Videos of Konstantin Yablotskiy of Russian LGBT Sport Federation

A presentation from the Russian LGBT Sport Federation

After participating in the Gay Games in 2010, a group of Russian athletes and sports enthusiasts founded the Russian LGBT Sport Federation, whose main objectives are:

• Creating and supporting a national team to participate in international competitions for LGBT athletes (Gay Games, Eurogames, regional competition)
• Organizing LGBT sports competitions in Russia
• Supporting Russian sports organizations and clubs for gays and lesbians, in particular for LGBT athletes
• Promoting a healthy lifestyle and sports in the LGBT community

Our first major international project was organizing a Russian delegation for Eurogames 2011 in Rotterdam.

The Russian LGBT Sport Federation is a legally registered organization in Russia, founded in September 2010. We currently have 500 members (62% female, 37% male, 1% transgender)from all over the Russian Federation, with an average age of 30.

We are a member organization of EGLSF and an FGG partner organization, with the intention of joining soon.

We provide our members with an opportunity to get involved in our LGBT sport clubs for badminton, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, figure skating, skiing, swimming, and more.

In our short lifetime, we have organized a number of tournaments: two international, three national and three local (Moscow, Moscow region and St-Petersburg).

We have 18 affiliated sport clubs, 11 sport sections, and 12 regional branches in various parts of the Federation: North-West (St-Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk), Central (Moscow, Ryazan, Voronezh), Volga (Volgograd), Urals (Ekaterinburg, Tumen, Chelyabinks) and Siberia (Krasnoyarsk, Barnaul).

We are fortunate to benefit from the support of the Planet Romeo Foundation.

Info at gay-sport.ru.

Moscow ‘Weekend Against Homophobia’ for LGBT football

A message from Football Against Racism in Europe:

Teams from Russia, Ukraine and Poland participated in an LGBT tournament in Moscow at the weekend (7/8 April) in a rare display of open LGBT activity in a country where gay people often face threats and exclusion.

9 teams in Moscow
The tournament, organised by Krylia football club, the Planet Romeo Foundation and the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, saw nine teams from St. Petersburg, Kiev and Warsaw joining their Moscow hosts at the Dinamo Moscow indoor stadium.

The winner of the tournament was a mixed team from Krylia Moscow who defeated team Infinity in the final. Warsaw side Chrząszczyki, affiliated to the FARE Eastern European lead partner the Never Again Association, made the journey to Moscow but finished in 7th place.

Warsaw 2013
After the tournament all players and organisers came together for a social event. As with Ukraine for the first edition of the tournament, the event was an occasion to meet LGBT football teams from Russia and from Ukraine and to share experiences of initiatives to counter homophobia in Russia, Ukraine and in Poland.

The next event in 2013 will be hosted by Chrząszczyki in Warsaw.