Derek Liecty Gay Games Scholarships announced on his 80th birthday

Derek addresses his 100 guests

UPDATE: As of 27 July, we have already received some generous donations from friends of Derek and the Gay Games. We're looking for more such donations, to, if possible, create a specific endowment that can fund these scholarships for Gay Games to come.

On 21 July 2012 in Walnut Creek, California, Derek Liecty celebrated his 80th birthday party surrounded by more than 100 friends and family members. Included were three members of the Federation of Gay Games Board of Directors: Gene Dermody, Roger Brigham, and Doug Litwin

Although Derek’s many years of service to the Gay Games movement have been honored before – he is an Honorary Life Member and the 2006 male winner of the Tom Waddell award – additional honors were bestowed upon him on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

Derek was presented with a certificate of congratulations as well as a Medal of Honor. In addition, to publicly acknowledge his 20 years of tireless service on behalf of the Gay Games Scholarship Program, the FGG announced the creation of “The Derek Liecty Gay Games Scholarships.” This will take the form of two scholarships for a male and female footballer, Derek’s favorite sport. The first of these scholarships will be awarded for the 2014 Gay Games 9 in Cleveland + Akron. As with all other Gay Games scholarships, these will be administered by the FGG.

Cutting the cake

If anyone would like to donate towards the funding of these two new scholarships, please visit HERE (indicate “Derek Liecty” in the comments section of your donation) or write to scholarships@gaygames.org

Watch the video of this presentation and the announcement of the scholarships:

Interview with Sara Waddell Lewinstein

The Windy City Times has a lovely interview with Sara Waddell Lewinstein, a founder of the Gay Games, widow of Dr Tom Waddell,and winner of the 2010 Tom Waddell Award. Here's an extract:

[Sara] will be in Cleveland in 2014. Lewinstein said Waddell would be "ecstatic" that his vision—the Gay Games—is stronger than ever. "He definitely provided a civil-rights movement for our culture," Lewinstein said. "I think he'd say, 'Let's go back to the quality instead of the quantity of how many sports are actually participated in.' He'd be so proud of the Gay Games, and [there's] no reason he shouldn't be.

Read in full HERE.

Cyd Ziegler on Stanford University Campus Pride award

From Stanford alumnus Cyd Ziegler in Outsports:


It was an honor to speak at the Celebration of LGBT Athletes at Stanford University last week, in recognition of the school’s placement on Campus Pride’s Out To Play Project list. Stanford Senior Associate Athletic Director Earl Koberlein was on hand to accept the Campus Pride award.

[...]

I also talked about the work Stanford had left to do in this area. Stanford isn’t about being “one of” the best, it’s about being the best. Athletes told me that while the campus is gay-friendly, it’s virtually a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” situation with the athletic department. While there isn’t outward homophobia, there isn’t an outward embracing of LGBT athletes either. The athletic department has long shied away from having LGBT sensitivity training for athletes and coaches. This event last week, taking place at Chuck Taylor Grove in the heart of the athletic department, was a beacon of hope for many of the athletes and alumni present.

[...]

While all of the speakers gave really fantastic (and thankfully short) talks, one particular speaker seemed to grab the hearts of the audience. Derek Liecty was a member of the Stanford soccer team. He graduated in 1954. It seemed he was on the verge of tears as he talked about what this event meant to him, almost 60 years after his graduation. The longtime Gay Games supporter used the opportunity to welcome all of the athletes to the Gay Games in Cleveland in 2014.

Read in full HERE.

FGG Honorary Life Member speaks at Stanford University

Campus Pride is the only national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in the USA for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students.

In conjunction with Compete Media, Campus Pride recently announced awards for ten US universities recognizing their athletic departments for being most supportive of gay and lesbian athletes. Among those is Stanford University.

Derek Liecty, an Honorary Life Member of the Federation of Gay Games and a winner of the Tom Waddell Award, is a graduated of Stanford (class of 1954), where he was the (of course closeted) captain of the varsity soccer team.

Derek Liecty (photo Joanne Sanders)

He was invited to the award ceremony at Stanford on 7 June 2012, where he spoke to the fifty out Stanford athletes who were in attendance. He described how emotional it was to have lived so long and finally see his university embracing gay and lesbian athletes. "This is something that would never have happened sixty years ago," Liecty said.

HERE.

Bowling Center with Gay Games connections closes

15 April marked the last day of business after 51 years for Serra Bowl in Colma, CA, just outside San Francisco. Serra Bowl was the site of the annual gay tournament, the Golden Gate Classic, and was also the home of some large LGBT bowling leagues. For nearly the past year, the General Manager of Serra Bowl was Gay Games co-founder and Honorary Life Member Sara Waddell Lewinstein. When Sara received the prestigious Tom Waddell Award at the 2010 Gay Games, the formal presentation of the trophy was made to her on the lanes at Serra Bowl. In our photo, Sara is flanked by Honorary Life Member Derek Liecty (on the left) and FGG Officer of Marketing Doug Litwin (on the right).

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a great article about the final day of Serra Bowl on its web site, including 8 photos and a three-minute video that is mostly an interview with Sara Waddell Lewinstein. You can read the article HERE.

This was a sad day for the local bowling community and continues a trend that has seen a number of local bowling centers close in recent years. Among these are Japantown Bowl and Park Bowl on Haight Street, the site of bowling during Gay Games I and II. LGBT bowling leagues are still alive and well in the San Francisco area, but one of the major local destinations for this sport has closed.

FAQ / Why Gay Games?

From our series of answers to Frequently Asked Questions: 


2006 Tom Waddell Award winner Derek Liecty once responded to the question "Why Gay Games?" with the following statement:
This is a question the Federation gets all the time. It is difficult for a straight athlete, whether male or female, to fully understand the atmosphere and pressure that a closeted gay or lesbian athlete feels when trying to compete or participate in a “straight competition.”

The pervasive discrimination and putdowns of gays and lesbians in the locker room and on the field of play, along with "faggot" jokes and "sissy boy" remarks, to say nothing of the discrimination in access to sports because of being openly gay or lesbian, has had a negative residual impact on countless men and women for decades.

So the Gay Games provide a venue where gay and lesbian athletes can gather and compete in an atmosphere which is free of this discrimination.

The Games are also about breaking down stereotypes and showing the world that gays and lesbians can compete on a level playing field with everyone else. We have had World Records broken at the Gay Games. But the Games also have a need to provide what our founder 1968 Olympic Decathlete Tom Waddell could not find in the Olympic Games, that is, a place where one could participate in a sport regardless of ability, feel welcomed and included and where the goal is simply to do one’s personal best.

It is a very empowering experience for a gay and lesbian athlete to come into a stadium with 10,000 others and say, “Wow! I really am not alone in the world.” The Games are truly at the forefront in the fight for gay and lesbian emancipation and integration.

News from Chicago: Belated decision in Gay Games VII case, Tom Waddell Award winner at library event, 70-year-old marathon runner

A verdict on the appeal of a case concerning Gay Games VII in Chicago 2006 has finally been announced, in favor of the defendants, the city of Chicago et al. The plaintiffs were "Christians" who used various Gay Games events to harrass participants and spectators. Read it HERE.

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Brent Nicholson Earle, winner of the 2010 Tom Waddell Award, was the keynote speaker at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Gerber-Hart Library. Read about it HERE.

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Ross Forman reports on a Gay Games medal winner who will be competing in this weekend's Chicago Marathon in the 70-74-year-old category. Read it HERE.

1 October 2011 / 2010 Tom Waddell Award winner to keynote Chicago library 30th anniversary event

A message from our friends at the Gerber/Hart Library in Chicago, which hosted the Gay Games Memorial Quilt exhibition at Gay Games VII in 2010n (find all links HERE):

You are cordially invited to join us on Saturday, October 1 at 7 pm for Making History: One Step at a Time as we celebrate both the 30th anniversary of Gerber/Hart and the 25th anniversary of the American Run for the End of AIDS.Brent Nicholson Earle Our keynote speaker, Brent Nicholson Earle [winner of the 2010 Tom Waddell Award], ran a 9,000 mile journey around the perimeter of the United States and raised over $300,000 for AIDS charities. He departed New York City on March 1, 1986, and returned 20 months later. A quarter-century later, the efforts of Earle and his support team stand out as one of the most inspired responses to the early years of the AIDS crisis.

Our benefit moves to the Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons, 6501 North Kenmore Avenue. The Information Commons is a spectacular new venue on the campus of Loyola University Chicago situated right on the shore of Lake Michigan. An outdoor balcony will afford attendees a chance to soak in the splendor of the lake while making new friends and renewing old acquaintances.

Tickets are now available for Making History. Admission tickets are $75 and include a dinner buffet, open bar, and entertainment. Benefactor tickets are $130 and include all admission benefits plus a 6 pm pre-event champagne reception with Brent Nicholson Earle, acknowledgment in the benefit program booklet, and a special gift. Tickets are available via PayPal (choose general admission or benefactor), by stopping by Gerber/Hart during open hours, or by calling Gerber/Hart at (773) 381-8030 .

If you would like to be a sponsor of Making History: One Step at a Time, please complete a sponsorship form and return it to the library.

The first prize in our drawing this year is an Apple iPad. Tickets are $5 each or 6 for $25 and can be purchased at the benefit. Can't attend? No problem! You can still support the library by purchasing tickets in advance via PayPal, in person at the Library during open hours, or by phone: (773) 381-8030 .

Our benefit silent auction moves online this year and will begin on October 15. We enthusiastically welcome your donation of goods and services to our online auction. Download an auction donation form and send it in with your item(s) today.

Parking is available at the Loyola University parking ramp for $7. Enter the campus at Sheridan Road and Winthrop Avenue. Proceed approximately 150 feet. Turn left. Signs on the parking ramp say "Welcome to Loyola, Parking Entrance." The Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons is a three-minute walk going east from the parking ramp.

Hometown newspaper looks at contributions of FGG's Brent Nicholson Earle

Brent before opening ceremony
of Gay Games III

The Niagara Gazette looks back at the history of AIDS in the region, featuring the story of the FGG's Brent Nicholson Earle, winner of the 2010 Tom Waddell Award, and a native of Lockport, New York:

Brent Nicholson Earle, who had been born in the Falls and grew up in Lockport, was a gay off-Broadway actor and playwright in New York who saw 70 friends and acquaintances die of AIDS. In March 1986, he set out on a 9,000-mile run around the perimeter of the United States to draw attention to the epidemic. It took him 20 months and he drew a lot of publicity. All over the country he got police escorts into towns and cities, but when he reached Lockport, the police refused. “Why?” he wondered. “Oh, I think it has to do with bigotry and prejudice against gay people.” But then as he set out down Transit Road into Lockport, then-Mayor Raymond C. Betsch and his son suddenly showed up and escorted him in. At City Hall, old childhood friends were waiting to cheer him, and the mayor issued a proclamation.

Earle, who learned in 1989 that he was HIV-positive, went on in 1990 to run from San Francisco to the Gay Games in Vancouver, and in 1994 from San Francisco to the Gay Games in New York. He’s been profiled in Parade magazine, and was named by People magazine as one of “20 individuals who shaped the ’80s.”

Today at age 60, he lives in New York and remains an AIDS activist.

Read in full HERE?

Congratulations to Lydia la Rivière-Zijdel, winner of SportAccord's 2011 Individual Spirit of Sport Award

The Federation of Gay Games offers its warm congratulations to Lydia, winner of the 2006 Tom Waddell Award!

London, 8 April 2011 – SportAccord’s 2011 Individual Spirit of Sport Award was awarded to Lydia la Rivière-Zijdel , while the top Project Award went to Special Olympics.

A further two project Awards were made to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for their project “Engineering the Future – Promoting Paralympic Sport in Africa” and FIFA’s “Football for Hope” initiative which were voted in the second and third place respectively by the Awards Commission.

Lydia la Riviere Zijdel dedicates her life to enhancing opportunities for boys and girls around the world to participate in sport. She has focused her efforts on enabling persons with disabilities to become involved in sports and physical activities. Working principally in Ethiopia and South Africa, she has changed the lives of those so often considered outcasts within society. ‘Sport, like life itself, challenges to transcend your boundaries and limitations and to transfer them into achievements and abilities’ she expressed upon winning her Award.
Special Olympics and their project “2010 Special Olympics Regional Games” was the winner of the project awards. In 2010, Special Olympics International undertook the challenge to execute five regional multi-sports events in the same year. These five Regional Games held in the USA, Poland, Syria, China, and Puerto Rico impacted upon almost 36,000 people directly; among them 9,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 117 countries, family members and 17,000 volunteers. With their multi-faceted programme, the Special Olympics address not only the stigma associated with having an intellectual disability but help countries provide opportunities for these people to participate in sports while promoting inclusivity and acceptance amongst society at large.

“To receive the “Spirit of Sport” Award from SportAccord is a tremendous honor for Special Olympics as this award recognizes the critical role of sport as a catalyst for changing the lives of millions of persons with and without intellectual disabilities,” shared Timothy Shriver, Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics. “Sport teaches us to recognize our similarities over our differences while celebrating the effort to do one’s best in a spirit of respect. And while Special Olympics has had a positive impact on many persons with an intellectually disability, there are many more people that are still hidden, shunned or abused. We look forward to working more closely with the international sports community to broaden the reach of our organizations and bring the joy and goodwill of sport to many more people.”

SportAccord President Hein Verbruggen said “The quality of the applications submitted this year was outstanding. We congratulate all our nominees and shortlisted projects received from our members including: Aikido, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Motorcycling, Netball, Rugby, Skiing, Surfing, Taekwondo, Special Olympics and the International Paralympic Committee.”

SportAccord opens in London: download first the day's newsletter

SportAccord has opened in London.

Download the day's SportAccord newspaper HERE.

This issue includes a full-page story on the "Spirit of Sport" awards, including a profile of shortlisted Lydia la Rivière Zijdel, winner of the 2006 Tom Waddell Award.

Tom Waddell Award winner shortlisted for SportAccord "Spirit of Sport" award

From SportAccord, news that 2006 Tom Waddell Award winner Lydia La Riviere Zijdel has been shortlisted for their "Spirit of Sport" awards. Congraulations and good luck to a worthy nominee!

The ‘Spirit of Sport’ Awards were created to commend the commitment and humanitarian spirit of SportAccord Members who have made an exceptional and lasting contribution to using sport as a tool for positive social change. The 2011 individual and project awards will be unveiled at the SportAccord General Assembly to take place on 8 April 2011 in London.


The 2011 Individual Spirit of Sport Award will honour an individual for his/her outstanding contribution to sport and society.

Shortlist:

Mr. Fernando Aguerre, International Surfing Association (ISA)
Mr. Aguerre has dedicated his life to the development of surfing around the world. Since 1994, when he was elected President of the ISA, Fernando has been instrumental in expanding the sport to over 65 nations, for obtaining IOC recognition, and for launching several development programmes.

Ms. Lydia la Riviere Zijdel, International Aikido Federation (IAF)
As an elite wheelchair martial artist, Lydia has opened up the world of persons with disabilities to the art of self defence, with a special emphasis on developing countries to enhance the abilities and motivation of persons with disabilities to become involved in sports and physical activities.

Mr. Erwin Lauterwasser, Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS)
As part of his lifelong engagement for the sport of skiing and the environment, Erwin Lauterwasser has served in the role of FIS Environmental Advisor since 1997. Mr. Lauterwasser has worked hard to establish FIS as a pioneer among the international federations in the area of the environment and sustainability.
For further information on the three shortlisted nominees, please click here.

Hometown presentation of Dr Tom Waddell Trophy at SF bowling tournament

On Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 7:15pm, just before the opening of the main competition at the San Francisco Golden Gate Invitational Classic Bowling Tournament, the Federation of Gay Games will have the honor of making the "hometown" presentation of the 2012 Tom Waddell Award to Sara Waddell Lewinstein.

This is a "hometown" presentation in more ways than one. First, because it will be made in San Francisco, Sara's current home. And not just her home city, but at the Serra Bowl, which she manages, and at an event in which she is intimately involved.

"Home" as well because this beyond her own contributions to LGBT sport, to the Gay Games, to the place of women in sport and the integration of men's and women's sport, this award recognizes Sara's role in the life and work of the man it honors, Dr Tom Waddell, her partner and spouse.

And "home" of course, because San Francisco is the home of the Gay Games, the Athens of our movement.

For more information about the tournament, part of the schedule of events of FGG member organization IGBO, visit the website HERE.