Best wishes to Kate Rowe on her road to Kona!

Big props to Federation of Gay Games 2011 Volunteer of the Year (and triathlon sports coordinator) Kate Rowe, who took the top spot in her age group at the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship in Phuket last weekend, earning her a slot for the 2012 Ford Ironman World Championship, held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

It's a great achievement, all the more so when you know that Kate underwent hip replacement surgery just a year ago!

News from Sydney Mardi Gras Fair Day

A report from Kate Rowe on the the 2011 Mardi Gras Fair Day:

The Fair took place in a sweltering 36°C and 80% humidity Sunday (20th February) in Sydney. Despite the energy-sapping conditions, the crowds were out in force. This is the most popular of the community events of the Mardi Gras festival outside of the parade.

The Sports Village, hosted by FGG-member Team Sydney, was a popular draw with plenty of booths representing many sports and lots of sports displays. Several clubs, including Freezone Volleyball, offered demonstrations to fairgoers.

Friend of the Gay Games Matthew Mitcham was working hard on the stand of his lead sponsor, telecoms company Telstra.

He made sure to ask me to say "hi!" on his behalf to the Federation and its supporters. Matthew will be one of the official commentators for the Mardi Gras Parade on March 5th.

Wayne Morgan, delegate to the FGG from International Frontrunners, was as always helping out at the Sydney Frontrunners stall along with club stalwarts Steve (aka Miss Dollywood) and Jenny.

As for myself, I caught up with several people who attended the Cologne Gay Games and started the conversation on Gay Games IX, which is already generating a good deal of interest.

Next stop, AsiaPacific Outgames, where I'll be representing the FGG. Make sure to stop by accreditation to say hi and to learn more about the Federation and Gay Games IX.

Find more information about the FGG in Wellington at wellington.gaygames.org.

Kate Rowe to leave FGG Board of Directors

Paulette Meggoe and Kate Rowe at Gay Games VIII

After serving for several years on the Federation of Gay Games Board of Directors, Kate Rowe of Sydney will be stepping down this month for major surgery to repair damage to her hip from an accident several years ago. Kate served as Vice President for Diversity before taking over as VP External Affairs soon after the position was created. Among her achievements as VP Diversity was shepherding the project to develop a Gender Equity policy for the FGG, highlighted by a successful workshop at the 2008 Annual Meeting in Cape Town.

As VP External Affairs, Kate relaunched the FGG Awards program, with new annual Legacy Awards, an expanded Volunteer of the Year award scheme, and a more structured process for awarding the FGG's highest honor, the Tom Waddell Award. She also revitalized the FGG Ambassadors program, recruiting new ambassadors and ensuring that our more than 20 Ambassadors remain aware of FGG news and involved in our actions, with as the more recent example, the presence of Ambassador Leigh-Ann Naidoo this week at the IOC/UNESCO 7th World Conference on Sport, Education and Culture. Kate also participated in last year's 5th World Conference of the International Working Group on Women and Sport.

She is particularly proud of her work for Gay Games VIII, notably for her successful efforts to bring Matthew Mitcham to the Games as a guest of honor. Kate will continue to serve as liaison with Matthew and Australian FGG Ambassadors. When asked about her time on the Board, Kate said she has been proud to have been a voice for women and to have rebuilt an important part of the FGG mission. and to have been part of a great team to help make Cologne the success it was.  "I continue to be passionate about the FGG but also will be making the most of this imposed break to step back for a while and reflect on the future."

Kate will continue to serve as sports coordinator for cycling and triathlon and as a member of the External Affairs committee, and will also remain a tireless voice for the cause of the involvement of women in the FGG. At the last meeting in which Kate participated, the FGG Board expressed its thanks to Kate for her extraordinary commitment to the Gay Games movement.

Women and Sport conference: day 3

Kate Rowe concludes her reports on the Women and Sport conference in Sydney.

Day 3 began commenced with a panel of "Gen X" and "Gen Y" women representatives from the UK, Japan, Botswana, and the US. The panel was a conversation about where they had come from, what their passions and dreams were for young women and sport. It was a very informative and fresh look at the future of women in sport.

The final session was a keynote address by the Honorable Michael Kirby AC OMG. Justice Kirby is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, and it renowned for his stand on human rights. Those present at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Gay Games will remember his remarkable speech. At the conference, he gave an impassioned plea about human rights through sport and in particular for women. However his greatest plea was for human rights for gays and lesbians, citing his recent experience on IDAHO at an event held in Hong Kong. His address was received with enthusiastic applause.

The final session was devoted to the practice of sport. We had an afternoon of trying out all different kinds of sports. Wheelchair basketball (how tough is that!), cricket, Australian Rules Football, and of course soccer. On this athletic note, we said goodbye after three days of intense debate and enlightening conversations. The contacts made will be precious for the future of the Gay Games. There was great interest in the Federation and the event, as well as offers to join our family as volunteers.

The next Women and Sport conference will be held in Helsinki in 2014, and I hope the FGG will be present there too.

Women and Sport conference: day 2

Kate Rowe continues her reports on the Women and Sport conference in Sydney.

The days started with a plenary session entitled Leadership and Sport Governance, presented by Peter Holmes a Court, a wealthy businessman who co-owns a major rugby club. he gave a wonderful talk on strategies of how to get more women on board. I look forward to sharing some of the ideas he put out there. He was followed by Moya Dodds, a past Matilda (Australia's national women's soccer team) and now a lawyer who serves on the board of the Football Federation of Australia. She is the woman to serve as Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation.

In the afternoon, I presented my paper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and by the way Parity - Lesbians at the Gay Games". About 50 people attended, which was great, since there were many other talks taking place at the same time. About a third of them had attended the Gay Games.

I gave an overview of the history of the Games, using Australia as a case study to show the effort made to increase women's participation and involvement. I presented the history of women on the board of the Federation and the challenges faced in the here and now of recruiting and retaining women on the board. I noted that unlike most of the organisations presented at the conference, the FGG was entirely voluntary, and the investment in time and finance can be a deterrent to recruiting board members, and in particular women.

I spoke of the Federation's Gender Equity policy, adopted at the 2009 Annual Meeting, and the challenge in now implementing this policy. It's not enough to express good intentions, it's essential to push for it to become a reality.

I closed with a Gay Games VIII promotional video, which received a great round of applause.

The presentation was very well received and I had several women make inquiries for follow up contact. In particular, I met five young women from Smith College in Massachusetts, all post graduates with a degree in Sport and Exercise Science who are looking to volunteer...they are our future.

Afterwards I attended two great sessions: one on the issue of intersex people in sport, which is interesting in light of the FGG's Gender Identity Policy. The other was on discrimination against women within the IOC, which denounced the men's club status of the IOC.

Women and Sport conference: day 1

A report from FGG VP External Affairs Kate Rowe:

The day stated with a keynote address on Finance and Media for Gender Equality in Sport, given by the head of Australia's public free-to-air TV station ABC.
Throughout the rest of the day there were 38 presentations divided into several streams.

Author of anew book on the Gay Games, Caroline Symons of Victoria University, Melbourne (winner of a 2007 FGG Legacy Award for Scholarship and Research) presented ',Come out to Play: Sexuality Sport and Social Inclusion", while Tom Waddell Award winner Dutch Lydia La Rrivera-Zijdel presented the SPART program in Ethopia, a program to empower women with disabilities through sport.

During the morning I attended the stream on Women and Leadership in Sport with reports on some very powerful and positive strategies to get more women on sporting boards. Especially good was a presentation from Amanda Bennett form Sport UK. The development programme she described lasts for three years, and uses mentors, internships and courses to enable women to develop skills and experience to take better take leadership roles in the sporting workforce. Another great presentation was by Sue Tibbals from the UK Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation


I continued to make great contacts for the FGG, for example with Karin Lofstrom from the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport, and several women from African countries attending; including Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania, Namibia, as well as women from Haiti.

The day finished with a very strong and sobering address on the issue of violence against women in sport.

I'll be presenting my talk tomorrow, and am looking forward to share our experience at the FGG and the Gay Games.

Women and Sport conference: opening day

A report from FGG VP External Affairs Kate Rowe:

I was among over 400 women who attended the opening ceremony for the 5th International Working Group on Women and Sport conference, held at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney.

The event began with a 'welcome to country' dance by a local indigenous group. This was followed by the opening speech by the Governor General of Australia Quentin Bryce, Australia's first ever female Governor General. Kate Ellis, the Australian Federal Minister for Sport, used the occasion to launch the new federal government strategy for women in sport.

The keynote address was given by Ugandan Rachel Mayanja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and special advisor on gender issues and the advancement of women. I noted that while she discussed various forms of discrimination involving women, she neglected to mention sexual orientation.

There was a Q&A session afterwards, during which I asked Ms Mayanja if the UN was going to take up the issues of sexuality in sport.