Nike Better World

This video was a hit at the Nike LGBT Sport Summit last weekend in Portland. Enjoy it!

"We won't rest until every living breathing person on this planet has access to sport". That's a message the FGG can support 100%.

Sport for All conference opens in Beijing

The Federation of Gay Games was pleased to be part of last year's Sport for All conference in Finland. This year's conference is underway in Beijing. Here's a report from Sport and Development:

The 14th World Conference on Sport for All got under way today at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing with workshops, plenary sessions and other meetings designed to promote health, fitness and well-being by encouraging people of all ages and abilities to participate in sports activities and embrace the Olympic values.

The focus of this year’s Conference, running from 21 to 23 September, is on the practical implementation of Sport for All programmes, and was reformatted from earlier conferences to place greater emphasis on interactive knowledge-sharing and the exchange of best practices. Experts from around the globe will share their experiences on a wide range of Sport for All activities with an estimated audience of 600 people this week.

Hosted by the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Beijing Municipal Government, the Conference has been jointly organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) in collaboration with SportAccord. The Sport for All Conference is one of the IOC’s key advocacy initiatives in this field. It has, since its formation, been dedicated to promoting broad dissemination of the Sport for All philosophy globally.

“We can always do more”
“Our hope is that when you go back to your respective cities and countries, you will be able to implement on the ground what you have learnt or discovered during this Conference,” IOC President Jacques Rogge told participants at Wednesday’s Opening Ceremony. “I think we all agree: In the end it is not just about talking, but about taking action and seeing concrete results. We can always do more to get more people moving and taking exercise.”

IOC Sport for All Commission Chairman Sam Ramsamy concurred: “In today’s society, Sport for All has to play a very significant role in ensuring that citizens at large participate in sports activities. Elite sport is a beautiful objective and a high ideal for many participants. At the same time, sport offers many other values in abundance, such as fair play, volunteerism, community involvement, a healthy lifestyle, and much more. This is our focus in Sport for All.”

Sport for All grants
In light of the focus of the 14th Sport for All Conference — the practical implementation of Sport for All programmes — the IOC’s Sport for All Commission decided to create a grant to support the outstanding work of entities actively engaged in promoting Sport for All, particularly in the developing world, and disseminating the health and social benefits of sport in general.

The three winners of the grant correspond to the three main themes of the Conference:

• Health and social benefits of physical activity (Eco Sports Group - Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Programmes and policies (Ethiopia - Sport Builds Bridges)
• Development and promotion of Sport for All (Health Qigong Administrative Centre of the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Health Qigong Association)

“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport. This is one of the fundamental principles of Olympism,” said President Rogge. “This is why I am very pleased about the Sport for All Commission’s project to reward three of the many outstanding Sport for All initiatives around the world ... we thank them all for their valued contributions and wish them continued success in the future.”

MOVE2010 Frankfurt contributions online

Find the main talks given at the MOVE2010 conference in Frankfurt HERE. The focus of this conference was sport for all and the promotion of physical health. Many of the presentations are not of direct interest to our members, but one that is is the presentation from Finland's Jorma Savola on the role of sports clubs as civic organizations promoting public health. View it HERE.

Sexual orientation and inclusion in sport

From the ENGSO manifesto on social inclusion in sport we described in our reports on the IOC Sport for All Congress in June:

Sexual Orientation

For many years homosexuality and homophobia have been taboo subjects in sport. The silence is an expression of homophobia. The negation and invisibility of homosexuality does not mean that there is no homosexuality within the sport movement. In order to counteract the silence and to combat the discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, the sport organisations, athletes, coaches, clubs and fans have to acknowledge the existence of homosexuality.

Sport organisations and their leaders should establish an atmosphere of acceptance of different sexual orientations. Education, campaigns and dissemination of information are essential tools to enhance tolerance and atmosphere of acceptance. Sport federations should enhance equality in all areas, including sexual orientation, in their daily activities. Fight against discrimination on grounds of sexual preference should be a duty of sport organisations.

Furthermore, contacts have been created between ENGSO and the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF), and this cooperation will be further developed. Both EGLSF and ENGSO are members of the Consultative Committee of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport of the Council of Europe. http://www.eglsf.info/eglsf-about.php

ENGSO calls upon its members to

• Fight against discrimination in sport on grounds of sexual preference;
• Educate coaches, trainers and other stakeholders. Media campaigns and dissemination of information are essential tools in fight against homophobia;
• Establish an atmosphere of acceptance which enables and supports the coming out of gay and lesbian sports men and women.

UK survey on homophobia and football

While at the 13th Sport for All congress, Darl Schaaff met the people behind this survey. More info on it from PinkNews, where you can find the full text:

University researchers are conducting a study on the attitudes of football fans towards out gay players.

Staffordshire University is launching the self-selecting online survey this week and a small pilot study has found positive attitudes to homosexuality. The pilot study of 250 fans found that four-fifths were relaxed about the presence of gay footballers in the English leagues and would welcome more honesty from players about their sexuality. Researchers now want to widen the study and it is being distributed to online fan forums.

Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture, media and sport, said initial findings indicate that fans believe that as many as one in ten professional players are in the closet. “Fans are surprisingly blasé about this,” he said. “What irks them is the lack of honesty: no fan believes every player is heterosexual.”

[...]

He added: “Fans understand that, as in any sport, football has many gay players, yet it remains one of the last remaining areas of society where homosexuality remains taboo: there are cultural customs restricting open discussion on homosexuality.

Co-researcher Dr Jamie Cleland suggested that if more players were aware of fans' positive attitudes, they were more likely to come out.

He said: "Fans encourage footballers to come out. As one fan put it, ‘someone needs to do something heroic, and step forward before it [homophobia] can become a thing of the past’.”

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You can respond to the survey HERE.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress, post 7

Here's a complement to the reports from Darl Schaaff, who is representing the FGG at the 13th World Sport for All Congress (more info on the congress HERE.)


You can download the final declaration of the 13th Sport for All Congress HERE.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress, post 6

Here's a complement to the reports from Darl Schaaff, who is representing the FGG at the 13th World Sport for All Congress (more info on the congress HERE.)The following is the abstract for the presentation made by the Norwegian Olympic Committe for the Congress:

"With Sports Against Homophobia": Experiences from a 3-year project in the National Olympic Committee

Presented by Mr. Havard B. Ovregard,
Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) havard.ovregard@idrettsforbundet.no


Introduction

The project “With Sport s Against Homophobia” has been run by The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) in partnership with LLH - The Norwegian LGBT Association, and The Norwegian People’s Aid (working with anti-racism), the project lasted for 3 years 07-09. The project was partly funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Children and Equality.

The project aimed to promote sport as an open and secure arena where LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) persons feel at home as athletes, coaches, referees and fans.

As one of the first larger scale project by a national mainstream sport organisation addressing sexual orientation and homophobia, the project provides unique experience from a topical area usually avoided or ignored by sport organisations.


Development

The NIF Sport Policy Document 2007-2011 states zero-tolerance for discrimination and harassment regardless of gender, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation and disability. It also specifically mentions that lesbians, gays and bisexuals are – differing from many other minorities – an invisible group, and that it is therefore an extra challenge to contribute to dissemination of knowledge and information in order for this group to be fully accepted within sports.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress, post 5

Here's a final report from Darl Schaaff, who is representing the FGG at the 13th World Sport for All Congress (more info on the congress HERE.):Today was final day of the congress, and I have become very visible. Some participants are curious and want to talk about LGBT issues in sport, while others are clearly not as comfortable with the thought.

The day began for me with a presentation from ENGSO (European Non-Governmental Sports Organizations, basically national Olympic/sport federations) that included a manifesto to the European Parliament that included sexual orientation in the protected classes.

During the Q&A after the presentation, the representative of ENGSO agreed that they felt that LGBT inclusion was an extremely important issue and wanted it to be part of their work.

The final presentation [read the abstract HERE] on the final day was from Håvard B. Øvregård on the efforts of the Norwegian Olympic Committee to combat homophobia in sport. He had only 10 minutes to present a three-year program. My impression was that the moderator of the session was not too comfortable with the topic, and people I spoke with afterwards agreed with me. Havard spoke of the principle of non-discrimination in the Olympic Charter, and of the fear and discomfort created by homophobia, for both coaches and athletes. He spoke in terms of ending homophobia with a zero-tolerance policy for any language, innuendo or jokes in the locker room or on the field.

For some reason, while all other presentations had a fairly lengthy Q&A at the end, the moderator limited this session to a single question. I made sure I was the questioner…

I said:
“My name is Darl Schaaff, on behalf of the international Federation of Gay Games and I am here today to represent the thousands of athletes around the world who have been disenfranchised by homophobia. On behalf of those gay and lesbian athletes I thank the Norwegian Olympic Committee for its brave stand on fighting homophobia, and the concrete steps it has taken to create and implement an effective policy.

“My question is twofold: first, do other National Olympic Committees have this same language? If not what can they do to add it to their charters?”

Havard answered that Norway was the only NOC that has included sexual orientation and a zero-tolerance policy, but that others had expressed interest, and he and his team were available to support them.

I was happy that the FGG chose to be present at this congress. There are thousands and tens of thousands of LGBT athletes, and the Olympic movement and the worldwide sports community needs to know this. Some people welcome our presence, and we need to work with them to advance the cause of inclusion. And some people dislike or are uncomfortable with our presence… which is further proof of why we need to show up, be visible, and speak out.

I want to thank the organizers for welcoming us, and thank the FGG Board and External Affairs Committee for sending me on this assignment, which has been a bit taxing, but also enriching and enlightening.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress, post 4

Here's a third report from Darl Schaaff, who is representing the FGG at the 13th World Sport for All Congress (more info on the congress HERE.):

The second day of presentations [16 June] began with one on the World Masters Games. While the FGG had good relations with the hosts of the last Games in Sydney, contact with the International Masters Games Association has not been as productive, and based on the reactions I've observed at this congress, that doesn't seem likely to change soon...

A more positive encounter was with Willem van Mechelen, professor of Occupational and Sports Medicine at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, who is active with the European branch of the WHO and the European Olympic Committee. He was keen to discuss cooperation between FGG and his organizations.

I also spoke at length to the woman who will head up the International Working Group on Women and Sport, who will be hosting the next conference in 2014. We discussed the issues of lesbians in sport, and she said she had just been present at the 2010 Women and Sport conference in Sydney, where she met a "feisty woman" [Kate Rowe] determined to have conversations about this. She recalled that this led to very lively discussions.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when Havard will present the work of the Norwegian Olympic Committee, bringing LGBT issues off of my FGG shirt, and onto the table of this Sport for All Congress.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress, post 3

Here's a second report from Darl Schaaff, who is representing the FGG at the 13th World Sport for All Congress (more info on the congress HERE.):

The first day of presentations [15 June] was a bit tough, and not just because it began with a recital of all sorts of statistics about the practice of sport... I wore with pride my FGG shirt, and couldn't help but think that the presence of a visible member of an LGBT organization made quite a few people a  bit uncomfortable.

But part of the reason to attend these conferences is to remind officials in mainstream sport that there are LGBT athletes in their organizations, and that there are LGBT sports organizations serving thousands of athletes around the world.

An important element of any conference of this sort is a social program, and during our boat trip this evening, it was much easier to make contact with people. Among the great conversations I had was with Professor Doctor Gudrun Doll-Tepper, former president of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education and current Vice President for Education of the German Olympic Committee. As a researcher and professor, her specialty is inclusive sport, for which in 2009 she received an award from the International Paralympic Committee. We had a great discussion on the issues related to women's leadership in sport, and I'm counting on continuing this exchange after the conference.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress, post 2

Here's a first report from Darl Schaaff, who is representing the FGG at the 13th World Sport for All Congress (more info on the congress HERE.):

I just sat through the opening ceremony of the World Sport for All Congress. The keynote address was by Dr. Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC, which demonstrates the concern of the IOC for the subject of Sport for All.
The congress has brought together 700 participants from 90 countries. I've met up with Håvard B. Øvregård from Norway, and met with other participants from the Netherlands, Germany, Zambia, Finland and elsewhere.

In every conversation I talked freely about the Games, our role in human rights, the sports movement of 30 years. Everyone seemed quite interested and has asked many questions.

FGG at 13th World Sport for All Congress

For the first time ever, the Federation of Gay Games is attending the World Sport for All Congress, held this year at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee, the World Health Organization, and SportAccord.

The FGG is represented by Officer for Ceremonies Darl Schaaff of Anchorage, Alaska who is currently residing in Cologne, Germany in anticipation of Gay Games VIII which open on 31 July.

Among the presentations to look out for is that of the Norwegian Olympic Committee on the integration of the fight against homophobia at all levels of sport.

More information on the congress can be found HERE.
All our posts on the congress can be found HERE.
More information on the IOC Sport for All commission can be found HERE.