Von Siegessäule.de:
Es ist ja nur ein Detail dieser Olympischen Sommerspiele, aber nicht nur für unsereins ein gewichtiges: Dass es ein Pride House gibt. Ein Haus, das offen ist für alle Gäste - aber gewidmet war und ist allen Sportlern und Sportlerinnen aus der LGBTI-Community. Kurzum: Schwulen und Lesben aus aller Welt. Londons Haus des Stolzes auf "sexual
otherness" ist das erste bei Sommerspielen, das erste überhaupt gab es
vor zwei Jahren in Vancouver zu den Winterspielen. Nun mögen routiniert gesinnte Gemüter sagen: Na klar, ist doch kein Wunder, dass in Kanada und Großbritannien solche Community Center standen und es in der Stadt der diesjährigen Spiele ja noch bis Sonntag Abend geöffnet hat.
Ich finde, dass künftige Städte von Olympischen Spielen ein solches Haus haben müssen. Es ist uns wichtig, es ist überhaupt wichtig für eine gute Welt, in der wir nicht unsichtbar sein oder bleiben wollen, es ist wichtig, wenn man so will, für die seelische Gesundheit der allermeisten Menschen: Die Differenz nicht nur zu tolerieren, sondern aktiv zu fördern. Ja, mehr noch: Ich finde, dass - am Beispiel des Pride Houses - nur noch Städte Olympische Spiele ausrichten dürfen, die sich bereits in der Bewerbung verpflichten, auch ein guter Ort für LGBTI zu sein.
Weiter lesen
Featured events
| 7-9 September 2012 Brussels Games Brussels  Learn more HERE. | 26-28 October 2012 QueergamesBern Bern, Switzerland  The success of the first edition of the QueergamesBern proved the need for an LGBT multisport event in Switzerland. This year will be even bigger, with badminton, bowling, running, walking, floorball. Learn more HERE. | 17-20 January 2013 Sin City Shootout Las Vegas  Learn more HERE. | 13-16 June 2013 IGLFA Euro Cup Dublin  Learn more HERE. |
Showing posts with label sochi2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sochi2014. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
FGG at protest against homophobic ban on Pride House at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia
 |
| Carl Schulz representing the FGG, center |
Protesters picket Sochi 2014 exhibition in London
LGBT Pride House banned at Sochi Winter Olympics 2014
London - 9 August 2012
“Russia must drop its ban on a LGBT Pride House at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The IOC should enforce the Olympic Charter and compel Russia to allow a Pride House for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes.”
This appeal comes from protesters who picketed the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Exhibition in Kensington Gardens, London, today, Thursday 9 August.
“London 2012 has a LGBT Pride House but Russia won’t allow one at Sochi. This ban is part of a wider crackdown on LGBT communities and visibility in Russia. It is an attack on freedom of expression and association, and coincides with new laws in several parts of Russia that ban so-called homosexual propaganda,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation and coordinator of Thursday’s protest.
“We have written to the IOC, urging them to intervene. Russia’s gay ban is contrary to the equality and non-discrimination provisions of the Olympic Charter. The IOC is duty-bound to require Russia to permit a LGBT Pride House,” he said.
Other participants in the protest echoed Mr Tatchell’s concerns.
Rakshita Patel, from the Peter Tatchell Foundation, added:
“It is really important for LGBT athletes to have a safe, welcoming space - with their friends and family - especially in countries like Russia where the atmosphere is currently very homophobic.”
Megan Worthing-Davies of Pride Sports (UK), said:
“The laws being used to forbid Pride House in Sochi are immoral, unfair and archaic. We call on Russia to repeal this ban.”
Carl Shultz, from the Federation of Gay Games, concluded:
“Pride House reflects the equality principles of the Gay Games and the Olympic Charter. The Russian judicial authorities that rendered the Sochi ban contradict the modern trend to equality and the Olympic ideal.”
Thursday's protest was supported by:
Pride Sports (UK)
The European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
The Federation of Gay Games
The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association
Peter Tatchell Foundation
OutRage!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Where are the out Olympians?
From Jill Lawless, Associated Press:
LONDON – It has been a great games for gay Olympians — probably.
British equestrian Carl Hester won gold in team dressage in London. Midfielder Megan Rapinoe has scored three goals for the U.S. women’s soccer team and several other lesbian players are part of the Dutch field hockey team heading into Friday’s final.
But it’s likely there have been more triumphs by gay and lesbian competitors that the world doesn’t know about.
There are more than 10,000 athletes competing at the London games, but when the gay website OutSports.com set out to count how many were openly gay, it came up with 23.
“It’s an absurdly low number,” said site co-founder Jim Buzinski. He said that compared to the arts, politics or business worlds, “sports is still the final closet in society.”
Estimates of the percentage of gay people in any given population vary widely. In a 2010 survey by Britain’s Office for National Statistics, 1.5 per cent of respondents identified themselves as gay or bisexual, although many consider that an underestimate.
Only a handful of Olympic competitors have publicly identified themselves as gay, including Hester, Rapinoe, U.S. basketball player Seimone Augustus, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham and South African archer Karen Hultzer, who came out to the media during the games.
“I am an archer, middle-aged and a lesbian,” the 46-year-old athlete told OutSports — but said she looked forward to the day when her sexuality was not an issues. I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee,” she said. “None of these aspects define who I am, they are simply part of me.”
Gay sports groups say the London games organizers have been welcoming, including gay, lesbian and transgender volunteers among its staff and sanctioning an official games rainbow pin.
The London Pride House, a gay hospitality venue, had official approval from games organizers. London organizing chief executive Paul Deighton said the site helped show Britain as an inclusive place “which welcomes the world’s diverse communities and creates a safe sporting environment for LGBT athletes.”
But activists fear the next host city — Sochi in southern Russia — will be far less gay-friendly. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong. Protests by gay rights activists regularly end in mass arrests.
British rights activist Peter Tatchell and a handful of supporters rallied Thursday outside Russia’s Sochi Park pavilion in London to protest Russian authorities’ refusal to allow a pride house at the 2014 Winter Games — a decision that was backed up by a Russian court.
“Quite clearly, this ban is in violation of the Olympic charter, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees equality,” Tatchell said. He said the International Olympic Committee “doesn’t appear to want to engage with this issue.”
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the IOC would not comment “on private court cases,” but added that “the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the games.”
Marc Naimark of the Federation of Gay Games said the IOC should pressure countries to repeal anti-gay laws the way it once excluded South Africa for its racial apartheid policy and, more recently, succeeded in getting all competing nations to include female athletes on their teams in London.
“The lack of ‘out’ athletes in the Olympics is a symptom,” Naimark said. “It’s not the problem.”
There is a particular dearth of openly gay male Olympians — there are only three men on that London list of 23. The most high-profile is Mitcham, whose Twitter biography calls him “that gay, 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude.” He’ll be defending his 10-meter springboard title at the games this weekend.
Rapinoe, who came out earlier this year, said it was more difficult for male athletes than for women to be open about their sexuality.
“I think there’s a lot of gay women in sports, and it’s widely known in the team, they can live a pretty open lifestyle without being open in the media,” she said. “But I think for men unfortunately it’s not the same climate in the locker room.”
There’s also the fear of losing lucrative commercial endorsements. Sponsors would never admit that they would drop an athlete who came out as gay, but few competitors would want to risk it.
Much was made of the fact that former NBA player John Amaechi signed an endorsement deal with razor company HeadBlade after he came out in 2007. But HeadBlade is small potatoes compared to Adidas or other huge sports sponsors.
Times may be changing, however. Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber said the company would stand by an athlete who chose to come out of the closet.
Buzinski thinks the environment for gay athletes is improving. He points to the growing number of athletes, gay and straight, who are prepared to speak out against homophobia.
Many athletes who come out say it has been a positive experience — and even performance-enhancing. Rapinoe scored two goals in the U.S. team’s semifinal win over Canada.
“I guess it seems like a weight off my shoulders,” she said on the eve of Thursday’s gold medal match against Japan. “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before. I think I’m just enjoying myself and I’m happy.”
___
Associated Press Writers Joseph White and Raissa Ioussouf contributed to this report. Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
LONDON – It has been a great games for gay Olympians — probably.
British equestrian Carl Hester won gold in team dressage in London. Midfielder Megan Rapinoe has scored three goals for the U.S. women’s soccer team and several other lesbian players are part of the Dutch field hockey team heading into Friday’s final.
But it’s likely there have been more triumphs by gay and lesbian competitors that the world doesn’t know about.
There are more than 10,000 athletes competing at the London games, but when the gay website OutSports.com set out to count how many were openly gay, it came up with 23.
“It’s an absurdly low number,” said site co-founder Jim Buzinski. He said that compared to the arts, politics or business worlds, “sports is still the final closet in society.”
Estimates of the percentage of gay people in any given population vary widely. In a 2010 survey by Britain’s Office for National Statistics, 1.5 per cent of respondents identified themselves as gay or bisexual, although many consider that an underestimate.
Only a handful of Olympic competitors have publicly identified themselves as gay, including Hester, Rapinoe, U.S. basketball player Seimone Augustus, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham and South African archer Karen Hultzer, who came out to the media during the games.
“I am an archer, middle-aged and a lesbian,” the 46-year-old athlete told OutSports — but said she looked forward to the day when her sexuality was not an issues. I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee,” she said. “None of these aspects define who I am, they are simply part of me.”
Gay sports groups say the London games organizers have been welcoming, including gay, lesbian and transgender volunteers among its staff and sanctioning an official games rainbow pin.
The London Pride House, a gay hospitality venue, had official approval from games organizers. London organizing chief executive Paul Deighton said the site helped show Britain as an inclusive place “which welcomes the world’s diverse communities and creates a safe sporting environment for LGBT athletes.”
But activists fear the next host city — Sochi in southern Russia — will be far less gay-friendly. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong. Protests by gay rights activists regularly end in mass arrests.
British rights activist Peter Tatchell and a handful of supporters rallied Thursday outside Russia’s Sochi Park pavilion in London to protest Russian authorities’ refusal to allow a pride house at the 2014 Winter Games — a decision that was backed up by a Russian court.
“Quite clearly, this ban is in violation of the Olympic charter, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees equality,” Tatchell said. He said the International Olympic Committee “doesn’t appear to want to engage with this issue.”
IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the IOC would not comment “on private court cases,” but added that “the IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the games.”
Marc Naimark of the Federation of Gay Games said the IOC should pressure countries to repeal anti-gay laws the way it once excluded South Africa for its racial apartheid policy and, more recently, succeeded in getting all competing nations to include female athletes on their teams in London.
“The lack of ‘out’ athletes in the Olympics is a symptom,” Naimark said. “It’s not the problem.”
There is a particular dearth of openly gay male Olympians — there are only three men on that London list of 23. The most high-profile is Mitcham, whose Twitter biography calls him “that gay, 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude.” He’ll be defending his 10-meter springboard title at the games this weekend.
Rapinoe, who came out earlier this year, said it was more difficult for male athletes than for women to be open about their sexuality.
“I think there’s a lot of gay women in sports, and it’s widely known in the team, they can live a pretty open lifestyle without being open in the media,” she said. “But I think for men unfortunately it’s not the same climate in the locker room.”
There’s also the fear of losing lucrative commercial endorsements. Sponsors would never admit that they would drop an athlete who came out as gay, but few competitors would want to risk it.
Much was made of the fact that former NBA player John Amaechi signed an endorsement deal with razor company HeadBlade after he came out in 2007. But HeadBlade is small potatoes compared to Adidas or other huge sports sponsors.
Times may be changing, however. Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber said the company would stand by an athlete who chose to come out of the closet.
Buzinski thinks the environment for gay athletes is improving. He points to the growing number of athletes, gay and straight, who are prepared to speak out against homophobia.
Many athletes who come out say it has been a positive experience — and even performance-enhancing. Rapinoe scored two goals in the U.S. team’s semifinal win over Canada.
“I guess it seems like a weight off my shoulders,” she said on the eve of Thursday’s gold medal match against Japan. “I’ve been playing a lot better than I’ve ever played before. I think I’m just enjoying myself and I’m happy.”
___
Associated Press Writers Joseph White and Raissa Ioussouf contributed to this report. Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
How about a birthday gift to help get Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup to Sochi?
13 June is the birthday of Gay Games Ambassador Blake Skjellerup. He's a great guy and an advocate for LGBT youth, and could use your help to fund his journey to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. A share of donations will go to earthquake relief for his hometown of Christchurch, NZ.
Donation link : http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/blakeskjellerrupforgold
www.blakeskjellerup.com
www.facebook.com/TheBlakeSkjellerup
www.twitter.com/BlakeSkjellerup
Instagram : BlakeSkjellerup
www.orcon.net.nz
www.mightyape.co.nz
www.wisecouncil.co.nz
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Russian appeals court confirms homophobic ban on Sochi Pride House
A Sochi appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling denying registration to Pride House, a local gay movement, saying it constitutes a threat to Russia’s sovereignty, the Yugopolis news portal said on Wednesday.
The Sochi court said that Pride House's goals “undermine public morals and are at odds with national policy on the family, motherhood and children.”
The founders of Pride House were appealing an earlier ruling in a Krasnodar Territory regional court.
Pride House aimed to provide "an objective source of information on the LGBT movement in Russia and the world" for athletes and spectators during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Pride House, the Sochi court said, advocates a non-traditional sexual orientation that could spark social strife and lead to a decrease in the country’s already low birth rate, thereby “undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.”
On Monday, Russian Orthodox Church official Hieromonk Dimitri Pershin called for a nationwide law similar to one that was recently approved in St. Petersburg, which imposes fines for the promotion of homosexuality.
The law defines propaganda of homosexuality as "the targeted and uncontrolled dissemination of generally accessible information, which can damage the health, moral and spiritual development of the underaged."
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
For Sochi Pride House ban, IOC, as courageous as ever, refuses to act on homophobic discrimination
Olympic bosses comment on gay games event ban
International Olympic Committee says discrimination is banned but fail to slap down Russian authorities who have outlawed Pride House from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi
20 March 2012 | By Tris Reid-Smith, Andy Harley
Olympic bosses have backed equality at the 2014 Winter games but avoided criticizing Russian authorities who have banned a gay Pride House from the event.
The first Pride House was held at the Winter Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver, Canada and it set to be repeated at the 2012 games in London this summer.
But, as Gay Star News reported last week, a judge in Russia has backed the ban imposed by the authorities on organizing Pride House for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Russian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender campaigners had planned the venue to be a meeting place for gay sportspeople and their supporters with events including a sports competition and photo exhibition.
But judge Svetlana Mordovina ruled against them saying that Pride House would threaten the growth of the Russian population and therefore risk the country’s ‘territorial integrity’.
She described the event as ‘breaching the understanding of good and evil, good and bad, vice and virtue’.
Now the International Olympic Committee has responded about the ban to Gay Star News, although they stop short of criticizing the Russian authorities directly.
An IOC spokesperson told us: ‘The Olympic Charter does not allow for discrimination against those taking part in the games.
‘The IOC is an open organisation and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the games.’
But the sparse response is unlikely to satisfy GayRussia activist Nikolai Alekseev who has pledged not to give up on the fight to have a Pride House in Sochi.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)