Local TV news on Gay Games 9 and efforts to promote Cleveland as a gay-friendly destination

KZN LGBT Recreation races in the morning, protests in the afternoon

A report from Hlengiwe Buthelezi of FGG member organization KZN LGBT recreation:

This was a fun and eventful weekend for KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation. We began by participating in the East Coast Radio Big Walk. There were 38 members registered, but due to a public transport strike, only a few managed to get to the start. The race went very well for those who participated, with four members earning the certificates for the organisation for finishing within the cut-off time. After the race we had a chat about the group attending the Gay Games, and in particular how to get more women involved.

In the afternoon we attended the march protesting against the proposed homophobic Constitution amendment under discussion in South Africa. The event was organised by KwaZulu Natal LGBT Recreation together with other LGBT organisations inDurban. The House of Traditional Leaders (CONTRALESA (Congress of Traditional Leaders in South Africa) has made a proposal to the Parliament to amend the country's Constitution and take away gay rights, because according to them homosexuality is "un-African".

We stood outside the City Hall with our placards to make our voice heard. Here too the public transport strike took its toll, and we had fewer participants than we expected. Nonethless, we consider the event a success, because we did get a good deal of media coverage.

En francais / Out Brazilian handballer patron of TIP before heading to London Olympics

In an interview with Tetue.com, Brazilian handball player Mayssa Pessoa talks about how she came to be a patron of the TIP Paris International Tournament (alongside repeat patron Romain Mesnil), coming out to her teaammates, and its impact on her game:

TÊTUE: Comment t’es-tu retrouvée marraine du TIP cette année?
Mayssa Pessoa: Christelle Foucault (la présidente de la FSGL) est d’abord entré en contact avec Amélie Goudjo, qui est la capitaine de l’équipe de France et avec qui je joue en club. C’est Amélie qui m’a parlé du tournoi international, qui m’a demandé si je voulais en être la marraine. Je suis lesbienne, et je suis la seule dans mon équipe!

Tu avais déjà entendu parler de ce tournoi avant ça?
Non, et j’ai trouvé ça super intéressant! Un tournoi qui rassemble autour des homos, pour leurs droits et leur respect, je n’avais jamais vu ça et c’est trop bien! Et je suis déçue de ne pas pouvoir être là pour assister au tournoi, j’aurais aimé rencontrer des gens comme moi, gays et lesbiennes. Je ne peux pas car je suis en ce moment en Turquie, en préparation avec l’équipe du Brésil pour les JO.

Il y a aujourd’hui très peu de handballeuses professionnelles ouvertement lesbiennes…
Oui, il y en a beaucoup qui se cachent. Avant j’étais comme ça aussi…

Pourquoi?
Je ne voulais pas l’accepter. Et puis les années ont passé, jusqu’à ce que je me dise «J’aime les filles, c’est comme ça!» Aujourd’hui je suis en couple avec une femme, tout mon club le sait et je n’ai plus peur de rien.

La première fois que tu as fait part de ton homosexualité à une équipe de hand, c’était où? Ça s’était passé comment?
C’était en 2009, quand je suis arrivée en France pour jouer à Brest (après être passé par l’Espagne et le Portugal, ndlr). J’ai commencé à faire mal à la personne avec qui j’étais, qui habitait avec moi et que je cachais. Une fois j’ai passé une nuit entière sans dormir, à ne penser qu’à ça, et je me suis dit que je n’étais plus une gamine, qu’il ne fallait plus que j’aie peur. Le lendemain j’ai parlé à mes coéquipières et elles m’ont répondu: «Mais pourquoi tu cachais ça?! C’est pas grave!» Après l’avoir dit, je me suis senti bien, j’ai ressenti de la liberté.

Lire l'integralite ICI.

A 2010 profile of Rob Smitherman, sports director for Gay Games 9

Back in 2012, the Windy City Times did a great profile of Rob Smitherman, a sports manager for Gay Games VII in Chicago and for Gay Games VIII in Cologne. We're very happy that Rob is now the sports director for Gay Games 9, and particularly liked this quote in the 2010 article:

In the Gay Games and through gay sports in general, I found a more complete life. I hope that the Gay Games, and all the leagues and tournaments throughout the world can offer that to others. In many places we have 'won.' [In] the big cities of North America and western Europe we are at least tolerated if not accepted. But we have people coming from eastern Europe who cannot use their real names because they would face discrimination at home. We have countries of the world who consider being gay a criminal act punished by imprisonment or death. We have people in smaller towns in the U.S., Canada, Australia and western Europe who have never heard of the Gay Games and think they are alone in loving sports and athletics, and just happen to be gay. And we still have no out gay man, and very few open lesbians, playing in a major team sport throughout the world. Until we have equality throughout the world we need to offer gay sports, especially the Gay Games, to show that we are here, and we deserve to be treated fairly and without discrimination.

Read in full HERE.

Jacques Rogge rejects latest scheme to allow Saudi Arabia to exclude women from sport

Dalma Malhas, an Saudi equestrian athlete
who competed 2010 Youth Olympics in a private capacity. 

Let us note that in the best of cases, Saudi Arabia would field a token woman or two, athletes who live and train outside the country (if only because women can't really practice sport within the country), and only in certain Islamist-soluble sports (such as equestrian)> Any sport where a woman athlete might expose any skin is of course out of the question. So will the IOC show some backbone and enforce its own charter? It doesn't make much of a difference, but even a modicum of balls would be nice.

From Inside the Games:

May 25 - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has revealed there is no chance that Saudi Arabia's female athletes will be able to compete at the Olympic Games under the IOC Flag in a declaration that ups the pressure on the country ahead of London 2012.

There have been continuous calls for them to be banned from London 2012 since the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC) refused to bow to pressure to select women athletes for their Olympic team.

It was thought there was a still chance that Saudi Arabia's top female athletes might compete at London 2012 under the IOC banner, but Rogge has completely dismissed the idea, insisting that they are still working to solve the issue.

"There is absolutely no need to consider the .ossibility of the participation of Saudi women under the IOC Flag," said the IOC President here at the Sport Accord Convention.


Keep reading HERE.

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Learn more about the history of the Islamist campaign against woman in sport:

Bn French) HERE.

At the FGG/Gay Games 9 table

The FGG is pleased to be the guest of the TIP Paris International Tournament to promote Gay Games 9 and the opening of registration. On Friday, FGG board members Marc Naimark and Sebastien Datiche staffed the table.

"Against the Rules" at TIP Paris International Tournament

EGLSF's "Against the Rules" exhibition is a highlight of the sports village at the TIP.

TIP Paris International Tournament accreditation party

Friday 25 May 2012, the TIP Paris International Tournament opened at the sports village hosted by the 4th Arrondissement at the Espace des Blancs Manteaux event venue (also see the photos from Sensitif magazine HERE):

Nearly 2,000 red bags ready to distribute:

 Opening speeches:

 Training in the TIP flash mob dance:

Out WNBA player to play on US Olympic team

From the Advocate (h/t Outsports):

Minnesota lynx basketball star Seimone Augustus is, by all means, a homebody, but something told her to go out to a Minneapolis bar one night. After a few moments of quietly nursing a drink, she locked eyes with someone across the room. But this 6-foot-tall guard, the toast of Louisiana State University’s basketball program, a number 1 WNBA draft pick, and an Olympian, was too shy to even muster up a simple “hello.”

Fortunately, fate didn’t allow these two ships to pass in the night, and five years after their first date at a local Six Flags theme park, Augustus is getting married—to a woman. She says her future nuptials with LaTaya Varner encouraged her to come out publicly as a lesbian, and the two are planning a summer wedding. Not this summer, though. The 28-year-old is concentrating on finishing her season in the Russian women’s basketball league, a two-peat of the WNBA league title, and bringing home the gold this summer from the London Olympics.

Keep reading HERE.

21 September 2012 / Auf Deutsch / First women's football tournament in Vienna

99

(English below)
Einladung Frauen*fußball-Turnier in Wien

Kommt zur 1. Internationalen Queer-Feministischen FußBALLade im September 2012!

Frauen, Lesben, Inter, Trans, Lasst uns zusammen Fußball spielen,trainer_innenlos und kollektiv,weil der Weltraum auch unser ist!

Die Ballerinas laden ein zum Frauen*Hobbyfußballturnier in Wien:

Wann: Freitag, 21. – Sonntag, 23. September 2012
Turnierspieltag: Samstag, 22. September
Wo: Wien, Prater
Wie: Kunstrasenplatz, 5+1 Modus

Genauere Infos zum Ablauf, … folgen bald!

Interesse? Fragen und formlose Anmeldung unter:
ballerinas@aufschlag.org

Auf nach Wien – wir (be-)leben zusammen den BALLUSTRAUM

Es grüßen in Vorfreude,die Ballerinas

Frauen*Hobbyfußballteam Wien

http://fussballerinas.blogsport.de/
www.aufschlag.org

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Invitation to the Vienna Women*s Amateur Football Tournament

Come to Vienna for the city’s first ever International Queer Feminist Football Tournament [FußBALLade] in September 2012!

Women, Lesbians, Intersex, Trans, …
Let’s play football with each other
As a community, without a coach
Because this world is ours too!

The Ballerinas invite you to the Vienna Women*s Amateur Football Tournament:

When: Friday 21st – Sunday 23rd September 2012
Tournament day: Saturday, September 22nd
Where: Vienna, Prater
Field conditions: artificial grass, six-a-side

Details to follow shortly!

Interested? Want to sign up?
E-mail us at ballerinas@aufschlag.org

Looking forward to seeing you in September!

The Ballerinas
Women*s amateur football team, Vienna

Gay Games 9 in TIP program

The FGG and Gay Games 9 thank the FSGL and the TIP Paris International Tournament for offering space in the official tournament program. Come visit us at the sports village from now through Sunday!

Reykjavík will be awash with boys and girls in swimwear as the 2012 IGLA championship hits town

From GayStarNews:

Reykjavík in Iceland is gearing up for the 2012 International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) championship from 29 May to 2 June.

And despite being the world's most nothermost national capital, this gay-friendly city, complete with a lesbian prime minister, is guaranteeing a warm welcome.

Hundreds of competitors will travel from across the world to compete in swimming, water polo, diving, and synchronized swimming.

Formed by the LGBT aquatics clubs around the world, the concept of IGLA began to take shape in line with the development of the Gay Games in 1982.

Today IGLA is the world’s foremost international organization solely devoted to developing and promoting gay and lesbian swimming, water polo, diving, and synchronized swimming - promoting participation in aquatic sports among lesbians and gay men and maintaining high competitive standards for all major gay and lesbian aquatic events.

Shane Ewen, from Team New York Aquatics, is expecting this year’s IGLA event to make quite a splash in the small city of Reykjavik: ‘The fact that it is taking place in such a small country means it will be an event with a big impact.

'I've been talking with the organizers and the amount of support they have from the local community, including interest from the local media, is amazing.’

The Toronto Triggerfish water polo club will have one of the biggest presences in Reykjavik, with a delegation of three water polo teams.

For Triggerfish vice-president, James Mullen, this will be his third IGLA tournament: ‘Our best standing for water polo so far was a bronze in Denmark in 2009 - this year we’re hoping to place higher than that.’

However IGLA is not just for elite competitors - as New York’s Ewen explains: ‘IGLA has always been about participation - there is a full range of ability represented. In the past we have seen swimmers breaking Masters Swimming records. Just because we have a lot of fun, doesn't mean we don't take our sport seriously.’

Keep reading HERE.

MMA fighter says being open about her bisexuality is part of the sport

An extract from a Sports Illustrated profile of mixed martial arts fighter Jessica Aguilar:

 In six years, Aguilar has found her identity in fighting, earning a reputation as a fierce competitor with a slick ground game, buoyant striking technique and a room-warming toothy grin.
She's also reached some comfort in sharing her bisexual orientation, which she kept hidden in high school to avoid being singled out. Jessica came out to her ATT teammates with little fanfare ("When they found out, they treated me just the same," she said) and for the last year, has lived with her girlfriend, who wholeheartedly supports her fight career.

"I don't put it in any titles," said Aguilar, "but I'd say when I've found the right person -- whether it's a man or a woman -- I'd be happy."

Like fighting, Jessica's bisexuality is something her mother doesn't quite grasp. Mother and daughter haven't talked about it since Jessica first told her a few years ago.
"She asked me where I learned it or saw it," Jessica said. "I told her you didn't see or learn it; you felt it. She told me it would pass."

In the past, Jessica has been cautious not to reveal details like this one about her private life. She wasn't sure how it would affect her ability to get sponsorships or how the fans might react to it.
However, she's realizing that her chosen occupation comes with some expectation of openness if she wants fans to connect with her journey.

"It's always been something I had to be very conservative about and it's something I've had to get more comfortable talking about," she said. "If somebody doesn't agree with my choices, with all due respect, I just don't feed into it because that's negative energy. I'm sorry -- this is who I am."

Read in full HERE.

Best wishes to Elton John

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

Story HERE.

26 May 2012 / En français / L'image à l'honneur au village du sport du Tournoi international de Paris

L'image est à l'honneur au village du sport du Tournoi international de Paris qui commence aujourd'hui. Des expos photos, une projection débat, et une projection exclusive d'un documentaire inédit en France seront à trouver à l'Espace des Blancs Manteaux. Signalons aussi l'expo permanente sur les sportifs LGBT, "Against the Rules", prêtée par l'EGLSF.

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Du vendredi 25 au dimanche 27: expo photo "Le Sport et le corps"Jérôme BESSONE
9 clichés – la boxe

• Bruno PERROUD

Bruno Perroud est né en 1957 et a suivi une formation artistique pendant dix ans, chant, théâtre, musique en parallèle d’études d’histoire de l’Art à l’école du Louvre entre autres. En 1984 il devient journaliste en presse écrite pour le théâtre, le cinéma et la chanson (Magazine Lui et Max) et anime de nombreuses émissions de radio. En 1988 il s’occupe d’artistes et travaille en tant que relations publiques sur de nombreux spectacles (Muriel Robin, Sylvie Joly, Clémentine Célarié...). Depuis 2003 il est rédacteur en chef du magazine de spectacles Tatouvu.Mag.

Parallèlement à ses activités dans le spectacle il expose régulièrement ses oeuvres picturales et ses dessins à l’étranger et à Paris.

En 2007 il abandonne les pinceaux pour exploiter l’univers de la photo en se spécialisant dans l’art du portrait, des photos de spectacles et des corps masculins.

Dans le cadre de la manifestation du TIP, il présente pour la première fois quelques-unes de ses réalisations.

• Club Photo Lille

18 clichés – sports variés

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Le samedi 26 mai à partir de 17h au village du sport du TIP

Le mouvement sportif LGBT existe depuis 1986 en France. Il a été très peu visible dans les médias LGBT comme généralistes avant 2010. Mais dés 1994 des réalisateurs se sont intéressés à ces sportives et sportifs, clubs, fédérations...

Sylvie Najosky (Festival de cinéma Face à Face, St Etienne), Chriss Lag (FSGL, réalisatrice), & Philippe Liotard (Sociologue Université de Lyon 1) ont travaillés ensemble afin de sélectionner des images issu de 7 films réalisés entre 1994 et 2010 les regroupant autour de cinq thèmes. Ces films mettent en perceptives l'ensemble des valeurs portés par ce mouvement et permettent à tout un chacun d'accéder par l'image à ce qui se jouent dans ces jeux.

Séance présentée et animée par Philippe Liotard (sociologue) et Chriss Lag (réalisatrice)

Ces courts métrages on été réalisés pour le colloque international : Sportifs homosexuels et homosexuels sportifs : l’homophobie en question ! organisé à Paris les 2 et 3 décembre 2011 par la FSGL (Fédération Sportive Gaie et Lesbienne) associé au CRIS (Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport de l’Université de Lyon 1) et soutenu par l'EGLSF (European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation).

17 années d'images documentaire du sport LGBT en France.

• On n’est pas des pédés/elles sont toutes lesbiennes / L’homophobie sportive comme analyseur
• Corps sportifs - corps érotiques / Orientation sexuelle et vulnérabilité
• Homosexuels sportifs ou sportifs homosexuels ? / Sociabilités sportives et enjeux identitaires.
• Les uns contre les autres ? / Ethique et valeurs du mouvement sportif LGBT
• Des corps et des normes / Une économie de la différence corporelle

Montages de Sophie Nogier, d’extraits des films :

• TALONS ET POINTES (1994) de Philip Brooks et Kutlug Ataman – Coproduction Dominante 7, TV Suisse Romande; Planète Câble
• GAY A TOUT PRIX (1997) de Philip Brooks et Laurent Bocahut. Dominante 7 et Planète Câble
• LES GARÇONS DE LA PISCINE (2009) de Louis Dupont – Produit par Epicentre Films
• SPORTS ET HOMOSEXUALITE : C'EST QUOI LE PROBLEME (2010) de Michel Royer Prod Canal Plus
• BE PART OF IT : EN ETRE (2010) de Catherine Thiollière et Yves Bourgeay
• GAIS GAY GAMES (2010) de Françoise Romand. Produit par Alibi Production.
• ENTRE NOUS ? (2010) de Chriss Lag. Produit par Push Prod et Public G TV

Le TIP et la FSGL remercient les réalisatrices, réalisateurs, producteurs et distributeurs de ces films pour avoir autorisé la projection de ce jour à titre gracieux.

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Le dimanche 27 mai à partir de 14h au village du sport du TIP

Ballroom Rules, documentaire australien tourné lors des Gay Games VIII à Cologne, suit le parcours humain et sportif des membres du seul club de danse sportive LGBT de Melbourne.

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Award-winning travel writer's Cleveland writing

Christine Tibbetts has written several pieces about travel to Cleveland. Here are a few extracts:

Cleveland, Ohio: Circles of friendly experiences

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland inspired me. Talk about a town reinventing itself. This city on Lake Erie overflows with families in neighborhoods, enjoying their own restaurants and shops and sharing the results with visitors.

Don’t go if you like to be anonymous on a holiday. Do go to Cleveland to be part of happy circles of friends.

Keep reading HERE.

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Cleveland, Ohio: Top of the list

Fresh veggies from the back yard, or a Ritz Carlton weekend? Hmm. Tough decision? Take both – together --if you go to Cleveland, Ohio.

Sleep and stay in luxury, plus stroll the aisles of the West Side Market with the Ritz Carlton chef, selecting items for your dinner.

Surprises like that pop up all around Cleveland. Forget what you think you know about steel mills and the past. Allow today’s wonders to fill your visit.

Keep reading HERE.

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Put-in Bay: A Lake Erie and Cleveland bonus



Finding extras beyond the obvious pleases me, especially on a visit someplace new. On my way to Cleveland, Ohio I found a whole new destination.

Put-in-Bay is the village name, on South Bass Island. Ten miles to Canada.

I only lunched and poked around a bit, but if I’d known the cuisine, the calm, lake shore history, fishing and abundance of bed and breakfast inns, my plan would have included an overnight bag.

Keep reading HERE.

A sports camp to teach boys not to be gay. Huh?

A fascinating article about yet another Christian attack on homosexuals, this time young (maybe) gay men. The article features comments from Gay Games Ambassador Billy Bean:

This weekend a group of men will gather at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary to how learn to throw a spiral, make a three-point shot and hit a long ball — and to resist homosexual urges.

Courage, a Catholic group that encourages people with same-sex attraction to remain celibate, is holding its 13th annual sports camp in which “men physically compete on the field while enriching their souls through a daily regimen of prayer, confessions, mass, and the Liturgy of the Hours,” according to the group’s website.

“They think that in offering people with same sex attraction the chance to learn how to play sports they will learn to be manlier,” said Ed Coffin, director of Peace Advocacy Network, a Philadelphia group which plans to protest outside the seminary on City and E. Wynnewood Avenues Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The camp runs today through Sunday. Previous camps have attracted several dozen men from across the country.

“It’s a ludicrous assertion. There are many, many out gay athletes and many gay men who play sports,” he said.

Courage director Rev. Paul Check did not return a call for comment. A member of the local chapter said Rev. Check had given the sports camp coordinators permission to speak but that they declined.

The member, who asked not to be identified, said the weekend was a “tutorial sports event” and “not some sort of brainwashing camp that tries to make someone into something they’re not.”

He also said all different kinds of people were expected to attend, including married men “who had this issue in the past” and those who face “social blockades” because of their ineptitude when it came to sports. While no drinking is allowed, according to the registration form, in previous years participants celebrated at the end of the week with cigars and cognac.

The Courage website says it helps people with same sex attraction — the word gay is not used — develop “an interior life of chastity ... and move beyond the confines of the homosexual identity.” It is filled with advice from doctors, psychologists and ordinary people on living a chaste single life.

However, some of those affiliated with the group believe that people can change their sexual orientation. Therapist Paul Kleponis of the Institute for Marital Healing in West Conshohocken has said at Courage conferences that he believes homosexuality was rooted in childhood rejection and trauma and that through therapy people could develop an attraction for the opposite sex. He declined to comment for this story.

Some of that rejection, at least for men, can be linked to failure at sports, the group maintains. Robert Fitzgibbons, a therapist who runs the Marital Institute and has written extensively about what he calls healing homosexual attraction, said in an article on the Catholic Education Resource Center that boys who are rejected because they can’t play sports “begin to identify with the female instead of the male.”

At the root of the problem, he contends, is poor eye-hand coordination. Fitzgibbons spoke at a 2006 sports camp in St. Louis.

“Fortunately, Catholic spirituality, combined with good psychotherapy, can result in a complete healing of those with this disorder,” he wrote in a paper presented at the Conference on Family and Education in Toronto in 1996.

His secretary said he was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The camp is being held following a week of strong criticism of antigay, or conversion therapy. The California state legislature is debating a bill to ban the therapy as dangerous and the World Health Organization called it “a serious threat to the health and well-being — and even the lives — of affected people.”

Then the psychiatrist Dr. Robert Spitzer, author of acontroversial 2001 study that claimed that some highly motivated gay people could become heterosexual with therapy, this week said he was wrong and apologized to the gay community.

“It’s been a really bad week for this whole movement to change one’s sexual orientation,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, which fights against antigay theory and religious extremism.

The idea that gay people are bad at sports “is an insult to common sense and is contradicted by reality,” he said. “The idea that sports has anything to do with one’s sexuality is confusing science with stereotypes.”

Billy Bean, a former Major League baseball player who made headlines when he came out as gay in 1999 and wrote about his experience — including dealing with the sudden death of his partner — in the book, Going the Other Way, said in an e-mail that Courage’s take on sports “is discrimination and archaic stereotypical belief, that is inexcusable. We are born the way we are born. I find it heartbreaking that anyone would subject a young man into believing he should suppress who he is, in a way that is so potentially damaging.”

Now a Miami realtor, he also said he “could bring 1000 male athletes, who happen to be gay, that would disprove this ridiculous organization.”

Keep reading HERE.

28 May 2012 / SF Giants LGBT night to benefit FGG and local organizations

From Roger Brigham's Jock Talk column in the Bay Area Reporter:

All 1,000 special LGBT Night tickets were sold out two weeks ago according to Doug Litwin, marketing officer for the Federation of Gay Games, who said partial funds raised by the ticket sales will go toward the scholarship funds of Team SF and the FGG as well as the San Francisco Gay Softball League.

"The SFGSL was added in 2012 in honor of their 40th anniversary," Litwin told the Bay Area Reporter.

Last year's beneficiaries were the FGG, Team SF, and the Gay Straight Alliance, who equally divided $3,700, Litwin said.

Several LGBT sports organizations will have informational tables. This year, the tables will be located in the Community Clubhouse area, which is on the Promenade Level (main field level), right behind home plate. This is where the commemorative Giants LGBT beanie stocking caps will be distributed.

A retrospective tribute to the 40th anniversary of SFGSL and the 30th anniversary of the Gay Games are scheduled to be shown during the sixth inning, and the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco will lead the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Read in full, in particular to learn about the "LGBT night curse", HERE.

25 May 2012 / FGG at the sports village of the Paris International Tournament

The FGG is pleased to be the guest of the TIP Paris International Tournament, and looks forward to seeing you at the sports village.  Find the program of the weekend's activities at the village HERE.

25 May 2012 / En français / Le TIP c'est à partir de demain, et la FGG vous attend au village du sport !

La FGG est heureuse d'être invitée au Tournoi international de Paris, et vous attend au village du sport, dont vous trouverez le programme ICI.

Local news looks at out high school athletes

A TV report featuring author and coach Dan Woog.

En français / The "sexiest footballer in France" is the cover story for gay magazine Têtu

Top French footballer Olivier Giroud was chosen as the sexiest player in French Ligue 1. 

He's now the cover story for the next issue of Têtu magazine (a partner of FGG member organization FSGL). From their website, a sneak peek at the issue available at newsstands next week:


Vous l'avez élu footballeur le plus sexy de la Ligue 1 en janvier dernier. C'est aussi l'un des plus gay-friendly, puisqu'il a volontiers accepté de faire la couv' du prochain numéro de votre magazine préféré!


C'est le premier footballeur professionnel à oser le faire: l'attaquant de Montpellier Olivier Giroud a accepté de poser pour la couverture du prochain TÊTU! Déjà sacré meilleur buteur de la saison, il montre par là qu'il a aussi d'autres atouts, qu'avaient déjà repérés les internautes de Têtu.com, puisqu'il a été élu footballeur le plus sexy de Ligue 1 en janvier dernier, devant Lisandro Lopez, et Jean Calvé.


Extrêmement décontracté devant l'objectif du photographe, Olivier Giroud l'est également vis-à-vis des gays, et explique, dans l'interview qu'il accorde au magazine, qu'il serait «ravi» si son geste pouvait «participer à changer les regards et les mentalités».

NHL players Jordan Eberle and Brian Elliott say "You Can Play"

From You Can Play:

NHL All-Stars Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers and Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues team up for respect for all athletes and fans - regardless of sexual orientation.

Oilers forward Eberle, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, just finished his second season in the NHL with 76 points - his personal best.

Blues goalie Elliott, a native of Newmarket, Ontario, had a career-best season leading the NHL in save percentage and goals against average. Both Eberle and Elliott made their all-star debut at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa where their You Can Play messages were filmed.

These two deliver the simple but meaningful message, “If you can play, you can play.”

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Petition calls on Euro 2012 football players to show solidarity with LGBT people in Ukraine

A petition has been launched to ask football teams participating in the Euro 2012 championship to show solidarity with LGBT people in the Ukraine, victims of homophobic violence and other forms of discrimination:

To support Ukrainian LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender people and their friends and families) after a weekend in which 2 Gay* PRIDE organisers were violently attacked and injured even *after* they had abandoned the public Gay* PRIDE event in the face of overwhelming threats of violence against PRIDE participants. The peaceful Gay* PRIDE event was to highlight the severe difficulties encountered by LGBT people living in the Ukraine who cannot even make peaceful representations in the Ukrainian capital, the week that the law Article 8711, which forbids "homosexual propaganda", was discussed in the Ukrainian parliament (Vehovna Rada).

We urge the national football teams of countries whose foreign ministries have been active in upholding the human rights & dignity of LGBT+ people (Sweden, Netherlands, France, England, Germany, Denmark... express their solidarity by wearing something rainbow, (on the pitch, off the pitch, at the start of the game) to send a ray of hope to Ukrainian LGBT+ people, that they are *not* alone and that their future as LGBT people can be better.

Learn more and sign HERE.

Statement from the Federation of Gay Games on 2018 event

In the last few days, the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) has heard from several parties about the cessation of discussions for a single global quadrennial sport and culture event (IQE) in 2018. We know that our friends from GLISA International have heard similar complaints.

As we have stated before, the FGG, mandated by our member organizations, remains committed to the goal of a single quadrennial event. Although the process launched in 2010 did not succeed, we believe a single event can happen, and will work to make it happen. We repeat our thanks to those involved who devoted a great deal of time and effort to move this project forward.

We have invited GLISA International to discuss ways to be part of our Gay Games X event, and to begin talks on a merger of our organizations as the best way to achieve the goal of 1QE.

As always, we invite all interested parties to join the FGG to be part of this ongoing process. Join the organizations involved to make your voice heard louder. Work as volunteers on our committees to shape future Gay Games.

We also take this opportunity to thank the many groups that have expressed an interest in bidding for Gay Games X. We strongly believe that the Gay Games have demonstrated over the past three decades their contribution to progress for LGBT equality. Bidders and hosts are key players in making this happen. We know that all those truly devoted to the cause of LGBT sport and culture will support these bidders and the host of Gay Games X selected at our AGA in Cleveland, Ohio in late 2013, and of course join us in Cleveland+Akron from 9-16 August 2014 for Gay Games 9, for which registration has just opened.

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FGG press release on end of negotiations HERE.

Information for bidding on Gay Games X: 2018.gaygames.org

Registration for Gay Games 9: www.gg9cle.com

Mark Stephens: "Let's make LGBT rights the centrepiece of London 2012"

In the Guardian, Mark Stephens calls for action from the IOC on LGBT visibility and protection at the Olympics. Here is hs conclusion:

This article ends with three exhortations. The first is to LGBT athletes. You are the only ones who have the glare of attention that can be used to effect real change. If you feel safe to do so, come out and make a visible, memorable, courageous gesture for LGBT rights. Show that you are proud to be LGBT, just as Smith and Carlos were proud to be black.

The second is to the LGBT athletes who don't feel safe - and there must be many of you. I invite you to apply for asylum in this country on the grounds that you will face persecution at home if you are open about your sexual identity. Our supreme court has recognised, in HJ (Iran) in 2010, that a person cannot be asked to conceal their true sexual identity in order to avoid persecution. The court held that people must be allowed to live their lives free from the fear of serious harm coming to them as a result of their sexual identity. No one would consider it acceptable for a straight person to have to hide his or her identity: the same applies to LGBT people. LGBT athletes from the 84 criminalising jurisdictions should use this case to apply for asylum in the UK when they arrive for the Games in July.

Finally, to the IOC Committee. I implore you to ban countries where homosexuality is criminalised from competing in the Olympics. The Games are a valuable way of protecting human rights and promoting equality, a principle enshrined in the Olympic Charter itself. To distinguish between racial apartheid in South Africa, gender apartheid under the Taliban and the criminalisation of consensual sex between adults of the same gender is artificial. Countries that sanction such discrimination, and the violence that goes with it, should not be allowed to compete. Far from bringing politics into sport, this step would fulfil the values of the Olympic Charter.

Read in full HERE.

Ljubljana tournament a success for Football for Equality

From the announcement of the event:

Nogometna Družina Je Zakon! – Football Family Rules!

The tournament organised by SPOLINT will be held in Ljubljana on Sunday, May 13th. There will be 12 teams (7-a-side), each playing 4 games. Among invited teams, ex-Olympic athletes have agreed to participate and they will form a team named »Olympic ladies«. Artists (poets, writers and actors) will have their own team as well. Both of them will help raise the publicity of the event.

On their website, SPOLINT started to publish informative texts about discrimination and homophobia in sport. In order to reach-out to certain target-groups, SPOLINT cooperates with a local high school to take action as well. One of the most efficient ways of gaining knowledge is learning by doing. Pupils from the High School – Gymnasium Vič support in translating texts on homosexual athletes into Slovenian that are available on SPOLINT’s web site.

This material together with the planned opening of the exhibition ‘Against the Rules’ in Ljubljana and a round table discussion on 8 May 2012 will rise further awareness on homophobia in sport and strengthen knowledge about that topic in Slovenia.

Come, visit the tornament and show your engagment against homophobia and other forms auf discrimination!

Patrick Burke tells closeted athletes to trust their teammates

On the Our Group blog, Patrick Burke shares his insights after two years of advocacy as an ally:


In the two years that I have been doing outreach to the athletic community regarding LGBT athletes, fans, and coaches, I have been lucky enough to share the stage with fantastic representatives of the LGBT community: Openly gay coaches, administrators, team captains, record setters, leading scorers, All-Americans, and Olympians. They share their stories to our audience, usually college sports teams, with tremendous openness and honesty. I provide the straight ally’s perspective, which generally consists of me listing all the ways I screwed up before I knew how to treat the LGBT community with respect.

After the second or third “Invisible Athlete Forum”, I began to notice a pattern. At some point during our talks, while I was listing all the mistakes I had made, all of the LGBT athletes would list one universal mistake: “I wish I had given my straight teammates more credit for being accepting.”

We all know that locker rooms can be intimidating for LGBT athletes. The constant use of casual homophobia can intimidate anyone into staying in the closet for fear of being ostracized. This is the principle focus of the You Can Play Project- encouraging athletes to end casual homophobia and make the sports world safe for the gay community. But every single one of the athletes I have presented with has expressed their regret for not trusting their teammates to support them when they came out.

Keep reading HERE.

Student athlete one of The Advocates "40 under 40"

Along with Gay Games Ambassador Brian Sims, another sportsperson is among The Advocate's "40 under 40":

Galen Dodd • 15 (right)
Los Angeles
Student Athlete, Palisades Charter High

When high school volleyball player Galen Dodd came across Outsports.com, a resource for LGBT sports fans and athletes on every level, he instantly felt a connection. Dodd, who plays for the Palisades Charter High School team and on another at the Southern California Volleyball Club, figured out he was gay in middle school. First he came out to his sister, but before he could tell everyone he knew on Facebook, he had to deliver the news to his parents.

“I didn’t want to tell them about it,” he says. After his sister relayed the news to them, he was still reluctant to talk to them about it. Dodd has since grown closer to his parents, and he turned to them for help in writing his story for Outsports. In October 2011, Dodd became the youngest person to come out on the site, and he has received a complete embrace from his team. “My coaches told me that halfway through the fall season, after I came out, they saw a tremendous growth in me as a player and that my team really rallied together,” he says. As Dodd now knows, it’s all about the team.