyer: Die diesjährigen EuroGames finden ja zum ersten Mal in einem osteuropäischen Land statt. Gerade in Ungarn, wo gleichgeschlechtliche Lebensformen von der Regierung nicht unterstützt werden, ist es wichtig, uns solidarisch zu zeigen.
Wie habt ihr die Hetze der rechten politischen Parteien gegen die Spiele aufgenommen?
Diese Äußerungen waren für uns eine Zusatzmotivation, hierher zu kommen. Wir haben den Zuschlag für Budapest von Beginn an unterstützt und mitverfolgt, insofern sind wir von der Haltung der Stadt nicht überrascht.
Weiter lesen
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Nike Better World
This video was a hit at the Nike LGBT Sport Summit last weekend in Portland. Enjoy it!
"We won't rest until every living breathing person on this planet has access to sport". That's a message the FGG can support 100%.
Gay Games VIII in Project Q: Wesley Anderson’s second ‘tri’
Among the more than 9,000 LGBT athletes and artists competing in the Gay Games this week in Cologne are about two-dozen Atlantans, including runner Wesley Anderson.
The 32-year-old also plays softball with the Atlanta Venom in the Hotlanta Softball League and recently joined Front Runners Atlanta. We caught up with Anderson before he left for the Gay Games to discuss gay jocks and his plans to take part in the triathlon and half marathon.
Project Q Atlanta: What’s the most challenging part of your sport?
Anderson: The fact that the half marathon is the last day of the Gay Games. That means you have to eat well and not drink during the week of this amazing festival. That may be tough.
Keep reading HERE.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Auf Deutsch / Pride House sollte es bei allen Olympischen Spielen geben
Von Siegessäule.de:
Es ist ja nur ein Detail dieser Olympischen Sommerspiele, aber nicht nur für unsereins ein gewichtiges: Dass es ein Pride House gibt. Ein Haus, das offen ist für alle Gäste - aber gewidmet war und ist allen Sportlern und Sportlerinnen aus der LGBTI-Community. Kurzum: Schwulen und Lesben aus aller Welt. Londons Haus des Stolzes auf "sexual
otherness" ist das erste bei Sommerspielen, das erste überhaupt gab es
vor zwei Jahren in Vancouver zu den Winterspielen. Nun mögen routiniert gesinnte Gemüter sagen: Na klar, ist doch kein Wunder, dass in Kanada und Großbritannien solche Community Center standen und es in der Stadt der diesjährigen Spiele ja noch bis Sonntag Abend geöffnet hat.
Ich finde, dass künftige Städte von Olympischen Spielen ein solches Haus haben müssen. Es ist uns wichtig, es ist überhaupt wichtig für eine gute Welt, in der wir nicht unsichtbar sein oder bleiben wollen, es ist wichtig, wenn man so will, für die seelische Gesundheit der allermeisten Menschen: Die Differenz nicht nur zu tolerieren, sondern aktiv zu fördern. Ja, mehr noch: Ich finde, dass - am Beispiel des Pride Houses - nur noch Städte Olympische Spiele ausrichten dürfen, die sich bereits in der Bewerbung verpflichten, auch ein guter Ort für LGBTI zu sein.
Weiter lesen
Es ist ja nur ein Detail dieser Olympischen Sommerspiele, aber nicht nur für unsereins ein gewichtiges: Dass es ein Pride House gibt. Ein Haus, das offen ist für alle Gäste - aber gewidmet war und ist allen Sportlern und Sportlerinnen aus der LGBTI-Community. Kurzum: Schwulen und Lesben aus aller Welt. Londons Haus des Stolzes auf "sexual
otherness" ist das erste bei Sommerspielen, das erste überhaupt gab es
vor zwei Jahren in Vancouver zu den Winterspielen. Nun mögen routiniert gesinnte Gemüter sagen: Na klar, ist doch kein Wunder, dass in Kanada und Großbritannien solche Community Center standen und es in der Stadt der diesjährigen Spiele ja noch bis Sonntag Abend geöffnet hat.
Ich finde, dass künftige Städte von Olympischen Spielen ein solches Haus haben müssen. Es ist uns wichtig, es ist überhaupt wichtig für eine gute Welt, in der wir nicht unsichtbar sein oder bleiben wollen, es ist wichtig, wenn man so will, für die seelische Gesundheit der allermeisten Menschen: Die Differenz nicht nur zu tolerieren, sondern aktiv zu fördern. Ja, mehr noch: Ich finde, dass - am Beispiel des Pride Houses - nur noch Städte Olympische Spiele ausrichten dürfen, die sich bereits in der Bewerbung verpflichten, auch ein guter Ort für LGBTI zu sein.
Weiter lesen
CDG Brasil at LGBT business fair
FGG at protest against homophobic ban on Pride House at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia
 |
| Carl Schulz representing the FGG, center |
Protesters picket Sochi 2014 exhibition in London
LGBT Pride House banned at Sochi Winter Olympics 2014
London - 9 August 2012
“Russia must drop its ban on a LGBT Pride House at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The IOC should enforce the Olympic Charter and compel Russia to allow a Pride House for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes.”
This appeal comes from protesters who picketed the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Exhibition in Kensington Gardens, London, today, Thursday 9 August.
“London 2012 has a LGBT Pride House but Russia won’t allow one at Sochi. This ban is part of a wider crackdown on LGBT communities and visibility in Russia. It is an attack on freedom of expression and association, and coincides with new laws in several parts of Russia that ban so-called homosexual propaganda,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation and coordinator of Thursday’s protest.
“We have written to the IOC, urging them to intervene. Russia’s gay ban is contrary to the equality and non-discrimination provisions of the Olympic Charter. The IOC is duty-bound to require Russia to permit a LGBT Pride House,” he said.
Other participants in the protest echoed Mr Tatchell’s concerns.
Rakshita Patel, from the Peter Tatchell Foundation, added:
“It is really important for LGBT athletes to have a safe, welcoming space - with their friends and family - especially in countries like Russia where the atmosphere is currently very homophobic.”
Megan Worthing-Davies of Pride Sports (UK), said:
“The laws being used to forbid Pride House in Sochi are immoral, unfair and archaic. We call on Russia to repeal this ban.”
Carl Shultz, from the Federation of Gay Games, concluded:
“Pride House reflects the equality principles of the Gay Games and the Olympic Charter. The Russian judicial authorities that rendered the Sochi ban contradict the modern trend to equality and the Olympic ideal.”
Thursday's protest was supported by:
Pride Sports (UK)
The European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
The Federation of Gay Games
The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association
Peter Tatchell Foundation
OutRage!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Federation of Gay Games signs UK Charter for Action on Homophobia in Sport
For more information on the Charter, visit its webpage from the Home Office.
Esera Tuaolo at NAGAAA conference
WHEN Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 6 – 7pm
WHERE Crowne Plaza Hotel
3 Appletree Square
Bloomington, MN
Some of the nation’s leading experts on LGBT sports will join NAGAAA representatives in an exciting conversation about the future of LGBT athletics. Topics will include the continuing problem of homophobia and transphobia in amateur and professional sports, the experience of NAGAAA and other LGBT leagues in creating community-focused spaces for competition, and the best ways to create fun, welcoming, and inclusive LGBT leagues that invite participation from all parts of the community. Key points of discussion will include ways to maintain a sense of community within LGBT leagues while recognizing that the LGBT community includes a diverse array of experiences that players bring to the field. Please join us for what should be a fascinating discussion about the Gay Softball World Series, the LGBT community, and sports.
WHERE Crowne Plaza Hotel
3 Appletree Square
Bloomington, MN
Some of the nation’s leading experts on LGBT sports will join NAGAAA representatives in an exciting conversation about the future of LGBT athletics. Topics will include the continuing problem of homophobia and transphobia in amateur and professional sports, the experience of NAGAAA and other LGBT leagues in creating community-focused spaces for competition, and the best ways to create fun, welcoming, and inclusive LGBT leagues that invite participation from all parts of the community. Key points of discussion will include ways to maintain a sense of community within LGBT leagues while recognizing that the LGBT community includes a diverse array of experiences that players bring to the field. Please join us for what should be a fascinating discussion about the Gay Softball World Series, the LGBT community, and sports.
Sydney Morning Herald interview with Gay Games Ji Wallace on his HIV status
They Sydney Morning Herald speaks with Ji Wallace about his HIV status HERE.
THE Olympic silver medallist Ji Wallace says finding out he was HIV positive was like "a bomb going off" in his head.
Wallace, the only Australian to have won a medal in gymnastics (silver on the trampoline in Sydney), said he walked around for weeks in a haze of shock and disbelief after learning a year ago he had contracted the virus from his partner at the time.
But Wallace says he has never looked back since that difficult couple of months he spent alone in Canada grappling with his new reality. Which is why he went public this week, inspired by an interview with Greg Louganis, the four-time Olympic diving gold medallist who revealed he was gay and HIV positive in an autobiography in 1995.
"I was in London at the Games and watched Piers Morgan interviewing [Louganis] and it was just such a normal interview and so positive," Wallace said in Sydney after flying home from his role as an ambassador for the Federation of Gay Games.
"I felt like he had come a long way because when Greg came out it was a shock-horror story, quite negative, and it was really nice for him to sit there openly [this week] and talk about it. That night I had trouble sleeping so I wrote to Piers Morgan and said, 'Thanks for treating him well ... it's a big issue and it always will be but you didn't sensationalise anything.' I wanted to say thanks and that I too was an Olympian living with HIV."
The letter, which Wallace also sent to the Sydney Star Observer, a weekly newspaper for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, went viral on the internet and resulted in "literally thousands" of messages of support and gratitude for Wallace.
Read more about Ji Wallace and his HIV status HERE.
THE Olympic silver medallist Ji Wallace says finding out he was HIV positive was like "a bomb going off" in his head.
Wallace, the only Australian to have won a medal in gymnastics (silver on the trampoline in Sydney), said he walked around for weeks in a haze of shock and disbelief after learning a year ago he had contracted the virus from his partner at the time.
But Wallace says he has never looked back since that difficult couple of months he spent alone in Canada grappling with his new reality. Which is why he went public this week, inspired by an interview with Greg Louganis, the four-time Olympic diving gold medallist who revealed he was gay and HIV positive in an autobiography in 1995.
"I was in London at the Games and watched Piers Morgan interviewing [Louganis] and it was just such a normal interview and so positive," Wallace said in Sydney after flying home from his role as an ambassador for the Federation of Gay Games.
"I felt like he had come a long way because when Greg came out it was a shock-horror story, quite negative, and it was really nice for him to sit there openly [this week] and talk about it. That night I had trouble sleeping so I wrote to Piers Morgan and said, 'Thanks for treating him well ... it's a big issue and it always will be but you didn't sensationalise anything.' I wanted to say thanks and that I too was an Olympian living with HIV."
The letter, which Wallace also sent to the Sydney Star Observer, a weekly newspaper for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, went viral on the internet and resulted in "literally thousands" of messages of support and gratitude for Wallace.
Read more about Ji Wallace and his HIV status HERE.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
"Fearless" Kickstarter campaign
We were very pleased and honored to have Jeff Sheng present "Fearless" at the request of the FGG at Pride House in London. He's now aiming to make "Fearless" a book, via a Kickstarter campaign.
Update 8/3/12: The above 10-minute video is being exhibited at Pride House 2012 at the London Olympic Games, Aug 3-12. It is the first time that I have edited "Fearless" into a video slideshow with a voiceover of myself talking about this project, with over 100 photographs in the project so far. I decided to post it online here for those of you who are not able to make it to London. Please enjoy!
Since 2003, I (Jeff Sheng) have been photographing athletes on high school and college sports teams who also happen to self identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ), and are "out" to their predominantly straight teammates, coaches and classmates. Even though I am by training an artist and photographer, this project is highly personal for me -- as I was a former closeted athlete in high school and could not be "out" and play collegiate sports at the same time. As such, I titled the project "Fearless" as it was a reminder to myself and to others the true meaning behind the bravery of what these young people are able to do: be themselves in the face of homophobia in competitive sports -- something rarely ever seen at the professional level.
At first it was very difficult to find willing athletes for the project, but I relied heavily on trust, word of mouth, and social networking to find more and more participants. In the last 9 years, I have been able to photograph over 150 athletes across the United States and Canada for this series. Next year, 2013, will be the 10th year working on this project, and I have decided to commemorate this milestone with a self-published large photography book that details the lives and journey "Fearless" has entailed, including all of the photo shoots from the series. My hope is that this book can serve as further inspiration to countless young people who happen to be LGBTQ and suffer from bullying or harassment and live in fear about being who they are.
My fundraising target of $50,000 will make it possible for me to reach a goal of photographing over 200 athletes and to complete the final self-published book. The entire photo series is shot on medium format film and the travel costs are very high as I often have to fly to many of the athletes who ask to be photographed. Almost everything so far been mostly funded out of my own pocket or through loans/credit cards, and the lack of funding has been a major limitation to the series so far. Many athletes still contact me to be photographed and I sometimes need to limit my photo shoots, as I have never asked these participants for money to cover the costs of their photo shoots, but still need to find ways to cover the costs on my end. This fundraising goal will also make it possible to successfully publish the first run of the photo book next year.
My hope, is that with your help, I can make the decade-long vision I have had for my "Fearless" project -- finally become a reality. Every tiny bit counts, so please consider pledging something now.
Hyde Football Club commit to continuing mission to tackle homophobia in football
From "Just a Ball Game?":
Shortly after being crowned Blue Square North Champions and gaining promotion to the Blue Square Premiership for the first time in the clubs history, Hyde FC also had further recognition in becoming the first football team (in the world) to receive a copy of the new Show Racism the Red Card DVD and education pack which looks at challenging Homophobia within the game.
Founding Director of ‘JUST A BALL GAME?’ (a campaign group which challenges issues with homophobia and anti-gay prejudice and helps raise awareness around the inclusion of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender people,) Lindsay England presented the club Secretary Andy McAnulty and former Chairman Allan Kenyon with the resource as one of the delivery partners for the ‘Homophobia let’s Tackle it!’ which SRtRC have produced in collaboration with a number of LGBT organisations and also celebrities including former England rugby player ben Cohen, Hollyoaks actor Kieron Richardson and Scottish comedian Rhona Cameron.
Hyde FC have also pledged to make tannoy announcements before kick -off at home matches and change their ground rules and regulations to incorporate alongside Racism,” Homophobic abuse, chanting or harassment is strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the ground.”
Mr McAnulty added ‘’It’s fantastic for Hyde FC to be involved in such a campaign and we hope this will encourage other clubs throughout the whole of the UK to join in and help eradicate homophobia and anti-gay issues from the game.’
Shortly after being crowned Blue Square North Champions and gaining promotion to the Blue Square Premiership for the first time in the clubs history, Hyde FC also had further recognition in becoming the first football team (in the world) to receive a copy of the new Show Racism the Red Card DVD and education pack which looks at challenging Homophobia within the game.
Founding Director of ‘JUST A BALL GAME?’ (a campaign group which challenges issues with homophobia and anti-gay prejudice and helps raise awareness around the inclusion of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender people,) Lindsay England presented the club Secretary Andy McAnulty and former Chairman Allan Kenyon with the resource as one of the delivery partners for the ‘Homophobia let’s Tackle it!’ which SRtRC have produced in collaboration with a number of LGBT organisations and also celebrities including former England rugby player ben Cohen, Hollyoaks actor Kieron Richardson and Scottish comedian Rhona Cameron.
Hyde FC have also pledged to make tannoy announcements before kick -off at home matches and change their ground rules and regulations to incorporate alongside Racism,” Homophobic abuse, chanting or harassment is strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the ground.”
Mr McAnulty added ‘’It’s fantastic for Hyde FC to be involved in such a campaign and we hope this will encourage other clubs throughout the whole of the UK to join in and help eradicate homophobia and anti-gay issues from the game.’
Diving tears and diving smiles
We're more than a little sad that our friend Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham won't be taking home another Olympic medal. He did great work and gave it his all, living up to ouIr motto of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and to the motto "Once an Olympian, always an Olympian".
We know Matthew will continue to do great things and be a force for joy and progress in the world, and we are proud to have him by our side as we work toward equality in and through sport.
We take some consolation that the Chinese sweep was prevented by bronze medal winner Tom Daley and by gold medal winner David Boudia. We are pleased that the work of Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis has a claim to some of that success, having served as mentor to the US diving team in London.
We know Matthew will continue to do great things and be a force for joy and progress in the world, and we are proud to have him by our side as we work toward equality in and through sport.
We take some consolation that the Chinese sweep was prevented by bronze medal winner Tom Daley and by gold medal winner David Boudia. We are pleased that the work of Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis has a claim to some of that success, having served as mentor to the US diving team in London.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Why sports matter for LGBTs
From a comment piece by Carl Sandler in Huffington Post:
Why Sports Matter
Gay men need other avenues for building friendships that are not based (at least initially) on sexual compatibility and mutual attraction. So many gay men limit ourselves to building friends through online dating websites and apps, or in environments built around sex, dating, and drinking. Gay sports leagues provide the opportunity to meet other gay guys in the real world, and to build friendships and meaningful relationships over time based on shared real-world experiences. And yes, many of the guys are smoking hot.
The most amazing thing I've observed is the way sports leagues can enrich the lives of LGBTQ people. We've been so damaged by the world of sports that we often come to a gay sports league filled with trepidation and self-doubt. Gay sports leagues like Gotham celebrate difference rather than repressing or judging it. In gay leagues you will find not only competitive, professional athletes who look just like athletes in "straight" leagues but also fabulous ladyboys in short skirts who can finish a mean serve with a high kick. "Fierce" is a word often present on the court. Team names usually include some sort of sexual double entendre or campy humor. "I'd Hit That," "When Harry Set Sally," and "Destiny's Hookers" are some recent team names. In other words, gay leagues combine competitive sports and fabulousness in a way that is nothing short of inspiring.
So although out gays and lesbians in the Olympics may be few, gay sports leagues and tournaments are flourishing, giving gay men and women the opportunity to know the joys of team sports on their own terms. There are dating websites like RealJock.com and content sites like Outsports.com dedicated to the thousands of gay men who play sports. And don't forget the Gay Games, which this year celebrates 32 years since its founding. All of these are a wonderful testament to the amazing power of gay athletes everywhere.
Before the 2012 Olympic Games end, I hope a few more athletes will follow the lead of South African archer Karen Hultzer and come out. And maybe when the next Olympic Games roll around, I'll turn on the TV and see a posse of athletes competing to become the next big gay star, hugging their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, or wives after winning medals. Maybe by then we'll even see some straight athletes wave to knuckle-biting gay parents in the stands. We will make fun of their trashy mix of patriotic fashion and rainbow rings. We will smile and laugh. And we will all be the better for it.
Why Sports Matter
Gay men need other avenues for building friendships that are not based (at least initially) on sexual compatibility and mutual attraction. So many gay men limit ourselves to building friends through online dating websites and apps, or in environments built around sex, dating, and drinking. Gay sports leagues provide the opportunity to meet other gay guys in the real world, and to build friendships and meaningful relationships over time based on shared real-world experiences. And yes, many of the guys are smoking hot.
The most amazing thing I've observed is the way sports leagues can enrich the lives of LGBTQ people. We've been so damaged by the world of sports that we often come to a gay sports league filled with trepidation and self-doubt. Gay sports leagues like Gotham celebrate difference rather than repressing or judging it. In gay leagues you will find not only competitive, professional athletes who look just like athletes in "straight" leagues but also fabulous ladyboys in short skirts who can finish a mean serve with a high kick. "Fierce" is a word often present on the court. Team names usually include some sort of sexual double entendre or campy humor. "I'd Hit That," "When Harry Set Sally," and "Destiny's Hookers" are some recent team names. In other words, gay leagues combine competitive sports and fabulousness in a way that is nothing short of inspiring.
So although out gays and lesbians in the Olympics may be few, gay sports leagues and tournaments are flourishing, giving gay men and women the opportunity to know the joys of team sports on their own terms. There are dating websites like RealJock.com and content sites like Outsports.com dedicated to the thousands of gay men who play sports. And don't forget the Gay Games, which this year celebrates 32 years since its founding. All of these are a wonderful testament to the amazing power of gay athletes everywhere.
Before the 2012 Olympic Games end, I hope a few more athletes will follow the lead of South African archer Karen Hultzer and come out. And maybe when the next Olympic Games roll around, I'll turn on the TV and see a posse of athletes competing to become the next big gay star, hugging their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, or wives after winning medals. Maybe by then we'll even see some straight athletes wave to knuckle-biting gay parents in the stands. We will make fun of their trashy mix of patriotic fashion and rainbow rings. We will smile and laugh. And we will all be the better for it.
Huffington Post profile of Greg Louganis
A great profile of Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis in the UK version of Huffington Post:
They say you should never meet your hero. He'll always let you down. Well, I have, and he didn't.
The 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul was memorable for two things - Ben Johnson's red-eyed corruption of the 100-metre sprint, and double Olympic gold medallist diving champion Greg Louganis hitting his head on the board.
"My first feeling was one of embarrassment" - says Greg Louganis of his 1988 encounter with the board
Louganis was the golden boy of the diving pool, with two golds to his name from the previous Games in LA. He was expected to become the first man in history to defend both his springboard and platform titles.
So how did it feel when it all went so wrong during the springboard preliminaries, and he went splat in front of all those people?
"My first feeling was one of intense embarrassment," he remembers, 24 years later. Then that trickled into anxiety. But I have to admit, there was also a feeling of relief, because I was under so much pressure to do well, and suddenly everyone stopped expecting anything. It freed me up."
Keep reading about Greg Louganis
They say you should never meet your hero. He'll always let you down. Well, I have, and he didn't.
The 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul was memorable for two things - Ben Johnson's red-eyed corruption of the 100-metre sprint, and double Olympic gold medallist diving champion Greg Louganis hitting his head on the board.
"My first feeling was one of embarrassment" - says Greg Louganis of his 1988 encounter with the board
Louganis was the golden boy of the diving pool, with two golds to his name from the previous Games in LA. He was expected to become the first man in history to defend both his springboard and platform titles.
So how did it feel when it all went so wrong during the springboard preliminaries, and he went splat in front of all those people?
"My first feeling was one of intense embarrassment," he remembers, 24 years later. Then that trickled into anxiety. But I have to admit, there was also a feeling of relief, because I was under so much pressure to do well, and suddenly everyone stopped expecting anything. It freed me up."
Keep reading about Greg Louganis
Dan Woog writes on how Hudson Taylor became an Athlete Ally
From Dan Woog in Seattle Gay News:
Hudson Taylor is not Gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
But three years ago, when the University of Maryland wrestler put a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his headgear, some people wondered about his sexuality.
Taylor didn't care. He was more concerned about sending a strong show of support to the Gay community. For him, the medium - sports - was an appropriate means for an important message.
Taylor admits he had 'zero exposure' to Gay people growing up. 'I started wrestling when I was 6,' he recalls. 'All my friends were other wrestlers. I didn't think the LGBT world pertained to me.'
But in middle school he sang in a choir. At Blair Academy in New Jersey he performed in musicals and plays. 'No one was out when I was there, but homophobic comments of my friends - and me - always got corrected,' he says. He lived in two worlds - 'jock and thespian' - and his horizons broadened.
The HRC sticker was his first act of public advocacy. It attracted plenty of attention, and in February of his senior year the Outsports website interviewed him. To Taylor's surprise, 2,000 e-mails poured in. Many came from closeted young athletes. 'It was jaw-dropping,' Taylor says. 'About half of them made me cry.' For the first time, he realized the power of allies to make a difference.
Read more about Hudson Taylor and Athlete Ally
Hudson Taylor is not Gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
But three years ago, when the University of Maryland wrestler put a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his headgear, some people wondered about his sexuality.
Taylor didn't care. He was more concerned about sending a strong show of support to the Gay community. For him, the medium - sports - was an appropriate means for an important message.
Taylor admits he had 'zero exposure' to Gay people growing up. 'I started wrestling when I was 6,' he recalls. 'All my friends were other wrestlers. I didn't think the LGBT world pertained to me.'
But in middle school he sang in a choir. At Blair Academy in New Jersey he performed in musicals and plays. 'No one was out when I was there, but homophobic comments of my friends - and me - always got corrected,' he says. He lived in two worlds - 'jock and thespian' - and his horizons broadened.
The HRC sticker was his first act of public advocacy. It attracted plenty of attention, and in February of his senior year the Outsports website interviewed him. To Taylor's surprise, 2,000 e-mails poured in. Many came from closeted young athletes. 'It was jaw-dropping,' Taylor says. 'About half of them made me cry.' For the first time, he realized the power of allies to make a difference.
Read more about Hudson Taylor and Athlete Ally
Matthew Mitcham a model for an athlete coming out
From Jim Buzinski's look at Matthew Mitcham's coming out and how things have changed since 2008:
Four years later, things are a different, but in a positive way. In London, it's Mitcham diving and not his sexual orientation that is the focus. He has built a template for how someone should come out.
In reading coverage of Mitcham in the lead-up to competing Friday in London, I was struck by how his sexuality is often not mentioned - he is Matthew Mitcham, diver, not Matthew Mitcham, gay diver. That's progress.
It's not as if Mitcham tries to hide who he is. He is a spokesman for gay marriage in Australia, posing for an "I Do" campaign in a magazine. He was the grand marshal of Sydney's famous gay Mardi Gras parade. In 2010, he was named a Gay Games ambassador and did more than just lend his name. He came to Cologne, Germany, and participated in the Opening Ceremonies and hung out with other athletes; he was utterly charming and everyone wanted their picture taken with him and he happily obliged.
Read in full
Four years later, things are a different, but in a positive way. In London, it's Mitcham diving and not his sexual orientation that is the focus. He has built a template for how someone should come out.
In reading coverage of Mitcham in the lead-up to competing Friday in London, I was struck by how his sexuality is often not mentioned - he is Matthew Mitcham, diver, not Matthew Mitcham, gay diver. That's progress.
It's not as if Mitcham tries to hide who he is. He is a spokesman for gay marriage in Australia, posing for an "I Do" campaign in a magazine. He was the grand marshal of Sydney's famous gay Mardi Gras parade. In 2010, he was named a Gay Games ambassador and did more than just lend his name. He came to Cologne, Germany, and participated in the Opening Ceremonies and hung out with other athletes; he was utterly charming and everyone wanted their picture taken with him and he happily obliged.
Read in full
#GOMATTGO
Our friend and Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham is diving in the Olympic 10m platform semifinals.
On behalf of the Gay Games family we wish him luck and assure him our friendship and support. However you dive, you're a great guy!
On behalf of the Gay Games family we wish him luck and assure him our friendship and support. However you dive, you're a great guy!
Pride House a necessity for all Olympics, not just Sochi
From Bruce Arthur in the National Post:
LONDON — In 2010, the Vancouver Olympics featured the first Pride House, and a speed skater from New Zealand named Blake Skjellerup dropped by one day. When he publicly came out as a gay man later that year, he cited a couple things in his decision: Seeing how comfortable out Australian diver Matthew Mitcham was in 2008 in Beijing, and that small, welcoming space at the intersection of Davie and Bute.
The Pride House in London is a part-time affair, moving around and hosting various events, and occasionally renting two rooms in a little brick building next to a marina in East London. It is a minnow in the Olympic ocean, but an important one. And in 2014, it will not exist.
“It’s like a flag in the sand,” said Louise Englefield, who is running Pride House here, and who founded the equality-based group Pride Sports. “It’s a visible place that allows LGBT people to have a place in the Olympic movement, that we really have a place in the Games. And since there are only 23 out athletes at these Games …”
There will be no Pride House in 2014 in Sochi, due to a ruling from a Russian judge outlawing the promotion of homosexuality. Pride House here was given support, if not outright approval, by the London organizing committee; the International Olympic Committee, however, has refused to take a stance on the matter. It banned South Africa from the Games from 1964 to 1991 over apartheid, but it won’t weigh in on this.
“We aren’t responsible for the running of or setting up of Houses,” says IOC spokesman Mark Adams. “That is done by the [National Olympic Committees] or other relevant organizations. So in this case it isn’t a decision of either us, or the organizing committee in Sochi. From our side, the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the Games.”
“That’s a lie,” says ex-NBA player John Amaechi, who is doing commentary for the BBC here, and who is out. “They have no backbone. Look, [South Africa] was perhaps the only notable, noble thing that the IOC has ever done. It’s the only outspoken, outstanding, political move that made them, for just a brief moment, worth their existence. The idea that they have differentiated between race and other things is truly, truly worthy. Because what’s the explanation? Being racist is important. They’re explicitly saying that being racist is important, we won’t allow it, but being homophobic is okay.
“There’s already a lie. I would say implicit, but it’s not, it’s a very explicit lie within sports, and within the Olympics especially. Because most sports have rhetoric about fairness and equality and that type of stuff, but really only the Olympics … have at their core a set of five principles, one of which is that sports is a human right. Which means everybody, and it’s a very eloquent way of saying sports is for everybody.
“And so you’re in this situation — it’s not simply that the Pride House isn’t happening [in Sochi] because there’s no funding, or because there’s no interest. It’s explicitly not allowed. So by doing that you have already said sport is not for everybody. Explicitly, there are people who are not allowed to do sport, and if they are allowed to do sport, they must do it in a way that suits us.”
Outsports.com counts 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes at these Olympics, compared with 10 in Beijing and 11 in Athens, but just three men: two in dressage, including gold medallist Carl Hester, and Mitcham. Among the women, Megan Rapinoe won gold in women’s soccer after coming out just before the Games; German cyclist Judith Arndt won silver in the cycling road race.
But that is 23 publicly LGBT athletes out of nearly 11,000, one of whom, South African archer Karen Kultzer, came out to Outsports during the Games. “I am an archer, middle aged and a lesbian,” she said in a statement. “I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee. None of these aspects define who I am.”
Amaechi says there are seven out male athletes at the Games before being corrected; he demurs, wondering how many are publicly out. But he says, “Oh, there’s a lot more than that.”
“There are plenty of athletes [at basketball], a number of them on the women’s team, and a number on the men’s teams, who have had a word with me privately,” says Amaechi. “There’s not one of the men who would meet me in a public place. Because they know there’s a danger there for them when they come back. What if you play for the Utah Jazz, and have a set of owners who are absurd? What if you play for the Orlando Magic, whose owners donate to [the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage], an organization that shouldn’t exist? What if you play in Russia? What if you play in China? Things aren’t as easy as we think for all these people.
“In most locker rooms in the NBA right now there are guys who are out, who bring their quote-unquote manager to every game. Some of them even have somebody who is their partner and people know about it, and come to the Christmas party. And it’s within the locker-room, and there’s no issue. They don’t talk to the media about it, nobody does, but it’s known within the locker-room, and it’s no big deal. Most of the guys have the Charles Barkley [attitude], which is, can you play?”
But they are not comfortable enough to be themselves in the public sphere. Athletes who have come out have often said they performed better afterwards — Rapinoe told reporters before the gold-medal game, “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before,” and that coming out was “a weight off my shoulders.”
But it’s not just the more gay-friendly countries of the world who could, or would, host this travelling carnival. The IOC wasn’t too worried about human rights in China, either. Englefield says the plan is to ask every national house to stage a Pride House for a day in Sochi, since trying to establish an independent one would invite prosecution. It’s a laudable goal; as Canadian chef de mission Mark Tewksbury says, “the big challenge is Sochi. That’s where it’s really needed.”
“I think the most important thing,” says Englefield, “is what are the IOC going to do now?”
National Post
LONDON — In 2010, the Vancouver Olympics featured the first Pride House, and a speed skater from New Zealand named Blake Skjellerup dropped by one day. When he publicly came out as a gay man later that year, he cited a couple things in his decision: Seeing how comfortable out Australian diver Matthew Mitcham was in 2008 in Beijing, and that small, welcoming space at the intersection of Davie and Bute.
The Pride House in London is a part-time affair, moving around and hosting various events, and occasionally renting two rooms in a little brick building next to a marina in East London. It is a minnow in the Olympic ocean, but an important one. And in 2014, it will not exist.
“It’s like a flag in the sand,” said Louise Englefield, who is running Pride House here, and who founded the equality-based group Pride Sports. “It’s a visible place that allows LGBT people to have a place in the Olympic movement, that we really have a place in the Games. And since there are only 23 out athletes at these Games …”
There will be no Pride House in 2014 in Sochi, due to a ruling from a Russian judge outlawing the promotion of homosexuality. Pride House here was given support, if not outright approval, by the London organizing committee; the International Olympic Committee, however, has refused to take a stance on the matter. It banned South Africa from the Games from 1964 to 1991 over apartheid, but it won’t weigh in on this.
“We aren’t responsible for the running of or setting up of Houses,” says IOC spokesman Mark Adams. “That is done by the [National Olympic Committees] or other relevant organizations. So in this case it isn’t a decision of either us, or the organizing committee in Sochi. From our side, the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the Games.”
“That’s a lie,” says ex-NBA player John Amaechi, who is doing commentary for the BBC here, and who is out. “They have no backbone. Look, [South Africa] was perhaps the only notable, noble thing that the IOC has ever done. It’s the only outspoken, outstanding, political move that made them, for just a brief moment, worth their existence. The idea that they have differentiated between race and other things is truly, truly worthy. Because what’s the explanation? Being racist is important. They’re explicitly saying that being racist is important, we won’t allow it, but being homophobic is okay.
“There’s already a lie. I would say implicit, but it’s not, it’s a very explicit lie within sports, and within the Olympics especially. Because most sports have rhetoric about fairness and equality and that type of stuff, but really only the Olympics … have at their core a set of five principles, one of which is that sports is a human right. Which means everybody, and it’s a very eloquent way of saying sports is for everybody.
“And so you’re in this situation — it’s not simply that the Pride House isn’t happening [in Sochi] because there’s no funding, or because there’s no interest. It’s explicitly not allowed. So by doing that you have already said sport is not for everybody. Explicitly, there are people who are not allowed to do sport, and if they are allowed to do sport, they must do it in a way that suits us.”
Outsports.com counts 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes at these Olympics, compared with 10 in Beijing and 11 in Athens, but just three men: two in dressage, including gold medallist Carl Hester, and Mitcham. Among the women, Megan Rapinoe won gold in women’s soccer after coming out just before the Games; German cyclist Judith Arndt won silver in the cycling road race.
But that is 23 publicly LGBT athletes out of nearly 11,000, one of whom, South African archer Karen Kultzer, came out to Outsports during the Games. “I am an archer, middle aged and a lesbian,” she said in a statement. “I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee. None of these aspects define who I am.”
Amaechi says there are seven out male athletes at the Games before being corrected; he demurs, wondering how many are publicly out. But he says, “Oh, there’s a lot more than that.”
“There are plenty of athletes [at basketball], a number of them on the women’s team, and a number on the men’s teams, who have had a word with me privately,” says Amaechi. “There’s not one of the men who would meet me in a public place. Because they know there’s a danger there for them when they come back. What if you play for the Utah Jazz, and have a set of owners who are absurd? What if you play for the Orlando Magic, whose owners donate to [the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage], an organization that shouldn’t exist? What if you play in Russia? What if you play in China? Things aren’t as easy as we think for all these people.
“In most locker rooms in the NBA right now there are guys who are out, who bring their quote-unquote manager to every game. Some of them even have somebody who is their partner and people know about it, and come to the Christmas party. And it’s within the locker-room, and there’s no issue. They don’t talk to the media about it, nobody does, but it’s known within the locker-room, and it’s no big deal. Most of the guys have the Charles Barkley [attitude], which is, can you play?”
But they are not comfortable enough to be themselves in the public sphere. Athletes who have come out have often said they performed better afterwards — Rapinoe told reporters before the gold-medal game, “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before,” and that coming out was “a weight off my shoulders.”
But it’s not just the more gay-friendly countries of the world who could, or would, host this travelling carnival. The IOC wasn’t too worried about human rights in China, either. Englefield says the plan is to ask every national house to stage a Pride House for a day in Sochi, since trying to establish an independent one would invite prosecution. It’s a laudable goal; as Canadian chef de mission Mark Tewksbury says, “the big challenge is Sochi. That’s where it’s really needed.”
“I think the most important thing,” says Englefield, “is what are the IOC going to do now?”
National Post
Friday, August 10, 2012
TIME on Olympic homophobia
A great article from TIME, with interviews with Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup, Karen Hultzer, and Pride House's Lou Englefield
On Aug. 6, during the most dogged soccer match at the London Olympics, Megan Rapinoe blasted two shots past the Canadian goalie to help Team USA secure a spot in Thursday’s final. Even more impressive, however, may have been Rapinoe’s resolve when she came out as a lesbian just weeks before the Olympics. “I feel like sports in general are still homophobic,” she said in an interview with Out.com on July 5. “People want—they need—to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ U.S. of A.”
In the high-profile world of Olympic competition, Rapinoe is among a small, but growing number of gay athletes who have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation. According to Outsports, a media watchdog and sports news site, of the 14,690 athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, only 23 are openly gay. That’s around 0.16%. Even so, it’s a big improvement from the 2004 Games in Athens, which counted just 11 out athletes. In Beijing in 2008 there were only 10.
Their reasons for keeping a low profile vary, but closeted Olympians share one thing in common: they have trained their entire lives to represent their countries at the Games. Coming out, they fear, could cause sponsors to pull out of deals, and negative stereotypes may leave coaches and teammates questioning their abilities. “The most important thing to every athlete is their position and standing,” says Blake Skjellerup, a gay speed-skater who represented New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics. “They wouldn’t want anything as trivial as their sexuality to jeopardize that.”
The organizers behind Pride House—”a welcoming space for all athletes, staff, spectators and friends”—hope to show that being gay and being competitive aren’t incompatible. To that end they’ve organized informal gatherings, like a recent 5K run, are staging an exhibition on gay athletes, and provide a space for athletes and non-athletes alike to watch the Olympics. “We’re putting a little flag in the sand and saying that within this environment, which isn’t inclusive and welcoming, we are an inclusive and welcoming space,” says Louise Englefield, the founding director of Pride Sports, an LGBT sports development and equality organization. “If that means that people realize there is an alternative then great.”
The inaugural Pride House at the Vancouver Games played a big role in Skjellerup coming out. Although he had told his family ahead of the Olympics, he had not contemplated coming out publicly. He sat at a Starbucks opposite the house before deciding to step inside. After strolling through a photo exhibition of gay athletes—think of Olympic gold medalists like Greg Louganis and Matt Mitcham—he soon found himself telling staff members his secret. “It was quite a big thing coming out to strangers,” he says. “I felt really good with myself after doing that.”
Coming out seems more daunting for male athletes. Of the 23 out Olympians this year, only four are men. “Constructions of masculinity within sport are incredibly rigid,” says Englefield, adding that the “macho environment” entrenches homophobia. It’s a different story for gay women. “Lesbians who maybe don’t conform to heterosexual stereotypes of femininity can just get on with it and be themselves.”
No gay athlete—closeted or not—wants to hear homophobic slurs bandied about in the locker room. And yet fighting against more than just your opponent may partly explain the success of openly gay sportsmen and women at the Olympics. “When you’re closeted, it’s quite hard on you mentally,” says Skjellerup. “But there is a lot of mental toughness that comes with being an athlete. For me homophobic comments actually spear me on and encourage me more.”
He may not be alone. Outsports has identified 104 out athletes who have participated in Summer Games. More than half of them have won Olympic medals. Gay men and lesbians seem poised for similar success in London. Equestrian Carl Hester became the first out athlete to win gold in this Olympics as part of British dressage team. Other notables include German Judith Arndt, who bagged a silver in cycling, and American Lisa Raymond, who walked off the tennis court with a bronze. Other likely medalists include Seimone Augustus, a star of the U.S. women’s basketball team, Rapinoe, of the U.S. soccer squad, and four members of Holland’s field hockey team.
Read more: HERE
On Aug. 6, during the most dogged soccer match at the London Olympics, Megan Rapinoe blasted two shots past the Canadian goalie to help Team USA secure a spot in Thursday’s final. Even more impressive, however, may have been Rapinoe’s resolve when she came out as a lesbian just weeks before the Olympics. “I feel like sports in general are still homophobic,” she said in an interview with Out.com on July 5. “People want—they need—to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ U.S. of A.”
In the high-profile world of Olympic competition, Rapinoe is among a small, but growing number of gay athletes who have publicly acknowledged their sexual orientation. According to Outsports, a media watchdog and sports news site, of the 14,690 athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, only 23 are openly gay. That’s around 0.16%. Even so, it’s a big improvement from the 2004 Games in Athens, which counted just 11 out athletes. In Beijing in 2008 there were only 10.
Their reasons for keeping a low profile vary, but closeted Olympians share one thing in common: they have trained their entire lives to represent their countries at the Games. Coming out, they fear, could cause sponsors to pull out of deals, and negative stereotypes may leave coaches and teammates questioning their abilities. “The most important thing to every athlete is their position and standing,” says Blake Skjellerup, a gay speed-skater who represented New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics. “They wouldn’t want anything as trivial as their sexuality to jeopardize that.”
The organizers behind Pride House—”a welcoming space for all athletes, staff, spectators and friends”—hope to show that being gay and being competitive aren’t incompatible. To that end they’ve organized informal gatherings, like a recent 5K run, are staging an exhibition on gay athletes, and provide a space for athletes and non-athletes alike to watch the Olympics. “We’re putting a little flag in the sand and saying that within this environment, which isn’t inclusive and welcoming, we are an inclusive and welcoming space,” says Louise Englefield, the founding director of Pride Sports, an LGBT sports development and equality organization. “If that means that people realize there is an alternative then great.”
The inaugural Pride House at the Vancouver Games played a big role in Skjellerup coming out. Although he had told his family ahead of the Olympics, he had not contemplated coming out publicly. He sat at a Starbucks opposite the house before deciding to step inside. After strolling through a photo exhibition of gay athletes—think of Olympic gold medalists like Greg Louganis and Matt Mitcham—he soon found himself telling staff members his secret. “It was quite a big thing coming out to strangers,” he says. “I felt really good with myself after doing that.”
Coming out seems more daunting for male athletes. Of the 23 out Olympians this year, only four are men. “Constructions of masculinity within sport are incredibly rigid,” says Englefield, adding that the “macho environment” entrenches homophobia. It’s a different story for gay women. “Lesbians who maybe don’t conform to heterosexual stereotypes of femininity can just get on with it and be themselves.”
No gay athlete—closeted or not—wants to hear homophobic slurs bandied about in the locker room. And yet fighting against more than just your opponent may partly explain the success of openly gay sportsmen and women at the Olympics. “When you’re closeted, it’s quite hard on you mentally,” says Skjellerup. “But there is a lot of mental toughness that comes with being an athlete. For me homophobic comments actually spear me on and encourage me more.”
He may not be alone. Outsports has identified 104 out athletes who have participated in Summer Games. More than half of them have won Olympic medals. Gay men and lesbians seem poised for similar success in London. Equestrian Carl Hester became the first out athlete to win gold in this Olympics as part of British dressage team. Other notables include German Judith Arndt, who bagged a silver in cycling, and American Lisa Raymond, who walked off the tennis court with a bronze. Other likely medalists include Seimone Augustus, a star of the U.S. women’s basketball team, Rapinoe, of the U.S. soccer squad, and four members of Holland’s field hockey team.
Read more: HERE
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Where are the out Olympians?
From Jill Lawless, Associated Press:
LONDON – It has been a great games for gay Olympians — probably.
British equestrian Carl Hester won gold in team dressage in London. Midfielder Megan Rapinoe has scored three goals for the U.S. women’s soccer team and several other lesbian players are part of the Dutch field hockey team heading into Friday’s final.
But it’s likely there have been more triumphs by gay and lesbian competitors that the world doesn’t know about.
There are more than 10,000 athletes competing at the London games, but when the gay website OutSports.com set out to count how many were openly gay, it came up with 23.
“It’s an absurdly low number,” said site co-founder Jim Buzinski. He said that compared to the arts, politics or business worlds, “sports is still the final closet in society.”
Estimates of the percentage of gay people in any given population vary widely. In a 2010 survey by Britain’s Office for National Statistics, 1.5 per cent of respondents identified themselves as gay or bisexual, although many consider that an underestimate.
Only a handful of Olympic competitors have publicly identified themselves as gay, including Hester, Rapinoe, U.S. basketball player Seimone Augustus, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham and South African archer Karen Hultzer, who came out to the media during the games.
“I am an archer, middle-aged and a lesbian,” the 46-year-old athlete told OutSports — but said she looked forward to the day when her sexuality was not an issues. I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee,” she said. “None of these aspects define who I am, they are simply part of me.”
Gay sports groups say the London games organizers have been welcoming, including gay, lesbian and transgender volunteers among its staff and sanctioning an official games rainbow pin.
The London Pride House, a gay hospitality venue, had official approval from games organizers. London organizing chief executive Paul Deighton said the site helped show Britain as an inclusive place “which welcomes the world’s diverse communities and creates a safe sporting environment for LGBT athletes.”
But activists fear the next host city — Sochi in southern Russia — will be far less gay-friendly. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong. Protests by gay rights activists regularly end in mass arrests.
British rights activist Peter Tatchell and a handful of supporters rallied Thursday outside Russia’s Sochi Park pavilion in London to protest Russian authorities’ refusal to allow a pride house at the 2014 Winter Games — a decision that was backed up by a Russian court.
“Quite clearly, this ban is in violation of the Olympic charter, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees equality,” Tatchell said. He said the International Olympic Committee “doesn’t appear to want to engage with this issue.”
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the IOC would not comment “on private court cases,” but added that “the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the games.”
Marc Naimark of the Federation of Gay Games said the IOC should pressure countries to repeal anti-gay laws the way it once excluded South Africa for its racial apartheid policy and, more recently, succeeded in getting all competing nations to include female athletes on their teams in London.
“The lack of ‘out’ athletes in the Olympics is a symptom,” Naimark said. “It’s not the problem.”
There is a particular dearth of openly gay male Olympians — there are only three men on that London list of 23. The most high-profile is Mitcham, whose Twitter biography calls him “that gay, 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude.” He’ll be defending his 10-meter springboard title at the games this weekend.
Rapinoe, who came out earlier this year, said it was more difficult for male athletes than for women to be open about their sexuality.
“I think there’s a lot of gay women in sports, and it’s widely known in the team, they can live a pretty open lifestyle without being open in the media,” she said. “But I think for men unfortunately it’s not the same climate in the locker room.”
There’s also the fear of losing lucrative commercial endorsements. Sponsors would never admit that they would drop an athlete who came out as gay, but few competitors would want to risk it.
Much was made of the fact that former NBA player John Amaechi signed an endorsement deal with razor company HeadBlade after he came out in 2007. But HeadBlade is small potatoes compared to Adidas or other huge sports sponsors.
Times may be changing, however. Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber said the company would stand by an athlete who chose to come out of the closet.
Buzinski thinks the environment for gay athletes is improving. He points to the growing number of athletes, gay and straight, who are prepared to speak out against homophobia.
Many athletes who come out say it has been a positive experience — and even performance-enhancing. Rapinoe scored two goals in the U.S. team’s semifinal win over Canada.
“I guess it seems like a weight off my shoulders,” she said on the eve of Thursday’s gold medal match against Japan. “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before. I think I’m just enjoying myself and I’m happy.”
___
Associated Press Writers Joseph White and Raissa Ioussouf contributed to this report. Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
LONDON – It has been a great games for gay Olympians — probably.
British equestrian Carl Hester won gold in team dressage in London. Midfielder Megan Rapinoe has scored three goals for the U.S. women’s soccer team and several other lesbian players are part of the Dutch field hockey team heading into Friday’s final.
But it’s likely there have been more triumphs by gay and lesbian competitors that the world doesn’t know about.
There are more than 10,000 athletes competing at the London games, but when the gay website OutSports.com set out to count how many were openly gay, it came up with 23.
“It’s an absurdly low number,” said site co-founder Jim Buzinski. He said that compared to the arts, politics or business worlds, “sports is still the final closet in society.”
Estimates of the percentage of gay people in any given population vary widely. In a 2010 survey by Britain’s Office for National Statistics, 1.5 per cent of respondents identified themselves as gay or bisexual, although many consider that an underestimate.
Only a handful of Olympic competitors have publicly identified themselves as gay, including Hester, Rapinoe, U.S. basketball player Seimone Augustus, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham and South African archer Karen Hultzer, who came out to the media during the games.
“I am an archer, middle-aged and a lesbian,” the 46-year-old athlete told OutSports — but said she looked forward to the day when her sexuality was not an issues. I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee,” she said. “None of these aspects define who I am, they are simply part of me.”
Gay sports groups say the London games organizers have been welcoming, including gay, lesbian and transgender volunteers among its staff and sanctioning an official games rainbow pin.
The London Pride House, a gay hospitality venue, had official approval from games organizers. London organizing chief executive Paul Deighton said the site helped show Britain as an inclusive place “which welcomes the world’s diverse communities and creates a safe sporting environment for LGBT athletes.”
But activists fear the next host city — Sochi in southern Russia — will be far less gay-friendly. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong. Protests by gay rights activists regularly end in mass arrests.
British rights activist Peter Tatchell and a handful of supporters rallied Thursday outside Russia’s Sochi Park pavilion in London to protest Russian authorities’ refusal to allow a pride house at the 2014 Winter Games — a decision that was backed up by a Russian court.
“Quite clearly, this ban is in violation of the Olympic charter, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees equality,” Tatchell said. He said the International Olympic Committee “doesn’t appear to want to engage with this issue.”
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the IOC would not comment “on private court cases,” but added that “the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the games.”
Marc Naimark of the Federation of Gay Games said the IOC should pressure countries to repeal anti-gay laws the way it once excluded South Africa for its racial apartheid policy and, more recently, succeeded in getting all competing nations to include female athletes on their teams in London.
“The lack of ‘out’ athletes in the Olympics is a symptom,” Naimark said. “It’s not the problem.”
There is a particular dearth of openly gay male Olympians — there are only three men on that London list of 23. The most high-profile is Mitcham, whose Twitter biography calls him “that gay, 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude.” He’ll be defending his 10-meter springboard title at the games this weekend.
Rapinoe, who came out earlier this year, said it was more difficult for male athletes than for women to be open about their sexuality.
“I think there’s a lot of gay women in sports, and it’s widely known in the team, they can live a pretty open lifestyle without being open in the media,” she said. “But I think for men unfortunately it’s not the same climate in the locker room.”
There’s also the fear of losing lucrative commercial endorsements. Sponsors would never admit that they would drop an athlete who came out as gay, but few competitors would want to risk it.
Much was made of the fact that former NBA player John Amaechi signed an endorsement deal with razor company HeadBlade after he came out in 2007. But HeadBlade is small potatoes compared to Adidas or other huge sports sponsors.
Times may be changing, however. Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber said the company would stand by an athlete who chose to come out of the closet.
Buzinski thinks the environment for gay athletes is improving. He points to the growing number of athletes, gay and straight, who are prepared to speak out against homophobia.
Many athletes who come out say it has been a positive experience — and even performance-enhancing. Rapinoe scored two goals in the U.S. team’s semifinal win over Canada.
“I guess it seems like a weight off my shoulders,” she said on the eve of Thursday’s gold medal match against Japan. “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before. I think I’m just enjoying myself and I’m happy.”
___
Associated Press Writers Joseph White and Raissa Ioussouf contributed to this report. Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
More on men's synchronized swimming
In Grantland, Michael Bertin looks at the issue of men's synchronized swimming, including the FGG/London/Paris letter to IOC and FINA:
It was a joke: Martin Short and Harry Shearer were two male synchronized swimmers who had given up everything in their quest for Olympic gold.
It was made all the more ridiculous by the fact that (a) Martin Short couldn't swim and (b) there was no men's event even in the Olympics. And the premise for this Saturday Night Live sketch was so well executed that, almost 30 years later, few people have even bothered to revisit the subject.
But 30 years later men's synchronized swimming is also no longer a joke, which is to say there are men who do it, and they take it seriously. Honest. And, in a bizarre instance of art imitating future life, they want to go to the Olympics.
In June of this year, Paris Aquatique, the London-based club Out to Swim, and the Federation of Gay Games sent a jointly signed letter to ICO President Jacques Rogge and FINA President Julio Maglione appealing for inclusion of men in synchronized swimming at the Olympics. And they are completely not kidding.
From the letter: "[It's] a sport with a long history of men's participation, and which is growing in number and quality of participants. Despite the goals announced by British Olympic authorities to make the 2012 Summer Olympics a place for true equality, men will remain excluded from this discipline in London."
"Growing" is a relative term, and, admittedly, the talent pool isn't that deep. Stephen Adshead, who manages the men's synchro team at OTS, says there are "about 20" men in the U.K. practicing at the club, with "more in France." Moreover, it might seem a little disingenuous for OTS to argue on history, as the club has only been doing synchro since 2010, but when it comes to competing they aren't kidding around. They've got a former Soviet-bloc synchronized swimmer for their coach and have picked up gold medals at the last two EuroGames as well as gold at the last Gay Games.
And the sport's male reach is reasonably international, with competing teams in Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Sweden. There is actually a pretty great documentary called Men Who Swim about that very cadre of men in Stockholm who have taken up synchro (highlighted by a scene in which their female coach calls them "pussies" for opting to perform in wetsuits).
Read more about male synchronized swimming on Grantland
It was a joke: Martin Short and Harry Shearer were two male synchronized swimmers who had given up everything in their quest for Olympic gold.
It was made all the more ridiculous by the fact that (a) Martin Short couldn't swim and (b) there was no men's event even in the Olympics. And the premise for this Saturday Night Live sketch was so well executed that, almost 30 years later, few people have even bothered to revisit the subject.
But 30 years later men's synchronized swimming is also no longer a joke, which is to say there are men who do it, and they take it seriously. Honest. And, in a bizarre instance of art imitating future life, they want to go to the Olympics.
In June of this year, Paris Aquatique, the London-based club Out to Swim, and the Federation of Gay Games sent a jointly signed letter to ICO President Jacques Rogge and FINA President Julio Maglione appealing for inclusion of men in synchronized swimming at the Olympics. And they are completely not kidding.
From the letter: "[It's] a sport with a long history of men's participation, and which is growing in number and quality of participants. Despite the goals announced by British Olympic authorities to make the 2012 Summer Olympics a place for true equality, men will remain excluded from this discipline in London."
"Growing" is a relative term, and, admittedly, the talent pool isn't that deep. Stephen Adshead, who manages the men's synchro team at OTS, says there are "about 20" men in the U.K. practicing at the club, with "more in France." Moreover, it might seem a little disingenuous for OTS to argue on history, as the club has only been doing synchro since 2010, but when it comes to competing they aren't kidding around. They've got a former Soviet-bloc synchronized swimmer for their coach and have picked up gold medals at the last two EuroGames as well as gold at the last Gay Games.
And the sport's male reach is reasonably international, with competing teams in Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Sweden. There is actually a pretty great documentary called Men Who Swim about that very cadre of men in Stockholm who have taken up synchro (highlighted by a scene in which their female coach calls them "pussies" for opting to perform in wetsuits).
Read more about male synchronized swimming on Grantland
Patricia Neil Warren explains that out Team USA football coach Pia Sundhage deserves more attention.
Writing in Outsports/SB Nation, Patricia Neil Warren explains that out Team USA football coach Pia Sundhage deserves more attention.
Aug 7, 2012 - USA 4, Canada 3. What a match! In the victory tumult that erupted after that last-second winning goal of the women's soccer semifinal, the beaming weathered face and silver-haired bob of USA head coach Pia Sundhage was poignantly visible on the little screen, as she made the rounds of her team, making sure each of the women knew how thrilled and satisfied she was.
For us LGBT people, it's an important moment to remember that the out coaches are as important as the out athletes.
So often the out coaches get listed as an afterthought, after the growing list of out LGBT athletes. And admittedly there are still not many out coaches around the world. Yet we have to recognize the undeniable influence that a good coach has over individual athletes and whole teams. Win or lose, the coach's input is always a turning point. They deserve more credit for what they achieve, not only on the playing field, but off it -- in terms of the growing acceptance of LGBT presence in sports.
Read the full article about out football coach Pia Sundhage.
Aug 7, 2012 - USA 4, Canada 3. What a match! In the victory tumult that erupted after that last-second winning goal of the women's soccer semifinal, the beaming weathered face and silver-haired bob of USA head coach Pia Sundhage was poignantly visible on the little screen, as she made the rounds of her team, making sure each of the women knew how thrilled and satisfied she was.
For us LGBT people, it's an important moment to remember that the out coaches are as important as the out athletes.
So often the out coaches get listed as an afterthought, after the growing list of out LGBT athletes. And admittedly there are still not many out coaches around the world. Yet we have to recognize the undeniable influence that a good coach has over individual athletes and whole teams. Win or lose, the coach's input is always a turning point. They deserve more credit for what they achieve, not only on the playing field, but off it -- in terms of the growing acceptance of LGBT presence in sports.
Read the full article about out football coach Pia Sundhage.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Are out athletes just better? The medal count says yes
Outsports looks at the performance so far of out athletes at the Olympics:
Aug 6, 2012 - We at Outsports have identified104 openly gay and lesbian Summer Olympians over the years. Some of them were out while competing, others came out after their Games. An astonishing 53 of them -- over 50 percent -- have won a medal. That's an incredible percentage and far exceeds the average of all athletes who have taken home Olympic hardware.
This year, we may be on pace for a similar performance. There are 23 publicly out Olympians we know of in London, though the number keeps growing. Already, two out athletes -- German cyclist Judith Arndt (silver) and American tennis player Lisa Raymond (bronze) -- have won medals. And while a number of out Olympians have been eliminated from competition, many others are positioned for a medal.
Aug 6, 2012 - We at Outsports have identified104 openly gay and lesbian Summer Olympians over the years. Some of them were out while competing, others came out after their Games. An astonishing 53 of them -- over 50 percent -- have won a medal. That's an incredible percentage and far exceeds the average of all athletes who have taken home Olympic hardware.
This year, we may be on pace for a similar performance. There are 23 publicly out Olympians we know of in London, though the number keeps growing. Already, two out athletes -- German cyclist Judith Arndt (silver) and American tennis player Lisa Raymond (bronze) -- have won medals. And while a number of out Olympians have been eliminated from competition, many others are positioned for a medal.
Pink Sixty News interviews Karen Hultzer
In conversation with Karen Hultzer at Pride House London 2012
South African Olympic archer Karen Hultzer in an informal conversation at Pride House London 2012, with Team GB's sitting vollyball team captain Claire Harvey and Pinksixty's Colin Fallesen.
South African Olympic archer Karen Hultzer in an informal conversation at Pride House London 2012, with Team GB's sitting vollyball team captain Claire Harvey and Pinksixty's Colin Fallesen.
Excluded from sport by homophobia when young, reengaging in sport via LGBT groups
From Pink News, a personal tale of reengaging in sport, and on the effect of homophobia in sport on young people:
It’s like a gritty northern drama – but with extra fog. I’m a weedy kid in dripping specs, shivering in the mud, dreading the prospect of the funny shaped ball coming my way. Then: a wet torpedo from the strong arms of Big Phil.
I duck. I probably squeal. And the games teacher’s yelling at me through the mist: “What’s wrong with you, you big girl’s blouse? Would you rather be inside playing tiddlywinks?”
Looking back it’s a funny story. At the time is was hellish. Such experiences, and such comments from teachers, left me humiliated, ashamed and scared of being found out … That kind of experience is bad for your health. Monday morning was double-games. Sunday nights were often sleepless.
Twenty-five years later, though, I’ve found myself re-engaging with sport. Last year I joined a gay-friendly running group. My sense of my own abilities has changed fundamentally. I’m even watching the Olympics.
Read more about re-engaging in sport as an adult via LGBT sport
It’s like a gritty northern drama – but with extra fog. I’m a weedy kid in dripping specs, shivering in the mud, dreading the prospect of the funny shaped ball coming my way. Then: a wet torpedo from the strong arms of Big Phil.
I duck. I probably squeal. And the games teacher’s yelling at me through the mist: “What’s wrong with you, you big girl’s blouse? Would you rather be inside playing tiddlywinks?”
Looking back it’s a funny story. At the time is was hellish. Such experiences, and such comments from teachers, left me humiliated, ashamed and scared of being found out … That kind of experience is bad for your health. Monday morning was double-games. Sunday nights were often sleepless.
Twenty-five years later, though, I’ve found myself re-engaging with sport. Last year I joined a gay-friendly running group. My sense of my own abilities has changed fundamentally. I’m even watching the Olympics.
Read more about re-engaging in sport as an adult via LGBT sport
Flashback to 2007: Chicago photographer John Gress's Gay Games VII coverage earns a top spot in sport photojournalism award
Chicago-based photographer John Gress has spent his career with one foot in two different realms of photography: commercial and editorial. His unique resume has allowed him to develop a dynamic style that produces striking images whether they are produced in the real world or on set.
Gress' work as a photojournalist regularly appears on the Reuters news wire and in major publications around the world, including Der Spiegel, Le Monde, Time, The New York Times, The Times of London, The Washington Post, and Sports Illustrated. His assignments have included the 2010 Stanley Cup, the 2008 election of President Barack Obama, the 2007 Southern California wildfires, the 2006 Super Bowl, and the 2005 World Series. In 2007, he was named a finalist for the National Press Photographers Association's The Best of Photojournalism Sports Photojournalist of the Year competition.
Among the work earning him this title were photos from 2006's Gay Games VII in Chicago. Here are a few of those photos:
SPORTS PICTURE SERIES - GAY GAMES VII - Will Cater of New York and Arik Pou of The Philippines embrace between Wrestling matches during Gay Games VII in Evanston, Illinois, July 17, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES)
Athletes ride their bikes in the Triathlon during Gay Games VII in Chicago, July 16, 2006.
SPORTS PICTURE SERIES - GAY GAMES VII - Michel Jacq-Hergoualdh 63 of Paris, France, keeps an eye on pre-judging for Master Physique competition during Gay Games VII in Evanston, Illinois, July 18, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES)
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Ji Wallace on GaydarRadio
Gay Games Ambassador talks about his Olympic career, his work as a Gay Games Ambassador, Pride House, and Gay Games 9!
Ji Wallace discusses HIV status
We thank Ji for sharing this information with us earlier, and are glad that he has spoken about his HIV status.
The position of the Federation of Gay Games is that just as the best arm against ordinary homophobia is for LGBT people to be out and visible, the best arm against the stigma of HIV/AIDS is visibility and transparency.
The position of the Federation of Gay Games is that just as the best arm against ordinary homophobia is for LGBT people to be out and visible, the best arm against the stigma of HIV/AIDS is visibility and transparency.
This is a personal decision which cannot be judged, but we're pleased that Ji has taken this step.
From the Sydney Star Observer:
Gay Australian Olympian Ji Wallace has publicly revealed his HIV status in a letter sent to the Star Observer.
Wallace, a trampolinist who won a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, said he was inspired to make the public admission about his diagnosis after seeing an interview given by US diver Greg Louganis about his battle with HIV and being a gay Olympian.
“I have been contemplating writing this for a while,” Wallace said.
“I caught a CNN Piers Morgan interview with Greg Louganis here in London. It made me think and think and I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote.”
Louganis won four gold and a silver medal at the Olympics between 1976 and 1988 before coming out as both gay and HIV-positive in a 1995 autobiography.
“I felt inspired to write. I too am an Olympic medal winner living with HIV,” Wallace said.
“I have never publicly disclosed this before but felt inspired by [the] interview… and by Anderson Cooper’s ‘coming out’ letter last month describing ‘value in being seen and heard’ in the face of disturbing violence, bullying, persecution and condemnation by peers, colleagues, government officials and worst of all family and friends.
“I too have been that victim of these atrocious behaviours. Luckily I managed to come through.”
Wallace is in London to view the men’s trampoline event and as the guest of honour at several functions with the Olympic Pride House for LGBTI athletes.
“I am doing it to raise awareness of this issue. It is still here,” Wallace told the Star Observer.
“Being seen does have value. A voice does have value. I have the support of my boyfriend, my great friends and my loving parents. Many do not and this is, in part, for them.”
Gay Australian Olympian Ji Wallace has publicly revealed his HIV status in a letter sent to the Star Observer.
Wallace, a trampolinist who won a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, said he was inspired to make the public admission about his diagnosis after seeing an interview given by US diver Greg Louganis about his battle with HIV and being a gay Olympian.
“I have been contemplating writing this for a while,” Wallace said.
“I caught a CNN Piers Morgan interview with Greg Louganis here in London. It made me think and think and I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote.”
Louganis won four gold and a silver medal at the Olympics between 1976 and 1988 before coming out as both gay and HIV-positive in a 1995 autobiography.
“I felt inspired to write. I too am an Olympic medal winner living with HIV,” Wallace said.
“I have never publicly disclosed this before but felt inspired by [the] interview… and by Anderson Cooper’s ‘coming out’ letter last month describing ‘value in being seen and heard’ in the face of disturbing violence, bullying, persecution and condemnation by peers, colleagues, government officials and worst of all family and friends.
“I too have been that victim of these atrocious behaviours. Luckily I managed to come through.”
Wallace is in London to view the men’s trampoline event and as the guest of honour at several functions with the Olympic Pride House for LGBTI athletes.
“I am doing it to raise awareness of this issue. It is still here,” Wallace told the Star Observer.
“Being seen does have value. A voice does have value. I have the support of my boyfriend, my great friends and my loving parents. Many do not and this is, in part, for them.”
Jeff Sheng radio interview about "Fearless" exhibition at Pride House and LGBT sport in general
Jeff Sheng was on public radio in Los Angeles yesterday to talk about LGBT sport, homophobia in sport, and his Pride House version of his "Fearless" exhibition.
Listen to Jeff Sheng's interview online or download the MP3 on the KPCC website.
Listen to Jeff Sheng's interview online or download the MP3 on the KPCC website.
Jeff Sheng's Pride House version of "Fearless" now available online
LONDON OLYMPICS TO FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION OF GAY ATHLETES
Nike debuts new t-shirts in support of LGBT sports photo project
LONDON, August 6, 2012 – American artist Jeff Sheng presents his project Fearless, a photography series about openly gay high school and collegiate team athletes, as part of Pride House 2012 at the London Olympic Games. The ten-minute video exhibition includes photographs of over one hundred athletes as a digital slide show with a voiceover narration by the artist. It will be on display at Pride House until the Olympic Closing Ceremonies on August 12, 2012.
The video can be watched and directly embedded from Vimeo or Youtube:
https://vimeo.com/46875505
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfe8SxGY7D4&feature=g-upl
Fearless is a nine-year long photography project by celebrated artist Jeff Sheng, who since 2003 has photographed over 150 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identified high school and collegiate athletes in the U.S. and Canada. The video exhibition in London is the first time the photo series has been edited and shown as a slideshow, and the first time the project has been exhibited in Great Britain.
The debut of this work in London coincides with a fundraising drive that features T-shirts with the slogan “Fearless,” printed and donated by Nike to help raise funds for the artist to complete the project next year as a photography book (FearlessPhotobook.com).
In the voiceover narration from the video exhibition, the artist says, “What I’ve discovered are the stories of all these unknown people. They are high school students and college students, some as young as fifteen years old, who face the really horrible prospect of being bullied, harassed or beaten up by their fellow teammates… and these young people do this incredible thing – they simply say, ‘I’m going to be who I am.'”
Marc Naimark, Pride House coordinator for the Federation of Gay Games, says of the exhibit: “By narrating the history of the project and what it means to him, Jeff Sheng has brought the power of these young lives home to viewers who see their engagement in sport and their courage in being out. It’s a lesson for us all, whatever our age, whatever our athletic pursuits.”
Fearless has been widely exhibited in the United States over the last few years, including at the corporate headquarters of both Nike and ESPN. It has also been at over fifty high school and college campuses, and in Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
The video exhibition is available online to allow those who are not able make it to London and Pride House to see the project. The video and more information about the Nike supported fundraising drive is at FearlessPhotobook.com
PRIDE HOUSE 2012 CONTACT: LOU ENGLEFIELD, lou@pridesports.org, UK Tel: +44 (0)7949 604610, website: pridehouse2012.org
###
ABOUT JEFF SHENG:
Jeff Sheng is an artist based in Los Angeles, and was recently a visiting guest professor of photography at Harvard University in 2011. He is known for his photo series Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on closeted U.S. military service members affected by the policy of that same name, which forbid openly gay service members in the US armed forces until 2011. During the Congressional repeal of that policy between 2010-2011, Sheng’s photography series was profiled and covered by multiple media outlets including ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, NPR and the BBC.
ABOUT PRIDE HOUSE 2012:
Pride House 2012 is a project of Pride Sports UK, in collaboration with the Federation of Gay Games, the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF), GLISA International, the LGBT Consortium, and Phoenix FC, and aims to offer a welcoming space for all athletes, staff, spectators and friends of London 2012. Pride House 2012 will be open from 3 to 7 August at CA House in Limehouse Basin on the river Thames, with the Pride House 2012 festival continuing in various venues through 12 August, the day of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Nike debuts new t-shirts in support of LGBT sports photo project
LONDON, August 6, 2012 – American artist Jeff Sheng presents his project Fearless, a photography series about openly gay high school and collegiate team athletes, as part of Pride House 2012 at the London Olympic Games. The ten-minute video exhibition includes photographs of over one hundred athletes as a digital slide show with a voiceover narration by the artist. It will be on display at Pride House until the Olympic Closing Ceremonies on August 12, 2012.
The video can be watched and directly embedded from Vimeo or Youtube:
https://vimeo.com/46875505
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfe8SxGY7D4&feature=g-upl
Fearless is a nine-year long photography project by celebrated artist Jeff Sheng, who since 2003 has photographed over 150 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identified high school and collegiate athletes in the U.S. and Canada. The video exhibition in London is the first time the photo series has been edited and shown as a slideshow, and the first time the project has been exhibited in Great Britain.
The debut of this work in London coincides with a fundraising drive that features T-shirts with the slogan “Fearless,” printed and donated by Nike to help raise funds for the artist to complete the project next year as a photography book (FearlessPhotobook.com).
In the voiceover narration from the video exhibition, the artist says, “What I’ve discovered are the stories of all these unknown people. They are high school students and college students, some as young as fifteen years old, who face the really horrible prospect of being bullied, harassed or beaten up by their fellow teammates… and these young people do this incredible thing – they simply say, ‘I’m going to be who I am.'”
Marc Naimark, Pride House coordinator for the Federation of Gay Games, says of the exhibit: “By narrating the history of the project and what it means to him, Jeff Sheng has brought the power of these young lives home to viewers who see their engagement in sport and their courage in being out. It’s a lesson for us all, whatever our age, whatever our athletic pursuits.”
Fearless has been widely exhibited in the United States over the last few years, including at the corporate headquarters of both Nike and ESPN. It has also been at over fifty high school and college campuses, and in Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
The video exhibition is available online to allow those who are not able make it to London and Pride House to see the project. The video and more information about the Nike supported fundraising drive is at FearlessPhotobook.com
PRIDE HOUSE 2012 CONTACT: LOU ENGLEFIELD, lou@pridesports.org, UK Tel: +44 (0)7949 604610, website: pridehouse2012.org
###
ABOUT JEFF SHENG:
Jeff Sheng is an artist based in Los Angeles, and was recently a visiting guest professor of photography at Harvard University in 2011. He is known for his photo series Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on closeted U.S. military service members affected by the policy of that same name, which forbid openly gay service members in the US armed forces until 2011. During the Congressional repeal of that policy between 2010-2011, Sheng’s photography series was profiled and covered by multiple media outlets including ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, NPR and the BBC.
ABOUT PRIDE HOUSE 2012:
Pride House 2012 is a project of Pride Sports UK, in collaboration with the Federation of Gay Games, the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF), GLISA International, the LGBT Consortium, and Phoenix FC, and aims to offer a welcoming space for all athletes, staff, spectators and friends of London 2012. Pride House 2012 will be open from 3 to 7 August at CA House in Limehouse Basin on the river Thames, with the Pride House 2012 festival continuing in various venues through 12 August, the day of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Be proud in Sochi! Protest homophobic ban on Pride House 2014 at Winter Olympîcs in Sochi, Russia
On Saturday 4 August, in response to an invitation from the Federation of Gay Games, LGBT sport and human rights groups met at Pride House 2012 to discuss action with regard to homophobia in the Olympic Movement. A key action item set was support for a Pride House at the 2014Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Russian authorities have already banned this Pride House project, with the International Olympic Committee refusing to take any action whatsoever to ensure that LGBT athletes, coaches, support staff and visitors will be able to meet in a safe place during these Games.
Based on this goal, the Peter Tatchell Foundation is organising a protest.
Thursday 9 August 10.30am at Sochi.Park, London: Protest against Russia's ban on Pride House at the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi
All interested in sport free from homophobia are urged to join us: placards will be provided. To indicate your presence please email Peter Tatchell at peteour@petertatchellfoundation.org and Pride House 2012 at pridehouse2012@gmail.com.
When?
Thursday 9 August at 10:30am
Where?
Protest outside the Sochi.Park exhibition in Kensington Gardens, London
Assemble at:
Albert Memorial
Kensington Gardens, Opposite Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore
London SW7
Map: http://gaymes.info/ph2012albert
Who?
Peter Tatchell Foundation
OutRage!
And the following partners in Pride House 2012:
Pride Sports UK
The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation
The Federation of Gay Games
The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association
Russian authorities have already banned this Pride House project, with the International Olympic Committee refusing to take any action whatsoever to ensure that LGBT athletes, coaches, support staff and visitors will be able to meet in a safe place during these Games.
Based on this goal, the Peter Tatchell Foundation is organising a protest.
Thursday 9 August 10.30am at Sochi.Park, London: Protest against Russia's ban on Pride House at the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi
All interested in sport free from homophobia are urged to join us: placards will be provided. To indicate your presence please email Peter Tatchell at peteour@petertatchellfoundation.org and Pride House 2012 at pridehouse2012@gmail.com.
When?
Thursday 9 August at 10:30am
Where?
Protest outside the Sochi.Park exhibition in Kensington Gardens, London
Assemble at:
Albert Memorial
Kensington Gardens, Opposite Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore
London SW7
Map: http://gaymes.info/ph2012albert
Who?
Peter Tatchell Foundation
OutRage!
And the following partners in Pride House 2012:
Pride Sports UK
The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation
The Federation of Gay Games
The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association
It Gets Better at Pride House 2012
At the suggestion of the FGG, Colin Fallesin of Pink Sixty News has produced these great "It Gets Better" videos of visitors to Pride House 2012, including one from Claire Harvey, captain of Team GB's Paralympic sitting volleyball team!
Trans sport activist supports Gay Games "gender in sport" policy
From the blog of Jennifer McCreath:
Ok folks, the Gay Games 2014 gender policy might not be perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than the 2003 Stockholm Consensus policy currently in place for the International Olympic Committee. Obviously, the issues here are to find a balance between respecting the dignity and identity of the athletes vs ensuring a fair competition.
the IOC essentially requires the following:
- gonadectomy not less than 2 years prior to competing
- consistent hormone therapy within so-called normal ranges for not less than 2 years
- an independent medical review by IOC officials to ascertain that no competitive advantage exists
- full genital sex reassignment surgery performed
- sex/gender change legally recognized by government officials
Bottom line, the last 2 are totally unnecessary and have no barring on competition.
The gonadectomy is also NOT totally necessary to remove competitive advantage, nor is 2 years any particular type of magic number. as I have stated in this blog before, I was sufficiently disadvantaged within 1 year of hormones and just 6 months after gonadectomy.
As other trans activists have pointed out, this system also only addresses binary transsexuals and does not help resolve matters pertaining to transgender, non-op trans people, intersexxed, genderqueer, or cis athletes who have some sort of hormonal 'disorder'
So what the Gay Games have done to improve?
Keep reading from Jennifer's post on the Gay Games gender policy
Ok folks, the Gay Games 2014 gender policy might not be perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than the 2003 Stockholm Consensus policy currently in place for the International Olympic Committee. Obviously, the issues here are to find a balance between respecting the dignity and identity of the athletes vs ensuring a fair competition.
the IOC essentially requires the following:
- gonadectomy not less than 2 years prior to competing
- consistent hormone therapy within so-called normal ranges for not less than 2 years
- an independent medical review by IOC officials to ascertain that no competitive advantage exists
- full genital sex reassignment surgery performed
- sex/gender change legally recognized by government officials
Bottom line, the last 2 are totally unnecessary and have no barring on competition.
The gonadectomy is also NOT totally necessary to remove competitive advantage, nor is 2 years any particular type of magic number. as I have stated in this blog before, I was sufficiently disadvantaged within 1 year of hormones and just 6 months after gonadectomy.
As other trans activists have pointed out, this system also only addresses binary transsexuals and does not help resolve matters pertaining to transgender, non-op trans people, intersexxed, genderqueer, or cis athletes who have some sort of hormonal 'disorder'
So what the Gay Games have done to improve?
Keep reading from Jennifer's post on the Gay Games gender policy
Gay Games 9 networking in Columbus
Network Columbus w/ Gay Games 2014 Cleveland at TechColumbus
August 8, 2012 (6:00 PM - 8:00 PM)
Join the members of Network Columbus, central Ohio's progressive GLBT networking group, for our monthly networking event. Admission is free. No RSVP necessary - just come enjoy the fellowship, networking, speakers, and free appetizers!
Speaker: Rob Smitherman, Sports Director, from the Gay Games 9 to be held in Cleveland, August 2014. This will be the central Ohio launch of registration for the games! Plus learn about what's new at TechColumbus and about Pride Night at the Crew coming up Aug 25th.
Location: TechColumbus,
1275 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 487-3700
Contact Info : Chris Hayes 614.268.8525 Email : chayes@outlookmedia.com Url: http://http://www.networkcolumbus.com
August 8, 2012 (6:00 PM - 8:00 PM)
Join the members of Network Columbus, central Ohio's progressive GLBT networking group, for our monthly networking event. Admission is free. No RSVP necessary - just come enjoy the fellowship, networking, speakers, and free appetizers!
Speaker: Rob Smitherman, Sports Director, from the Gay Games 9 to be held in Cleveland, August 2014. This will be the central Ohio launch of registration for the games! Plus learn about what's new at TechColumbus and about Pride Night at the Crew coming up Aug 25th.
Location: TechColumbus,
1275 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43212
(614) 487-3700
Contact Info : Chris Hayes 614.268.8525 Email : chayes@outlookmedia.com Url: http://http://www.networkcolumbus.com
Monday, August 6, 2012
Out for Sport taster week
Out For Sport Week: Monday 13th to Sun 19th August
Out For Sport and London’s LGBT sports clubs invite you to try a new sport!
18 of London’s LGBT sports clubs have got together to organise a week of ‘Sports Taster Sessions’ for London’s LGBT community to try out new sports. We want to showcase London’s vibrant and inclusive LGBT sports community, and show that we have something to offer everyone, regardless of age or ability.
For information about each sport taster session, please go to:
Out For Sport’s website http://www.outforsport.com/ (check out the menu of events under the ‘Out For Sport Week 2012’ tab under the Out For Sport logo)
Out For Sport’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OutForSport (click on the events link under the Out For Sport Week timeline image)
For some sports, spaces are limited due to venue capacity and health and safety, so participants are asked to register their interest in advance.
It’s not just about taking part in sport though, there is a social element too!
Tuesday 14 August 2012
20:00– Sailing Social – The Phoenix Artist Club, WC2H 8BU
Wednesday 15 August 2012
18:30 – 20:30 – Women’s Football with Hackney Women’s FC, Clissold Park,N4 2EY
Park entrance on Green Lanes near bus stop Kings Cresent Estate (Stop PJ)
18:00 – 20:00 – Men’s/ Mixed Football with Leftfooters FC, Regent’s Park (North East corner, by Gloucester Gate)
20:30– Out For Sport’s Women’s Social - Oak Bar, 79 Green Lanes, London, N16 9BU
Thursday 16 August 2012
18:45 – 21:00 – Women’s Basketball with London Cruisers, Bethnal Green Academy, Gosset Street, London, E2 6NW
Friday 17 August 2012
19:45 – 21:00 – Water Polo – London Orca, Porchester Baths, Queensway, W2 5HS. Please register in advance onwww.outtoswim.org, click on “Water Polo” page, then click on “contact us”. We will respond to confirm your attendance.
Saturday 18 August 2012
09:45 – 11:00 – Running with London’s Frontrunners in Hyde Park. Meet at Sport & Leisure, Imperial College London, St Mary’s Campus, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG. Please click on the link to register to run by 10am on the day before the run http://www.londonfrontrunners.org/index.php/contact-us/saturday-access
12:00 – 13:30 – Kickboxing with KB Kickboxing, Piccadilly. Please register in advance: dalia@kbfitness.co.uk.
13:00 – 14:00 Ballroom and Latin (Dancesport), Studio LaDanza ,89 Holloway Road London N7 8LT
13:45 – 15:00 –Duplicate Bridge with West London Gay Bridge Group, Victoria Pub, Paddington. Please have a working knowledge of Bridge. This session is to teach duplicate, not bridge. To register, please email chris@cdtenor.freeserve.co.ukbefore 12th August
15:30 – 17:30 – Self Defence and Martial Artswith Ishigaki Ju Jitsu Club, Oasis Sports Centre, 32 Endell Street, WC2H 9AG London
15:45 – 18:00 – Squash with OutPlay Squash, Finsbury Leisure Centre, Old Street, Norman Street, London , EC1V 3PU. Please email outplay.ciws@ymail.com giving us your name and the session you would like to attend (4pm or 5pm).
18:30 – 20:00 – Swimming Taster Session – Out To Swim, Queen Mother Sports Centre, 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 1EL. Please register by ‘liking’ Out For Sport on facebook, find the ‘Out To Swim – Swimming Taster Session” and click ‘join’.
18:30– Onwards – Out For Sport Night Out – Shadow Lounge, Soho. Everyone welcome!
Sunday 19 August 2012
10:00 – 12:30 – Hockey with London Royals Hockey Club, John Orwell Sports Centre Tench Street, Wapping, E1W 2QD. To register, click ‘join’ on the London Royals Taster Session in the events section of the Out For Sport facebook page
12:45 – 15:30 – Men’s/Mixed Football with London Titans FC (11 Aside). Old Deer Park, Richmond. Please register your interest by emailing enquiries@londontitans.com
12:00– 16:00 – Alternative Olympics and ‘bring your own’ picnic - Clapham Common Please register your interest by ‘liking’ Out For Sport on facebook, find the ‘London Royals Alternative Olympics’ and click‘join’
13:00 – 16:00 –Volleyball with London Spikers Volleyball Club, Hyde Park (closest tube is Marble Arch)
14.00 – 17:00 – Men’s/Mixed Football with Leftfooters FC, Regent’s Park (North East corner, by Gloucester Gate)
15:00 – 20:00 - Roller Derby with London Roller Girls - Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre - NW10 0RG. Come at 3pm for an information session with Q&A, then watch the teams practice (3 hours), then head off to the Pub!
17:30 – 19:45 –Synchronised Swimming, Out To Swim Angels, Queen Mother Sports Centre, 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1V 1EL London. Please use the contact form here to send us your name and contact details. http://www.outtoswim.org/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&catid=12&id=8
Out For Sport and London’s LGBT sports clubs invite you to try a new sport!
18 of London’s LGBT sports clubs have got together to organise a week of ‘Sports Taster Sessions’ for London’s LGBT community to try out new sports. We want to showcase London’s vibrant and inclusive LGBT sports community, and show that we have something to offer everyone, regardless of age or ability.
For information about each sport taster session, please go to:
Out For Sport’s website http://www.outforsport.com/ (check out the menu of events under the ‘Out For Sport Week 2012’ tab under the Out For Sport logo)
Out For Sport’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OutForSport (click on the events link under the Out For Sport Week timeline image)
For some sports, spaces are limited due to venue capacity and health and safety, so participants are asked to register their interest in advance.
It’s not just about taking part in sport though, there is a social element too!
Tuesday 14 August 2012
20:00– Sailing Social – The Phoenix Artist Club, WC2H 8BU
Wednesday 15 August 2012
18:30 – 20:30 – Women’s Football with Hackney Women’s FC, Clissold Park,N4 2EY
Park entrance on Green Lanes near bus stop Kings Cresent Estate (Stop PJ)
18:00 – 20:00 – Men’s/ Mixed Football with Leftfooters FC, Regent’s Park (North East corner, by Gloucester Gate)
20:30– Out For Sport’s Women’s Social - Oak Bar, 79 Green Lanes, London, N16 9BU
Thursday 16 August 2012
18:45 – 21:00 – Women’s Basketball with London Cruisers, Bethnal Green Academy, Gosset Street, London, E2 6NW
Friday 17 August 2012
19:45 – 21:00 – Water Polo – London Orca, Porchester Baths, Queensway, W2 5HS. Please register in advance onwww.outtoswim.org, click on “Water Polo” page, then click on “contact us”. We will respond to confirm your attendance.
Saturday 18 August 2012
09:45 – 11:00 – Running with London’s Frontrunners in Hyde Park. Meet at Sport & Leisure, Imperial College London, St Mary’s Campus, Norfolk Place, London, W2 1PG. Please click on the link to register to run by 10am on the day before the run http://www.londonfrontrunners.org/index.php/contact-us/saturday-access
12:00 – 13:30 – Kickboxing with KB Kickboxing, Piccadilly. Please register in advance: dalia@kbfitness.co.uk.
13:00 – 14:00 Ballroom and Latin (Dancesport), Studio LaDanza ,89 Holloway Road London N7 8LT
13:45 – 15:00 –Duplicate Bridge with West London Gay Bridge Group, Victoria Pub, Paddington. Please have a working knowledge of Bridge. This session is to teach duplicate, not bridge. To register, please email chris@cdtenor.freeserve.co.ukbefore 12th August
15:30 – 17:30 – Self Defence and Martial Artswith Ishigaki Ju Jitsu Club, Oasis Sports Centre, 32 Endell Street, WC2H 9AG London
15:45 – 18:00 – Squash with OutPlay Squash, Finsbury Leisure Centre, Old Street, Norman Street, London , EC1V 3PU. Please email outplay.ciws@ymail.com giving us your name and the session you would like to attend (4pm or 5pm).
18:30 – 20:00 – Swimming Taster Session – Out To Swim, Queen Mother Sports Centre, 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 1EL. Please register by ‘liking’ Out For Sport on facebook, find the ‘Out To Swim – Swimming Taster Session” and click ‘join’.
18:30– Onwards – Out For Sport Night Out – Shadow Lounge, Soho. Everyone welcome!
Sunday 19 August 2012
10:00 – 12:30 – Hockey with London Royals Hockey Club, John Orwell Sports Centre Tench Street, Wapping, E1W 2QD. To register, click ‘join’ on the London Royals Taster Session in the events section of the Out For Sport facebook page
12:45 – 15:30 – Men’s/Mixed Football with London Titans FC (11 Aside). Old Deer Park, Richmond. Please register your interest by emailing enquiries@londontitans.com
12:00– 16:00 – Alternative Olympics and ‘bring your own’ picnic - Clapham Common Please register your interest by ‘liking’ Out For Sport on facebook, find the ‘London Royals Alternative Olympics’ and click‘join’
13:00 – 16:00 –Volleyball with London Spikers Volleyball Club, Hyde Park (closest tube is Marble Arch)
14.00 – 17:00 – Men’s/Mixed Football with Leftfooters FC, Regent’s Park (North East corner, by Gloucester Gate)
15:00 – 20:00 - Roller Derby with London Roller Girls - Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre - NW10 0RG. Come at 3pm for an information session with Q&A, then watch the teams practice (3 hours), then head off to the Pub!
17:30 – 19:45 –Synchronised Swimming, Out To Swim Angels, Queen Mother Sports Centre, 223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1V 1EL London. Please use the contact form here to send us your name and contact details. http://www.outtoswim.org/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&catid=12&id=8
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Bicycling magazing names Cleveland one of top five up-and-coming cycling cities
By David Howard
Apparently there have been a few Cleveland jokes told over the years: mostly lame jabs about inept sports teams or Rust Belt dreariness. We don't know about any of that. But we do know the city is dead serious about bikes, from Cannondale devotee LeBron James down to the devout commuters at the Cleveland Clinic.
What's to love? For starters, the stretch of bike lane that now runs the length of historic Euclid Avenue, linking the city's two employment hubs. A new towpath just beyond Cleveland's southern border reaches Akron—80 miles away. Plans call for webs of bike paths to unspool east and west as well. To lure tourists in, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance launched a bike-rental program last summer—it will expand this year into a parking garage with showers and lockers.
And then there's the diversity. In January, a nonprofit unveiled plans to build an indoor velodrome—the third of its kind in the country and the only one east of the Rockies. The city is home to the vast Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park and Pedal Republic, which organizes bike-polo tourneys, tall-bike rides and alley cat races..
Ji Wallace and Emy Ritt interviewed for Karen Hultzer feature
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| Ji Wallace, Emy Ritt, Karen Hultzer, Shamey Cramer |
Belinda Goldsmith from Reuters interviews Gay Games Ambassador Ji Wallace and co-president Emy Ritt for her feature on newly out archer Karen Hultzer:
Aug 5 (Reuters) - South African archer Karen Hultzer hopes coming out as a lesbian at the London Olympics will help people struggling with their sexuality and add to the fight against homophobia in sport.
One of 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes at the London Games, Hultzer waited until after her event to go public.
After finishing 46th out of 64 in the women's archery, she said most athletes were so focused on their performance that they could not fight other battles while competing.
"I hope this gives people some courage. The more we come out and talk about it, the more people should realise that being gay is a non-issue and we can progress," Hultzer, 46, who has only been shooting for five years, told Reuters.
[...]
Ji Wallace, who won a silver medal in the men's trampoline at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and came out in 2005, said there were two key reasons for athletes staying in the closet during their career.
Firstly, most athletes were young, still coming to terms with their sexuality, and often too busy for relationships. Bullying on school sports fields was the start of gay athletes hiding their sexuality as they wanted support from team mates.
Second, it came down to money. Athletes feared losing sponsorship or endorsements if they came out.
"Athletes need to focus totally on themselves and their game so they can chase their dreams and goals," Australian Wallace told Reuters. "It is those of us who have finished competing to fight for future generations."
At London, gay rights campaigners have called on the IOC to uphold the Olympic charter on equality and take a firm stand against homophobia, much as the Olympic movement has tackled racism and sexism.
Emy Ritt, co-president of the Federation of Gay Games, said the campaign had notched up a small victory by successfully lobbying London organisers to sanction the first official gay and lesbian pin featuring a rainbow, the symbol of gay pride.
"In the professional sports world we are seeing more and more athletes coming out because the younger generation sees this as far less of a stigma," Ritt told Reuters.
"But we need to make sure that organisations like the IOC encourage equal rights for gay, lesbian and transgender athletes so they feel safe coming out."
Jonathan Cooper, a barrister and chief executive of human rights organisation Human Dignity Trust, said the Olympics were a good opportunity to highlight the 78 countries around the world where homosexuality was illegal.
"Criminalisation is a major systemic human rights problem. With criminalisation comes HIV, violence and exploitation," said Cooper.
Hultzer, who juggles her six-hour-a-day training with running a landscaping business, hoped athletes coming out as gay would help teenagers who are struggling with their sexuality and found themselves bullied online.
"We need to stand up as role models to show that it is not bad to be gay and it is normal," she told Reuters. (editing by Michael Holden)
Read in full HERE.
Games Cologne celebrates second anniversary of Gay Games VIII
Last night organizers of Games Cologne, the host committee for Gay Games VIII, celebrated the second anniversary of the 2010 event.
Thanks to them from the entire Gay Games family!
Photo Shamey Cramer, representing the FGG board of directors
Major props to Ji Wallace!
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| FGG copresident Emy Ritt and Gay Games Ambassador Ji Wallace, silver medal in trampoline at 2000 Olympics |
The Federation of Gay Games is honored to have among its Ambassador Australia's Ji Wallace, who won the silver medal in trampoline in the 2000 Olympics.
He has been a major supporter of our work at Pride House 2012, and has made himself available at every opportunity, where he has shared his engaging personality and enthusiasm.
We look forward to continuing to work with him toward our goals of equality and particpation in the Gay Games in particular and LGBT sport and culture in general.
Ji's returning to Sydney today: we wish him a safe journey and the best of luck back home!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
There's not just one kind of athlete
It points out the diversity in body types, a subject dear to us at the FGG. In our guidelines for sports programs, based on our 30-odd "core sports", we offer flexibility for hosts while attempting to ensure that the Gay Games suit the needs and ability of a wide variety of athletes. Body type is a big part of this concern, as is the variety of types of athletic ability: endurance, speed, coordination, etc.
View all the photos HERE.
First photos from Pride House
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| FGG copresident Emy Ritt and Gay Games Ambassador Ji Wallace, silver medal in trampoline at 2000 Olympics |
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| Artist's statement for "Fearless" exhibition |
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| FGG table |
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| "Against the Rules" |
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| Ji Wallace and Shamey Cramer |
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| South African archer Karen Hultzer with Emy Ritt and members of London 2012 transport team |
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| Out Olympian Karen Hultzer and partner Tracey Saunders |
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| Marc Andreu of Panteres Grogues and Emy Ritt |
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| Pride House table |
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| Pride House table |
Friday, August 3, 2012
Men's synchro swimming at the Olympics
From Gay.net:
With men now presenting bouquets and medals, women punching women in boxing and two women competing for Saudi Arabia (a country that has only allowed male athletes in the past), the London games are one step closer to gender equality.
But two Olympics sports remain closed to men: rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.
Men's synchronized swimming often conjures up the image of the 1984 Saturday Night Live sketch in which Martin Short and Harry Shearer performed a ridiculously simple and overly dramatic synchronized swimming routine in the shallow end of a pool; two men (one soft-spoken and the other mentally handicapped) with the laughable dream of one day competing in the Olympics.
But in reality, there are men's synchronized swimming teams all around the world.
Keep reading HERE.
With men now presenting bouquets and medals, women punching women in boxing and two women competing for Saudi Arabia (a country that has only allowed male athletes in the past), the London games are one step closer to gender equality.
But two Olympics sports remain closed to men: rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.
Men's synchronized swimming often conjures up the image of the 1984 Saturday Night Live sketch in which Martin Short and Harry Shearer performed a ridiculously simple and overly dramatic synchronized swimming routine in the shallow end of a pool; two men (one soft-spoken and the other mentally handicapped) with the laughable dream of one day competing in the Olympics.
But in reality, there are men's synchronized swimming teams all around the world.
Keep reading HERE.
IOC and intersex athletes
In this week's column, the Bay Area Reporter's Roger Brigham has a pot pourri of Olympic-related commentary, all of which is worth reading. But we have a particular fondness for his attack on the IOC gender policy:
Question to International Olympic Committee: Did you even bother to read the Women Sports Foundation's position paper on the participation of intersex athletes in women's sports before you adopted your medieval inquisition policy just weeks before the Olympics?
The IOC published its "Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism" in June to little immediate fanfare. The regulations were generated as a policy response to the emergence in track of 800-meter runner Caster Semenya of South Africa, a world champion woman with an intersex condition. In brief, the policy, which is available at http://tinyurl.com/7l237pt, rules that women whose testosterone levels are at what are considered normal for males may be ruled by a three-member medical panel ineligible for women's competition.
"Nothing in these regulations is intended to make any determination of sex," the document states, and there is a bitter validity to that statement. The IOC is in effect acknowledging such women are women, but do not fit the IOC's image of what a woman should be and therefore not allowed to compete with their peers.
In an article in the American Journal of Bioethics , Hida Viloria, global chair of Organization Intersex International, and former Spanish hurdles champion Maria Jose Mart'nez-Patino wrote, "It is evident that the new policies do not ensure or address fairness for all. Rather, they were devised to ease social discomfort and appease prejudicial complaints against the women they target. The fact that the IAAF and IOC prioritized these complaints over human rights was enabled by the fact that legal experts in Lausanne confirmed that women with hyperandrogenism lack legal protections."
In fitting Olympic conflict, supporters of Semenya celebrated her selection to carry the national flag for the team during the opening ceremonies, while critics of the IOC were launching an online petition to end gender testing. The petition can be found at http://www.allout.org/olympics. The WSF's position paper on intersex inclusion can be found at http://tinyurl.com/cmb33uw. And a wonderful discussion on the lack of scientific basis and gross prejudice behind the policy is available at http://www.med.stanford.edu/121/2012/Karkazis.html.
Semenya's first heat will be on Wednesday, August 8.
Read in full HERE.
See also this post on our blog.
Question to International Olympic Committee: Did you even bother to read the Women Sports Foundation's position paper on the participation of intersex athletes in women's sports before you adopted your medieval inquisition policy just weeks before the Olympics?
The IOC published its "Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism" in June to little immediate fanfare. The regulations were generated as a policy response to the emergence in track of 800-meter runner Caster Semenya of South Africa, a world champion woman with an intersex condition. In brief, the policy, which is available at http://tinyurl.com/7l237pt, rules that women whose testosterone levels are at what are considered normal for males may be ruled by a three-member medical panel ineligible for women's competition.
"Nothing in these regulations is intended to make any determination of sex," the document states, and there is a bitter validity to that statement. The IOC is in effect acknowledging such women are women, but do not fit the IOC's image of what a woman should be and therefore not allowed to compete with their peers.
In an article in the American Journal of Bioethics , Hida Viloria, global chair of Organization Intersex International, and former Spanish hurdles champion Maria Jose Mart'nez-Patino wrote, "It is evident that the new policies do not ensure or address fairness for all. Rather, they were devised to ease social discomfort and appease prejudicial complaints against the women they target. The fact that the IAAF and IOC prioritized these complaints over human rights was enabled by the fact that legal experts in Lausanne confirmed that women with hyperandrogenism lack legal protections."
In fitting Olympic conflict, supporters of Semenya celebrated her selection to carry the national flag for the team during the opening ceremonies, while critics of the IOC were launching an online petition to end gender testing. The petition can be found at http://www.allout.org/olympics. The WSF's position paper on intersex inclusion can be found at http://tinyurl.com/cmb33uw. And a wonderful discussion on the lack of scientific basis and gross prejudice behind the policy is available at http://www.med.stanford.edu/121/2012/Karkazis.html.
Semenya's first heat will be on Wednesday, August 8.
Read in full HERE.
See also this post on our blog.
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