Best wishes to Elton John

The FGG extends its wishes for a speedy recovery to Gay Games Ambassador Sir Elton John.

Story HERE.

Elton John in Sydney on World AIDS Day

News via the foundation of Gay Games Ambassador Elton John:

Sir Elton John, founder of EJAF, gave an impassioned speech to crowds in Sydney, Australia for World AIDS Day.

He emphasised the gains that have been made in fighting HIV and AIDS, "We've got this disease really by the scruff of the neck," he said. Sir Elton warned that the world needed to be prepared to "fight a new war, to get the funding necessary to actually kill the disease once and for all ... we can't let go now," he urged, "it's imperative we seize this opportunity where the end is maybe in sight, to keep going".

With the cutting of a red ribbon, Sir Elton unleashed fountains of fireworks which twinkled over the harbour while the iconic Sydney Opera House was illuminated in a sombre red hue to mark the day. An estimated 30,000,000 people have died from AIDS-related causes since the disease was first identified in the 1980's and currently 34,000,000 people are living with HIV.

WTT Smash Hits with Elton John and Billie Jean King raises funds at Cleveland event

From WTA:

CLEVELAND, OH, USA - The 19th annual WTT Smash Hits presented by GEICO was held at historic Cleveland Public Hall on Thursday night. Hosted as ever by tennis legend Billie Jean King and music superstar Elton John, the event raised more than $500,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland.

Before the on-court action began, the co-hosts and players attended a pre-match reception and live auction. The top auction items of the night were the two popular Billie Jean King hitting sessions, which King served up for $17,000 each; other items included a 2012 Super Bowl Package, two Elton John-signed piano benches, hitting sessions with Andy Roddick and Martina Navratilova, and a French Open package.

As the focus switched to the tennis court, Sir Elton partnered Navratilova to a 4-3 (5-4) victory against John McEnroe and Amélie Mauresmo in a celebrity doubles set. Then things got 'serious'. With a crowd of 3,477 fans cheering on, Team Elton (Roddick, Mark Knowles, Mauresmo and Lauren Davis) recovered from an early 10-3 deficit to edge Team Billie Jean (McEnroe, Jan-Michael Gambill, Navratilova, Coco Vandeweghe) by a scoreline of 19-18.

After the men's and women's singles and doubles and the mixed had been played, the two sides were locked at 18-18. Roddick sealed the victory for Team Elton by beating Gambill in a Supertiebreaker, 7-1.

"It's a great experience playing with Sir Elton John… I love his music," said teenager Davis, who hails from Ohio but now trains at the Evert Tennis Academy in Florida. "Growing up watching these players on TV, it's so cool to be here."

Over the past two decades WTT Smash Hits has raised more than $10.5 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and local charities throughout the US.

"You have to make sure you can give the money raised to the right people," said John during a pre-match press conference. "Our challenge now is to get medicine to people who can't afford it, and get rid of the stigma that's still associated with AIDS."

Some friends of LGBT sport on UK "Pink List"

The Independent on Sunday's "Pink List" contains what the paper considers to be the top 100 influential LGBT people in Britain. On this year's list we find a number of people associated with mainstream and LGBT sport, including (numbers are this year's and last year's rankings):

4 (judge) Clare Balding
Broadcaster
Last year's Pink List judge is as easy fronting events as she was formidable in responding a year ago to A A Gill's teeth-grindingly backwards description of her as a "dyke on a bike" when reviewing her BBC 4 show Britain by Bike. In a civil partnership with radio newsreader Alice Arnold (see 79).

12 (new entry) Steven Davies
Cricketer
Steven Davies became the first international cricketer to announce he is gay. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper/ batsman came out earlier this year in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Davies has played one-day and Twenty20 cricket for England since making his debut in 2009.

26 (25) Terence Etherton
Judge
Lord Justice Etherton, a past Olympic fencer, continues to preside in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the first openly gay judge to hold the post. Following his visiting professorship at Birkbeck College, London, last year, Sir Terence was this year made an honorary professor at Kent University.

78 (48) Stephen Daldry
Director and producer
Daldrey is beavering away ahead of a big 2012: his version of Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be released; he part of the team devising the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, and there are rumours he's working on a Broadway version of Disney's Dumbo.

88 (New entry) Nigel Owens
Rugby referee
Nigel Owens was one of the three officials for this morning's Rugby World Cup Final in New Zealand. He is the only international rugby union referee to come out, and did so in 2007. Owens, 40, from Llanelli, is a former school technician and youth worker. He was appointed to the international referees' panel in 2005.

98 (new entry) Stephen Frost
Head of diversity and inclusion, 2012 Olympics
As a senior Locog staffer, Frost has put in place fair selection procedures and ensured that the board hosts a Diversity Week. The introduction of lapel "Diversity pins", although small, have led to a discussion within sports that would otherwise never have taken place.

101 (new entry) Anton Hysen
Swedish footballer
Though playing for lowly Utsiktens BK in Sweden, Anton Hysen became the highest-profile, if not the only, openly gay professional footballer in Europe when he came out this year. "Anyone who is afraid of coming out should give me a call," said Anton. He is the son of ex-Liverpool player Glenn Hysen.

Non-LGBT friends
You don't have to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to support those who are.

Ben Cohen Rugby player
A former England international, Ben is one of few sportsman actively fighting homophobia in sport. He retired from professional rugby this year to focus on The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, which combats homophobia and bullying.

Lifetime achievement award


Elton John Singer-songwriter

Despite accepting $1m to perform for the right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh's fourth wedding, among his 3,000 concerts he's had more than a few good ones.

Some interesting names on list of top-ten influential LGBT people in Britain

From TimeOut magazine's "Pride Power" list:

Number 1: Gareth Thomas - rugby player

Former captain of the Wales rugby union team, Thomas came out two years ago in the Daily Mail revealing: ‘What I choose to do when I close the door at home has nothing to do with what I have achieved in rugby.’ He recieved Stonewall’s Hero of the Year award in 2010. He now plays for Super League side the Crusaders. Follow @gareththomas14 on Twitter

Number 4: Gay Games Ambassador Sir Elton John - musician

Elton John is one of the world’s most high-profile gay men and pours money and time into his Aids charity work. He recently showed off his new son, born to a surrogate mum, in OK! magazine and continues to be out and proud to further the acceptance of same-sex parenting. Follow @eltonjohndotcom on Twitter

Number 5: Hope Powell - coach, England women’s football team

A fully qualified A-licence coach, in 2003 Powell became the first woman and out lesbian to achieve the UEFA Pro Licence and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. She was given an OBE in 2002 and a CBE in the 2010 birthday honours.

Number 7: Clare Balding - TV presenter

Cambridge graduate Balding is at the top her game after conquering thyroid cancer. The award-winning TV sports presenter and journalist is out, proud and in a civil partnership. Follow @clarebalding1 on Twitter

Some guests of interest at wedding of William Mountbatten-Windsor and Kate Middleton

The upcoming wedding to be held at Westminster Abbey has attracted some media attention. A few of the guests are of interest to fans of the Gay Games: Gay Games Ambassador Sir Elton John, a friend of the groom's late mother, and Gareth Thomas, who knows the groom through the Welsh national rugby team.

From The Telegraph:

Royal wedding: Gay rugby star Gareth Thomas wins invitation through friendship with Prince William
Gareth Thomas, the first openly homosexual leading rugby player, has been invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.

Gareth Thomas, the celebrated Welsh rugby player, was delighted with the response when he "came out" as the sport's first homosexual in 2009. Now, he has received an honour of which he is equally proud: he has been invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.

"I'm in London to get a suit fitted," Thomas tells Mandrake at a party to launch the Nintendo 3DS. "I'm a friend of William through rugby. I'm just going to the service. I'm not nervous about it. It will be really good."

Gay Games Ambassador anniversary connection: "Philadelphia Freedom" in 1975

This week way back in 1975, Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom was the US Billboard Hot 100 number one single. The song has a Gay Games Ambassador connection that goes beyond Sir Elton John.

Elton John had asked his lyricist Bernie Taupin to write a song in honor of his friend, and fellow Gay Games Ambassador Billie Jean King, whose World Team Tennis team was the Philadelphia Freedoms.

Whatever it's history, it's still a great song. Have a listen: