FGG at protest against homophobic ban on Pride House at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia

Carl Schulz representing the FGG, center

Russia urged: Drop Winter Olympics gay ban
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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

FGG/London Angels/Paris Aquatique appeal on ABC News

From ABC News: At the Queen Mother Sports Centre in the heart of London, a group of medal-winning athletes is training for one of the most demanding Olympic competitions-- synchronized swimming. Their sport requires precision, teamwork and stamina.

But no matter how hard they train, no matter how good they are, this team isn't welcome at the 2012 Summer Games, for one simple reason: They're men.

Synchronized swimming was first demonstrated at the Olympics in 1952, and didn't become an official sport until 1984, but then it was only opened to female teams. The Out To Swim Angels are Britain's only male synchronized swimming team. Last month they [with FGG and Paris Aquatique] wrote a letter to the International Olympic Committee and FINA, swimming's governing body, arguing that men deserve to compete in synchronized swimming as well. "There's still this same of sort old mindset. Oh well it's pretty, it's for girls," said team member Ronan Daly. "But no, we want to challenge that and say boys can do this as well." Keep reading HERE.

Saudi fakeout on 2012 Olympics

While this is sure to be enough of a fig leaf for the IOC, Saudi Arabia and other Islamist countries continue to restrict women's access to sport. While this report from the AP via ESPN says nothing about the judoka, Attar does not live or train in Saudi Arabia. As we predicted, the woman or women the Saudis would allow to compete seem to be women who don't actually practice sport in the country... Let us hope that what appears to be a step forward is not allowed to hide the reality of the situation of women in these countries, and in particular, women athletes.

LONDON -- Every country competing at the London Games will include female athletes for the first time in Olympic history after Saudi Arabia agreed Thursday to send two women to compete in judo and track and field.

The move by the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom to break with its practice of fielding male-only teams followed decisions by Qatar and Brunei to send women athletes to the Olympics for the first time.
"With Saudi Arabian female athletes now joining their fellow female competitors from Qatar and Brunei, it means that by London 2012 every national Olympic committee will have sent women to the Olympic Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.

Saudi Arabia had been under intense pressure from the International Olympic Committee and human-rights groups to include female athletes. The announcement Thursday followed months of IOC negotiations with the Saudis to bring women to London.

The two female Saudi competitors are Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo and 800-meter runner Sarah Attar.

"A big inspiration for participating in the Olympic Games is being one of the first women for Saudi Arabia to be going," the 17-year-old Attar said in an IOC video from her U.S. training base in San Diego. "It's such a huge honor and I hope that it can really make some big strides for women over there to get more involved in sport."

Attar, who has spent most of her life outside of Saudi Arabia, said she hopes her inclusion will encourage women in the conservative kingdom that does not allow women to vote, drive or participate in sports.
"To any woman who wants to participate, I say 'go for it,' and don't let anybody hold you back," Attar said in the video after running a lap on the track wearing pants and a headscarf.

"We all have potential to get out there and get moving," she said, speaking with an American accent.

Women in Saudi Arabia bear the brunt of their nation's deeply conservative values. They are often the target of the unwanted attention of the kingdom's intrusive religious police, who enforce a rigid interpretation of Islamic law and make sure men and women do not mix in public.

Women cannot be admitted to the hospital or take a job without permission from a male guardian.

There are no written laws that prohibit women from participating in sports, but women are not allowed into stadiums and they cannot rent athletic venues. There is no physical education for girls in public schools, and no women-only hours at swimming pools [Note: of course the real problem is that women are not allowed to be with men... women-only hours would merely be a discriminatory palliative to a bit worse form of discrimination].

Women cannot register for sports clubs, league competitions and other female-only tournaments with the government. They are banned from entering [the] all-male national trials, which makes it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions, including the Olympics.

Attar and Shahrkhani were entered for the London Games by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee by Monday's deadline. Neither qualified to compete in the Olympics, but received special invitations from the IOC "based on the quality of the athletes," Rogge said. "We've looked at the ones who are the closest to qualifying standards and these were these two athletes," he said. "That's always the bottom line in all these invitations."

Rights groups hailed the decision as a step forward for Saudi women in their quest for basic rights, but emphasized that the fundamental problem in the Gulf country -- the legal gender segregation -- remains firmly in place.

"The participation of two Saudi women in London is an important breakthrough, but will not hide the fact that millions of Saudi girls are effectively banned from sports in schools in Saudi Arabia," said Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch.

"Now is the time for the International Olympic Committee to use its leverage and lay down achievable conditions to jump-start sport in the kingdom."

Rogge said the IOC will continue to support female Saudi athletes with scholarships and other programs.
"This is not new, we have done it in the past," Roggue said. "We'll now do it with more athletes. That's the best way to improve the skills."

The Gulf kingdom also will include female officials in their Olympic delegation for the first time.
About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in London, representing more than 200 national Olympic committees.

"The IOC has been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and I am pleased to see that our continued dialogue has come to fruition," Rogge said. "The IOC has been striving to ensure a greater gender balance at the Olympic Games, and today's news can be seen as an encouraging evolution."
The IOC said Brunei has entered one woman in track and field, Maziah Mahusin, while Qatar has entered four female athletes -- swimmer Nada Arkaji, track athlete Noor al-Malki, table tennis player Aya Magdy and shooter Bahiya al-Hamad.

Qatar announced on Wednesday that al-Hamad will be the country's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27.

"I'm overwhelmed to have been asked to carry the Qatari flag at the opening ceremony," she said. "It's a truly historic moment for all athletes."

The goal of gender equity is enshrined in the IOC's charter, but has proved difficult to achieve.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 26 national teams had no women. The figure dropped to three in Beijing four years ago.

In Beijing, women represented 42 percent of the athletes, and the figure is expected to increase in London. Women's boxing is included on the Olympic program in London for the first time.

22 July 2012 / Protest against discrimination in Olympics

A message from the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

You are invited. Join our protest:

Sunday 22 July
11.30am to 1pm
Outside IOC executive meeting
Hilton Hotel, 22 Park Lane, London W1K 1BE
Map: http://goo.gl/0FSPf
Nearest tube: Hyde Park Corner


Our protest coincides with a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive, which takes place at the Hilton Hotel this Sunday.

READ about our demands for Olympic equality for women & minorities: http://goo.gl/qHHdJ

Please alert you friends & encourage them to attend.

If you plan to attend on Sunday, please email James Counsell at the Peter Tatchell Foundation: james.counsell@petertatchellfoundation.org


“The IOC should disqualify from the Olympics countries that discriminate against athletes on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion/belief, sexual orientation or gender identity. The Olympic Charter prohibits discrimination in sport but it is not being enforced by the IOC,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

Peter Tatchell’s Open Letter to Lord Coe and Jacques Rogge sets out examples of such discrimination and his appeal for action. See below and here: http://goo.gl/qHHdJ

“The IOC and LOCOG have a duty to uphold the Olympic Charter’s commitment to equality for all in sport. They are failing to do so.

“Our protest calls on the IOC to enforce the Olympic Charter:


Require all competing nations to sign a pledge that they do not discriminate in sport on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion/belief, sexual orientation or gender identity. If they refuse to sign, they should be denied participation in the games.
Make a public statement that LGBT athletes are welcome at London 2012 and that participating nations must not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Mr Tatchell.


For further information:

Peter Tatchell, Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation
0207 403 1790
Email: Peter@PeterTatchellFoundation.org
Web: www.PeterTatchellFoundation.org


Olympics: Open Letter to Lord Coe & IOC

Call for all nations to sign equality in sport pledge - or face ban

Olympic Charter prohibits discrimination in sport. Not enforced


President of the International Olympic Committee
Chair of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic & Paralympic Games

18 July 2012


Dear Lord Coe and Jacques Rogge,

IOC & LOCOG urged to enforce Olympic Charter

The Olympic Charter prohibits discrimination in sport. It states:

“Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement”

Despite this laudable commitment, many nations deny equal opportunities to women athletes and to those from ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. They violate the Olympic spirit of equality. This discrimination takes the form of a lack of equal access to sports facilities, competitions and the Olympic selection process.

Some examples include:

The government of Saudi Arabia provides almost no sports facilities for women. It has selected only two token women athletes to compete in the London Olympics - and neither woman actually lives in Saudi Arabia.

Iran practices systematic discrimination against its Kurdish, Arab and Baluch citizens. It holds gender segregated sports competitions and forces female competitors to cover themselves head-to-toe, even if they do not want to. Women athletes are forbidden to have male coaches or to participate in sports that involve physical contact with male sports officials.

India’s dalits (so-called ‘untouchables’) suffer economic and social marginalisation, which means they have little or no hope of developing their sporting talents and securing 2012 selection. They are, in effect, Olympic outcasts.

In over 150 countries, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes are forced to hide their sexuality in order to get selected and compete; otherwise they would be rejected and possibly face imprisonment. In the absence of laws against homophobic discrimination, victimisation and bias against LGBT athletes is endemic in most competing nations.

This social marginalisation and exclusion means that in many countries women and minorities have almost no chance of representing their country at London 2012, no matter how talented they are.

I call on the IOC and LOCOG to enforce the Olympic Charter by:


Requiring all competing nations to sign a pledge that they do not discriminate in sport on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion/belief, sexual orientation or gender identity. If they refuse to sign, they should be denied participation in the games.
Making a public statement that LGBT athletes are welcome at London 2012 and that participating nations must not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.


The Olympics should be open to everyone, based solely on merit and without discrimination.

Sport should have no boundaries or exclusions. There should be a level-playing field for all competitors, regardless of their background.

Any country that discriminates in sport against women or ethnic, religious or sexual minorities should be disqualified from the 2012 Olympics

The Olympic Charter states:

http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf

Fundamental principles of Olympism

4. The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

6. Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.

7. Belonging to the Olympic Movement requires compliance with the Olympic Charter

Please advise me what action the IOC and LOCOG is taking to ensure compliance with the non-discrimination provisions of the Olympic Charter.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Tatchell
Director of the human rights advocacy organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

A better solution for gender in sport

From the New York Times:

The International Olympic Committee’s new policy governing sex verification is expected to ban women with naturally high testosterone levels, a condition known as hyperandrogenism, from women’s competitions, claiming they have an unfair advantage. I.O.C. officials portray this as a reasonable compromise in a difficult situation, arguing that the rules may be imperfect, but that sports are rule-based — and that the rules should be clear.

We agree that sports need clear rules, but we also believe that the rules should be fair and as rational as possible. The new policy, if it is based on testosterone levels, is neither.

So what is a better solution?

First, at the very least, female athletes should be allowed to compete throughout any investigation. Suspending them from competition once questions are raised violates their confidentiality and imposes sanctions before relevant information has been gathered.

Second, when it comes to sex, sports authorities should acknowledge that while science can offer evidence, it cannot dictate what evidence we should use. Scientifically, there is no clear or objective way to draw a bright line between male and female.

Testosterone is one of the most slippery markers that sports authorities have come up with yet. Yes, average testosterone levels are markedly different for men and women. But levels vary widely depending on time of day, time of life, social status and — crucially — one’s history of athletic training. Moreover, cellular responses range so widely that testosterone level alone is meaningless.

Testosterone is not the master molecule of athleticism. One glaring clue is that women whose tissues do not respond to testosterone at all are actually overrepresented among elite athletes.

Keep reading HERE.

En français / Annie Sugier évoque la décision catastrophique de la FIFA sur le voile islamique

Dans le Monde, une tribune de notre amie Annie Sugier du comité Atlanta Plus :


A quelques semaines des Jeux olympiques (JO) de Londres, l'affaire est d'importance. Il s'agit pour l'IFAB (International Association Board), organisme ayant autorité en matière de règles du football, de confirmer la levée de l'interdiction du port du hijab par les footballeuses. La décision finale devant être prise le 5 juillet à Zurich, lors de la réunion extraordinaire de l'IFAB.

Le débat sur ce sujet épineux a connu divers rebondissements, dont l'exclusion en début d'année 2011 de l'équipe de football féminine d'Iran lors des épreuves de qualification pour les JO de Londres. Motif : les joueuses portaient un hijab couvrant tout leur corps alors que la FIFA avait exigé, à titre de compromis, qu'au moins le cou et les oreilles soient découverts.

Le 3 mars, nouveau retournement, l'IFAB décide de lever l'interdiction du port du hijab, au prétexte que le hijab est "un signe culturel et non religieux", façon astucieuse de contourner le règlement de la FIFA (loi 4) qui interdit que l'équipement des joueurs comporte des signes politiques, religieux ou personnels.

UN GROUPE DE TRAVAIL PROVIDENTIEL

Pour arriver à cette conclusion, le vice-président de la FIFA, le prince Ali de Jordanie, avait dû mobiliser un groupe de travail ad hoc, en octobre 2011 à Amman.

Il balayait ainsi la portée des déclarations de Farida Shojaee, responsable du département femme de la Fédération iranienne de football, selon laquelle "les officiels de la FIFA ont confondu le hijab religieux avec un costume national".

Il balayait tout autant les analyses des spécialistes des textes musulmans qui, à l'instar de Samir Amghar, chercheur à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, affirme sans la moindre ambigüité : "Les quatre écoles de jurisprudence dans la théologie musulmane qui édictent les normes en matière de loi islamique sont unanimes à affirmer que le port du voile relève d'une obligation religieuse."

Il restait juste à savoir si le hijab sportif était sans danger.

NOUVEAUX REBONDISSEMENTS

A la surprise générale, la Commission des experts médicaux de la FIFA, chargée d'examiner les résultats des tests de sécurité réalisés sur différents échantillons de hijab, fait état, lors d'une réunion à Budapest en mai 2012, d'éléments nouveaux la conduisant à réclamer avec force que l'interdiction du port du hijab ne soit pas levée !

Selon le Dr Michel D'Hooghe, chef de cette Commission, des essais supplémentaires, sont nécessaires, "certains médecins, y compris de pays musulmans", considèrent que le port du hijab par les footballeuses "présenterait des risques de lésion au niveau du cou et de la carotide en cas de collision lorsque celle-ci se produit à grande vitesse". Le prince Ali, se dit "choqué" et affirme que ces points ont déjà été vérifiés. Indigné, il exige que le Dr D'Hooghe's fournisse des preuves, oubliant que lui-même n'avait produit aucun rapport à l'appui de ses dires.

Le comique de l'affaire c'est que la FIFA – qui a eu au moins le grand mérite de tenter de résister aux diktats de Téhéran – se trouve tiraillée entre les parties prenantes d'un débat sans fin.

Il est tout aussi paradoxal de voir que les promoteurs "de la culture de la modestie et du hijab pour les femmes à travers le monde", veulent à tout prix faire croire que le hijab et le sport sont faits l'un pour l'autre. C'est oublier que le sport c'est d'abord la fête du corps, et que le hijab est une stigmatisation du corps féminin.

Le plus logique ne serait-il pas de revenir à l'application de la règle unique qui impose la neutralité politique et religieuse dans le sport ?

Annie Sugier est l'auteure de Femmes voilées aux Jeux olympiques (2012, ed. Jourdan).

En français / Sport international : la laïcité, sauf quand il s'agit de femmes

D'une part, on voit que les instances olympiques sont à cheval lorsqu'il s'agit du Ramadan. C'est normal : la pratique du culte n'a pas à s'insinuer dans la pratique sportive internationale. Mais étrangement, lorsqu'il s'agit d'opprimer les femmes, le sport ne trouve rien à redire (voir ci dessous).


Du site ajib.fr:

Cette année, les dates des Jeux Olympiques d’été de Londres coïncident avec celles du mois sacré de Ramadan. Près de 3000 athlètes seraient concernés par les effets du jeûne, soit quasiment 25% des sportifs. Chiffres qui n’ont pas l’air de gêner le CIO et les organisateurs Londoniens qui restent fermes sur la question depuis sept ans.
Le jeûne durant les épreuves

Il y a sept ans, lors de l’attribution des Jeux, de nombreux comités olympiques nationaux avaient exprimé leurs inquiétudes. 2 500 à 3 000 athlètes seraient concernés par le jeûne du mois de Ramadan. Ces derniers sont censés ni boire ni manger entre le lever et le coucher du soleil, ce qui pourrait avoir des conséquences sur leur santé physique les jours d’épreuves.

Cette année, le jeûne durera plus de 12h entre l’heure de El-Fajr et de El-Maghreb au moment des Jeux. Ce qui constitue une épreuve en soit pour tous les jeûneurs, qu’Allah agréé nos actions. Les athlètes prennent-ils un risque même s’ils s’y sont préparés ? Londres n’est pas la capital des températures arides, cependant un sportif ressent une soif importante après un très grand effort physique.

La laïcité coûte que coûte

Le CIO et le Comité Organisateur Londonien sont restés fermes sur la question. Lassana Palenfo a été employé par le CIO pour aplanir les angles avec les pays réticents face à cette conjecture. En effet, l’Égypte, le Maroc et la Turquie ne comprennent pas cette décision. L’Ivoirien Lassana Palenfo rétorque que « les Jeux doivent rester apolitiques et areligieux. Si l’on cède, les bouddhistes, les juifs demanderont des aménagements ». « La religion doit rester une affaire personnelle », a-t-il conclu.

La laïcité est sportive. Elle s’invite même aux Jeux Olympiques. Les pratiques religieuses de chacun ne doivent bien entendu pas entrer dans le stade, mais le jeûne de près de 25% des athlètes aurait dû être pris en considération. Dans le cadre des Jeux Olympiques, ces musulmans débutent cette grande compétition avec une difficulté supplémentaire. Mais nous connaissons la récompense du jeûneur. Elle est bien plus grande qu’une médaille d’or ou d’argent.

Les anthropologues vont être attentifs et les médias vont s’en donner à cœur joie. Certains athlètes seront peut être forcés de faire un choix, selon leur état de fatigue physique ou mentale. Que Dieu les préserve.

Sur le hidjab, sports.fr :

Outre la technologie sur la ligne de but et les arbitres assistants supplémentaires, la Fifa a confirmé jeudi une décision qui ne manquera pas de faire débat: la levée de l'interdiction faite aux footballeuses de porter le foulard islamique, le hijab. Le fils du roi Hussein de Jordanie, le prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, vice-président de la Fifa et membre du comité exécutif, a donc obtenu gain de cause. Au grand dam des féministes.

L'International Football Association Board (Ifab) a dit oui. Oui à la levée de l'interdiction du port du voile par les footballeuses, proposée en mars dernier, à l'occasion d'une Assemblée Générale de cet organisme lié à la Fifa et ayant autorité en matière de règles du football. Réunis jeudi à Zurich, les quatre membres de la Fifa et les quatre représentants des quatre fédérations du football au Royaume-Uni, qui le composent, ont voté à l'unanimité -de façon temporaire pour une période d'essai- cette décision après avoir étudié des rapports du responsable médical de la Fifa.

Et l'instance internationale du ballon rond de faire volte-face sur un sujet délicat. Le 3 juin 2011, l'équipe féminine d'Iran était ainsi éliminée de la course aux Jeux Olympiques après que ses joueuses ont refusé d'ôter leur voile lors d'une rencontre face à la Jordanie, le règlement de la Fifa prévoyant qu'au moins le cou et les oreilles soient découverts. Une éviction qui avait lancé le coup d'envoi de la campagne menée par le prince Ali Bin Al Hussein de Jordanie, vice-président de la Fifa et membre du comité exécutif, visant à faire changer les lois du jeu.

Une entreprise payante puisque le 3 mars dernier, l'Ifab décide, à la surprise générale, de lever l'interdiction du port du hijab, arguant qu'il s'agit d'un "signe culturel et non religieux". Un avis que ne partage pas Samir Amghar, chercheur à l'Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales cité par Le Monde: "Les quatre écoles de jurisprudence dans la théologie musulmane, qui édictent les normes en matière de loi islamique, sont unanimes à affirmer que le port du voile relève d'une obligation religieuse."

Les féministes remontées

La Fifa, elle, a estimé via son secrétaire général, Jérôme Valcke, que les "questions de sécurité et médicales" ne se posaient plus et que l'interdiction était donc levée. De quoi s'attirer les foudres des féministes. Pour Anne Sugier, présidente de la Ligue du droit international des femmes interrogée par Le Monde, "il est tout aussi paradoxal de voir que les promoteurs "de la culture de la modestie et du hijab pour les femmes à travers le monde", veulent à tout prix faire croire que le hijab et le sport sont faits l'un pour l'autre. C'est oublier que le sport c'est d'abord la fête du corps, et que le hijab est une stigmatisation du corps féminin.

L'association "Ni Putes Ni Soumises", elle, s'inquiétait déjà d'une "régression totale" en mars dernier. "Le plus grave, c'est que c'est une décision qui vient de haut, estimait sa présidente, Asma Guéfini, dans les colonnes du Parisien. Et puis, ça commence par le football et ça se termine par tous les sports. La Fifa ne connaît pas le combat des femmes comme nous. Je pense qu'elle est influencée par un lobbying intense des pays riches d'Orient, notamment le Qatar. Il y a là un revirement de sa part car dans son règlement, il est dit que « les joueurs et les dirigeants ne doivent pas arborer sur leur tenue de message ou de slogan d'ordre politique, religieux, commercial ou personnel ».

La Fifa a donc tout simplement décidé de modifier son règlement pour valider le port d'un accessoire déjà visible sur les terrains de rugby ou dans les combats de taekwondo. Une nouvelle réunion de l'Ifab est prévue en octobre. Non pas pour évoquer la condition de la femme, mais pour discuter des détails, "le seul point restant maintenant est la couleur et le dessin du foulard", a précisé Jérôme Valcke.

Gender equity at the Olympics: FGG projects in the news

The Federation of Gay Games has signed the Atlanta Plus Committee's appeal described below (see our posts on Atlanta Plus HERE) and initiated the letter to the IOC and FINA. We are pleased that these issues are getting some attention, and will keep pushing for gender equity and equality in sport! Here's Reuters' story on these issues (with thanks to writeer Belinda Goldsmith):

LONDON (Reuters) - Women boxers have claimed an early victory at the 2012 Olympics by knocking out the last all-male sport but the battle for sex equality at the Games rages on, and not just among women - male synchronized swimmers are also demanding equal rights.

London marks the first Olympics where women will compete in all 26 sports on offer, a major change from Stockholm 100 years ago when women could only participate in five of 110 events.

Campaigners for gender equality acknowledge there has been progress but stress the battle is far from over and the Games must symbolise, reflect and celebrate the dominant beliefs and values of society.

At the London Olympics, running from July 27 until Aug. 12, women are competing in 30 fewer events than men.

A total of 162 gold medals are up for grabs for male competitors while women can win only 132. At the 2008 Beijing Games there were 165 gold medals for men and 127 for women.

Annie Sugier, spokeswoman for the French coordination for the European Women's Lobby, said several women's groups were planning to hold a demonstration in London on July 25 to put seven demands to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding discrimination and segregation.

"The objective of the Olympics is to build a better world through sport but the reality is that we still have all the stereotypes, discrimination, and prostitution around the Games," Sugier told Reuters.

"The Olympics is the right place to enforce change as there is just one law for all. You have the instruments to enforce equality and equality is justice."

OLYMPIC ROLE MODELS

Tackling sex inequality and other forms of discrimination at the Olympics is viewed as critical by campaigners. The Games are a high-profile global event where the same rules apply to all nations and these values can filter into other areas of life.

It is also unique for a sporting event as the audience is fairly evenly split between men and women and therefore a platform for women's sport to be on a par with men's events, to establish women as role models, and to encourage women to take up sport which can be a way to empower and build confidence.

Sugier, who has been campaigning for equality and neutrality at the Olympics for 20 years, said the IOC needed to act more decisively after stating its support for gender equality at the Olympics but so far failing to meet its targets.

In 1996 the IOC set a target to ensure women held 20 percent of the positions in its ruling bodies by 2005 which included the 205 National Olympic Committees and the 35 Olympic International Olympic Sports Federations.

This has not been met, and Sugier says women on average only hold about 10 percent of these positions. Some of the National Olympic Committees have no women.

The board of the London Organising Committee, LOCOG, has only one woman among its 19 members, former Olympian Princess Anne, while the IOC has 20 women among its 105 members which falls just short of the 20 percent.

"With so few women serving in leadership positions and a lack of commitment among the male-dominated leadership, there has been little progress on supporting women as athletes and leaders," said sports historian Dr Maureen Smith from California State University in a report for the U.S.-based Women's Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King in 1974.

She said this lack of commitment started at grassroots and was typical of developmental levels all the way to the upper echelons of competitive Olympic and Paralympic sport.

The gender gap has narrowed. At Beijing there was 4,746 women competitors which was a record 42 percent of the total.

But this was despite IOC President Jacques Rogge in 2004 stating that: "our ultimate goal must be 50-50 participation." He did not, however, set a clear date for this proportion.

"No time deadline has been set but we would hope that London will see the highest percentage of female participation in history," said IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau.

MEN CALL FOR EQUALITY

Smith said certain sports were getting better when it came to gender balance and for some countries this was not an issue at all.

"Some countries don't care if it is a man or a woman winning. They just care about winning the medal. But there is still some way to go," Smith told Reuters.

At the Beijing Olympics, three countries did not bring women athletes but this has changed for London as the Muslim nations of Qatar and Brunei will include women competitors in their teams for the first time.

The final country to forbid women to compete, Saudi Arabia, last month bowed to pressure from the IOC and said it would allow women who qualify to compete at the London Games.

It has yet to name any female athletes who will represent the Middle Eastern kingdom.
Sports historians said the changes at the Olympics reflected the overall changes in society since the start of the modern Olympics in Athens 1896 when no women were allowed to compete.

Women first appeared at the Olympics in Paris in 1900, competing in golf and tennis, but were excluded from track and field competitions until 1928 when the longest race was the 800 metres.

Several women collapsed in exhaustion during the race and then IOC President, Count Henri Baillet-Latour, even suggested ruling out all women competitors from the Games.

Clearly this did not happen but the women's 800 metres did not reappear until 1960. Women were not allowed to run the marathon until 1984.

Tim Woodhouse, head of policy at the Women's Sports and Fitness Foundation, said a number of sports were seen to put women's health and their fertility at risk.

"Amazingly it was not until the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s that these myths were debunked," said Woodhouse, whose foundation is a UK charity that aims to make women active and confident.

In the United States, the 1972 legislation Title IX, which prohibited gender discrimination in educational programs, had a massive impact on women participating in sports at colleges and high schools.

As well as the debut of women boxers in London, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, will see women being allowed for the first time to compete in ski jumping. The Nordic combined events at Sochi, however, will only be contested by men.

"The addition of these sports, including boxing at London, is a really positive step forward but there is still a big disparity in other sports," said Woodhouse.

The IOC should consider including some sports which were more women based, such as netball, if it really wanted to resolve the issue, he added, and there was still major discrepancies in numbers in canoeing, rowing, wrestling, weight lifting and judo.

"These numbers need to be worked on and it takes leadership from the IOC to push that agenda," he said.

But it is not just women who want equality.
Men have called for action after being ruled out from competing at two events at the Summer Olympics, synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, even though there are growing numbers of men participating in both sports.

A lobby group of male synchronised swimmers wrote to the IOC and swimming's governing body FINA in June to argue that men should no longer be excluded from this event at the Olympics.

The group, which includes the London swimming group Out To Swim, said this was gender discrimination despite the Olympic Charter condemning any discrimination regarding race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise.

"For the most part, this discrimination has affected women athletes, and great progress has been made in this area. But in at least one sport, it is men who are victims of this discrimination, which is no less intolerable than that aimed at women," said the letter.

Stephen Adshead, manager of the Out to Swim Angels synchronised swimming team that was set up three years ago, said this was "blatant inequality and unfair."

"We realise it is too late for men synchronised swimmers at London but we would like to have a serious discussion with the IOC after the Games as there is no reason why there can't be gender equality in all sports," Adshead told Reuters.

What progress for women in the Olympics since 2008?

From a 2008 story on the USOC website a look at the situation for women at the Beijing Olympics:



BEIJING (AP) Women are competing at the 2008 Games in record numbers, yet the Olympic movement remains under fire on the gender front - accused of failing to reduce male dominance in its own ranks and tolerating countries which exclude women from their teams.

Of more than 11,000 athletes assembled in Beijing, 42 percent are women. That's up from less than 26 percent in 1988, and illustrates the success of an aggressive campaign since then by the International Olympic Committee to move toward gender equity.

The IOC itself, and its affiliates, haven't done nearly as well, falling short of their own goals.

Of the IOC's 110 members, 16 are women [approximately 20 today in 2012]  - and only one serves on the powerful 15-member executive board [two today]. A sizable majority of the 205 national Olympic committees have executive bodies that are at least 80 percent male, and only two of the 35 Olympic sports federations have women as presidents.

"I'm deeply disappointed," said Anita DeFrantz, the senior U.S. member of the IOC and chair of its Women and Sport Commission.

"I don't understand why we haven't been successful," she said. "I'm reviewing everything to determine what it is that's blocking us." [Um, sexism from men and the women who are the objective allies of sexism?]

One fundamental problem is that sports administration in many nations remains an old boys club. DeFrantz said change will be too slow unless the men in power commit themselves to grooming women as leaders.

DeFrantz also is among many advocates of women's sports who have run out of patience with Saudi Arabia, the last major nation that bars women from its Olympic teams. She wants the Saudis - who have fielded a 17-man squad in Beijing - to be excluded from the 2012 Games in London unless they end their males-only policy. [So far, no real progress there, despite the Saudi fake out this week which will allow the IOC to claim that the "problem" is "solved"]

"Perhaps after these games it will be clear they will be the only outliers and have to allow women to compete," DeFrantz said. "The women in that country deserve the opportunity."

Critics contend the IOC is failing to adhere to its own charter, which says discrimination on the basis of sex is "incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement." They suggest that a double-standard is at work, with the IOC more tolerant of gender bias than it was of the institutionalized racial segregation that triggered South Africa's exclusion from the Olympics during the apartheid era. [Yep.]

However, many IOC members may be reluctant to bar the Saudis from London.

"I'd be surprised and disappointed if we took such draconian action," said senior IOC member Kevan Gosper. "All that would do is have the athletes of that country suffer." [Well, the male athletes. Remember that the women athletes are already suffering, and you seem decidedly unmoved that their situation.]

Apartheid "was considered a crime against humanity," Gosper said. "I don't think that can be considered parallel to the effort to bring women into absolutely equal gender balance." [Alas, sexism is not considered a crime against humanity. But it should be.]

Whether Saudi Arabia changes on its own remains to be seen. The government is generally wary of angering conservative Islamic clergy, yet the issue of women in sports has been raised recently in the Saudi media and reportedly has been debated by a high-level government advisory council.

Saudi Arabia currently bans sports and physical education classes in state-run girls' schools. Women have discreetly formed a few sports teams on their own, but the level of competition is considered a world away from Olympic caliber.

Qatar joined Saudi Arabia this year in sending an all-male team to Beijing. But several Arab countries that formerly excluded women have relented - Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, for example. The UAE last week chose a woman as its Olympic flagbearer - Sheikha Maitha Almaktoum, a royal family member competing in taekwondo.

Ebrahim Abdul Malek, general secretary of the UAE's Olympic committee, told a local newspaper, The National, that this was a message to "the entire Gulf region and the whole Arab world. ... everyone, man and woman, should simply work hard at their sport. There are no limits at all."

Among the other Muslim women competing is Robina Muqimyar from war-torn Afghanistan, which was expelled from the Olympics when the women-oppressing Taliban was in power.

Muqimyar is back for a second Olympics after becoming one of the first two Afghan women ever to compete in the games four years ago.

"I want to change the history of Afghanistan," she said then. "I want the other women to watch me and see me and follow me."

Even within the realm of Olympic competition, there are some limits for women. Two sports - ski-jumping and boxing - remain male-only despite vigorous lobbying by the women who compete in them.

Nine women ski jumpers have filed suit against the organizers of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, alleging that excluding their sport is a violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees gender equality. The IOC insists women's ski jumping is too embryonic to be included - its first world championship isn't until next year.

The IOC rejected women's boxing for Beijing three years ago - in part because of concerns about the International Amateur Boxing Association that weren't related to gender. There may be a new bid next year to get women's boxing on the program for London. [Progress here, but synchronized swimming still lacks parity, with men being excluded from international competition, except at the Gay Games.]

Underrepresentation of women on the IOC may be the problem slowest to fade.

"It's different from running a race or playing a team event," Gosper said. "You don't have to be voted into a gold medal. But in administration, most positions are obtained by voting, and if you come from a base where it's almost been 100 percent masculine, it's going to be a more tedious and challenging process."

Saudi Arabia does the bare minimum to allow IOC to save face on religious discrimination against women

Dalma Rushdi Malhas, human fig leaf

From the BBC, news that Saudi Arabia may deign to respect international law and the Olympic Charter by allowing women (or rather, one woman) to compete in the Olympics. 

We note that the token woman is likely to be equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who competed in the first Youth Olympics, not as part of the Saudi Arabian team, but at the invitation of the IOC, and at her own expense. 

Note also that women remain in effect excluded from sport, and that only a very few sports could ever be open to women due to Islamist repression with regard to dress and access to public spaces.

We also note that the Saudis themselves explain that they were force to make this "concession" to the Olympic Charter only due to pressure and controversy, which is something to remember when the objective allies of repressive regimes call for quiet diplomacy rather than public action. The only reason the IOC was "negotiating" with the Saudis (and just why should an organization be negotiating to have its rules respected?) was because outside groups, including the FGG, have repeatedly called on the IOC to respect its own charter.

We fear that this token participation will allow the IOC to claim "victory", and that the exclusion of women from sport in Saudi Arabia and other Islamist countries will continue unabated, and that the calls for religion-based interference with the practice of sport, including the effective requirement for the hijab to be worn by women athletes, will only grow stronger.

Saudi Arabia is to allow its women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time.

Officials say the country's Olympic Committee will "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify".

The decision will end recent speculation as to whether the entire Saudi team could have been disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination.

The public participation of women in sport is still fiercely opposed by many Saudi religious conservatives.

There is almost no public tradition of women participating in sport in the country.

Saudi officials say that with the Games now just a few weeks away, the only female competitor at Olympic standard is showjumper Dalma Rushdi Malhas.

But they added that there may be scope for others to compete and that if successful they would be dressed "to preserve their dignity".

In practice this is likely to mean modest, loose-fitting garments and "a sports hijab", a scarf covering the hair but not the face.

For the desert kingdom, the decision to allow women to compete in the Olympics is a huge step, overturning deep-rooted opposition from those opposed to any public role for women.

As recently as April, the indications were that Saudi Arabia's rulers would accede to the sensitivities of the religious conservatives and maintain the ban on allowing women to take part.

But for the past six weeks there have been intense, behind-the-scenes discussions led by King Abdullah, who has long been pushing for women to play a more active role in Saudi society.
'Subtle reform'

In secret meetings in Jeddah, officials say a consensus was reached in mid-June between the king, the crown prince, the foreign minister, the leading religious cleric, the grand mufti and others, to overturn the ban.

An announcement was ready to be made but then had to be delayed as the country marked the sudden death of Crown Prince Nayef.

"It's very sensitive," a senior Saudi official told the BBC. "King Abdullah is trying to initiate reform in a subtle way, by finding the right balance between going too fast or too slow.

"For example, he allowed the participation of women in the Shura council [an advisory body] so the Olympic decision is part of an ongoing process, it's not isolated."

The official acknowledged that to refuse to let women take part would have looked bad on the international stage.

"Partly because of the mounting criticism we woke up and realised we had to deal with this. We believe Saudi society will accept this," the official said.

Olympics struggle with ‘policing femininity’

Hat tip to Keph Sennett for this article from South Africa's The Star:

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA— There are female athletes who will be competing at the Olympic Games this summer after undergoing treatment to make them less masculine.

Still others are being secretly investigated for displaying overly manly characteristics, as sport’s highest medical officials attempt to quantify — and regulate — the hormonal difference between male and female athletes.

Caster Semenya, the South African runner who was so fast and muscular that many suspected she was a man, exploded onto the front pages three years ago. She was considered an outlier, a one-time anomaly.

But similar cases are emerging all over the world, and Semenya, who was banned from competition for 11 months while authorities investigated her sex, is back, vying for gold.

Semenya and other women like her face a complex question: Does a female athlete whose body naturally produces unusually high levels of male hormones, allowing them to put on more muscle mass and recover faster, have an “unfair” advantage?

In a move critics call “policing femininity,” recent rule changes by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the governing body of track and field, state that for a woman to compete, her testosterone must not exceed the male threshold.

If it does, she must have surgery or receive hormone therapy prescribed by an expert IAAF medical panel and submit to regular monitoring. So far, at least a handful of athletes — the figure is confidential — have been prescribed treatment, but their numbers could increase. Last month, the International Olympic Committee began the approval process to adopt similar rules for the Games.

Keep reading HERE.

Play the Game: Gender in Sport, a case of discrimination

Find the Play the Game 2011 website with more information, photos, video, program, etc. HERE.

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We're posting audio and video from sessions from the 2011 Play the Game conference at the German Sports University in Cologne of particular interest to the FGG and its member organizations.

Here is the session on "Gender in Sport - a case of discrimination?" which features a presentation of the call for the end to gender discrimination at the Olympics supported by the FGG:



The session also featured a prsentation on the work of our friends at the Norwegian Olympic Committee, and a though-provoking suggestion that women's sport brings specific values that enrich sport as a whole.

The Federation of Gay Games and London and Paris synchronized swimming clubs appeal to IOC and FINA for equal treatment

We are writing to remind you of the principles of the Olympic Charter which state that “any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.”

Despite this noble principle, the Olympics continue to see discrimination between men and women in regard to the disciplines proposed to athletes. For the most part, this discrimination has affected women athletes, and great progress has been made in this area. But in at least one sport, it is men who are victims of this discrimination, which is no less intolerable than that aimed at women.

We are speaking of synchronized swimming, 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.

We are calling on you to act promptly to offer men synchronized swimmers the opportunity to compete – or at the very least participate in some fashion, in this summer's Olympic Games, to plan for full participation of men at future Olympics, and to open FINA international championships to men.