Some FGG wishes...

Congratulations to FGG Officer for International Development Paul White of Sydney, who has just entered a UK civil partnership with his longtime partner.

Matthew Micham: SSO coverboy

Matthew has made the cover of countless publications. He's a talented athlete, he's a role model, and he's not too bad to look at. But here at the FGG we're particularly pleased with one of his latest covers, that of Gay Games media partner the Sydney Star Observer, which gave Matthew pride of place in announcing his plans to attend Gay Games VIII in Cologne. Read their article HERE.

Matthew Mitcham: coverboy

Matthew has made the cover of countless publications. He's a talented athlete, he's a role model, and he's not too bad to look at. But here at the FGG we're particularly pleased with one of his latest covers, that of Gay Games media partner the Sydney Star Observer, which gave Matthew pride of place in announcing his plans to attend Gay Games VIII in Cologne. Read their article HERE.

Facebook update

Here are some of the groups coming to Gay Games VIII in Cologne that have a Facebook page or group:
Belgium Team @ GG Cologne 2010






Philippine Team to VIII Gay Games Cologne 2010








Team Richmond Cologne 2010






Softball Games Cologne 2010








Team Oregon 2010




Equipe France 2010





Basketball Tournament - Gay Games VIII Cologne, Germany












Danish gay synchroswim team for Gay Games Cologne 2010












Team Band Cologne 2010
















London Raiders D Squad Trip to Cologne 2010
Israel delegation for Gay Gmes Cologne 2010
Australia @ Gay Games Cologne 2010

And of course:
Cheer for Susan to Get to the Gay Games in Cologne, 2010 (Susan her new bike today and proceeded to get a flat tire in the rear: but she's still very happy to have her bike)

Countdown to Cologne 2010: Gay Games International Rainbow Memorial Run begins journey from San Francisco to Germany

Special symbol of the gay rights movement will travel to past Gay Games Host Cities, arriving in Cologne in time for 2010 Opening Ceremony

San Francisco, CA - Less than 10 days after the Olympic flame was lit at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the LGBT sporting world will begin its own countdown to the 2010 Gay Games that take place later this year in Cologne, Germany. The International Rainbow Memorial Run (IRMR) gets underway on Sunday, 21 February, 2010 at 10:00 am in the San Francisco National AIDS Memorial Grove.

Every four years, the Rainbow Run helps the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) celebrate the lives of those who have graced the Gay Games movement and served or participated in the Games. “In many ways, this is our own ‘torch’ run,” said Brent Nicholson Earle, founder and organizer of the IRMR, “and we begin by renewing our connection with San Francisco, ‘our Athens,’ the city of our birth.”

Gay Games VIII recruiting volunteers: Be part of it!

At the heart of the Gay Games are the approximately 3,500 volunteers who make the Gay Games the greatest sporting and cultural event in the world! We need your help as a volunteer!

Volunteer for Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010
The Cologne Gay Games provide ample opportunities for active volunteers. Medical care for athletes, supervising facilities, ushering spectators and guests, hospitality services for VIPs, aid in cultural events, accreditation staff, support for the Opening Ceremony at the RheinEnergieStadion, and much, much more.

Register as a volunteer for Gay Games Cologne 2010 >>>

Help out now in the Volunteer Management Team
Your help is needed now, to prepare for the Cologne Gay Games! The Volunteer Management Team is planning now for the assignment of volunteers for the Gay Games. If you would like to be a part of the Volunteer Management Team or one of the other working teams preparing for the Gay Games (sports, public relations, marketing, IT, finance, sponsorship, infrastructure), just fill in the form: contact

Latest Gay Games Ambassador profile: Brian Sims

(And he's coming to Cologne...)

Brian Sims
Residence: Philadephia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Sport: U.S. Football

At a glance:

In 2000, Brian Sims was the captain of the Bloomsburg University football team in northeast Pennsylvania. In the middle of the greatest season in the Division II school’s history, he did the unthinkable: he came out of the closet! In doing so, the regional All-American and team captain became the only openly gay college football captain in NCAA history and the most notable college player to ever come out.

Following a trip to the National Championship, and after 12 seasons of winning football, Sims, a high school and college football champion, packed up his cleats and went to law school. Now, nine years after his record-setting season, Sims is an LGBT advocate and successful policy attorney, living and working in Philadelphia.

His story was detailed recently by OutSports and he became an instant celebrity. To date, Sims’ story has been featured by Gay.com, TheAdvocate.com, and numerous newspapers, prompting literally hundreds of personal responses from athletes, coaches, parents and allies in over 30 states and 15 countries!

Brian told the FGG “I'm so proud of the years I spent playing football and the teammates that I had during those years. Having this opportunity handed to me to let people know that, is something I'm really excited to do.

The truth is that most Americans, especially those under 30, are so incredibly tolerant and understanding of LGBT civil rights and it's just a matter of letting them know that their peers feel the same way. Interestingly, only 1/3rd of young people think that their peers are as accepting of LGBT civil rights as they are, when in reality, it's an overwhelming majority.

According to Brian, “having the opportunity to look people in the eyes, especially young people, and say ‘hey thanks for the support so far, now tell your friends why you're so supportive. Oh, and they already agree with you, too’ is a pretty great message to get to spread.”

Registration opens for TIP Paris International Tournament

The 7th edition of the TIP (Tournoi international de Paris/ International Paris Tournament) will be held in Paris from May 21st to 24th, 2010. 20 sport disciplines will be represented in this tournament. There will be also room for great moments and our outstanding closing party/ show we are sure you will never forget!

Teams from all over the world will be participating in this massive mixed sports gathering. We are expecting to welcome more than 1 500 players.

This year, besides the usual international tournament, a special multisport tournament has been created for women. This multisport tournament will take place on the second day of the tournament which means a woman can play her sport on the first day and attends the women's multisport tournament the second day.

Some new sports this year: Water Polo, Inline Roller Skating, Dance.

Multisports women tournament (volleyball, handball, basketball)
Arts martiaux/Martial Arts
Athlétisme/Track and Field
Aviron/Rowing
Basketball/Basketball
Danse à deux/Dance
Football/Soccer
Lutte/Olympic Wrestling
Natation course/Swimming
Natation synchronisée/Synchronised Swimming
Plongeon/Diving
Plongée/Scuba Diving
Roller/In-line Skating
Rugby/Rugby
Softball/Softball
Squash/Squash
Volley-ball/Volleyball
VTT/Mountain Bike
Waterpolo/Water Polo

More info and registration HERE.

Getting to Cologne... a little money helps

It's great to have a generous donor... but nothing beats good old-fashioned fundraising. Let's give thanks to these angels, and to the hundreds of volunteers who make it possible for teams from around the world to participate in the Gay Games.

In Philadelphia:

Thanks to a donation from a longtime member of the City of Brotherly Love Softball League, the local LGBT softball association is in the process of organizing a team to send to the 2010 Gay Games in Germany, July 31-Aug. 7.

Jeff Sotland, CBLSL commissioner, said an anonymous donor gave the organization $10,000 last month to be used for sending a contingent to next summer’s event in Cologne. The Gay Games, held every four years, is the largest LGBT sporting event in the world, bringing together LGBT and ally athletes from around the globe to compete for the top titles in myriad sports.

[...]CBLSL has reached out to players and supporters for donations and has so far accumulated another $5,000.

Read more HERE.


In NYC:

Team New York has received a USD 5,000 gift to start its fundraising for uniforms for participants in Gay Games VIII.

Read more HERE.

The alternative to suicide? Coming out...

Outsport publishes a great story about a young lacrosse player from New York. There's a lot to say, but my takeaway is the importance of role models, and for athletes young and old to be proud and out: it saves lives. Read it for yourself.

I had just finished my junior-year lacrosse season at Oneonta State University in New York when word came that I was going to be a captain of my team for the 2010 season. I was excited. I was honored. I was depressed.

At home I reflected on my life: How will people remember me after I take this bottle of pills so I can just die and no one will ever know I ‘m gay? I could see my funeral being played out: The images brought me to tears as I watched my father, brother and former teammates as pallbearers, all of them wondering why I decided to end my life. “How could Andrew do this to himself? He had it all.”

I had experienced no lonelier point in my life. I felt no one could understand my feelings. Who the hell is gay and plays sports, especially lacrosse?

Read the whole article, and the preceding ones, on Outsports.

Vancouver news

From Change.org: "The Five Most Gay-Friendly Things About the 2010 Winter Olympics"
From Queerty: "Gay Dutch Speed Skater Ireen Wüst Isn't Happy Her Sexuality Became an Olympic Story"

More Gay Games VIII Facebook fun

Visit the pages of the Danish synchro team HERE.
And help Susan get to Cologne HERE.

Matthew Mitcham to attend Gay Games VIII

Kai Peters, GM Lufthansa Australia; Philipp Lischke, Games Cologne Australia; Kate Rowe, FGG VP External Affairs; Matthew Mitcham
Photo: FGG/William Cheung

MATTHEW MITCHAM SHOWS: EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE
Olympic gold medal diver Matthew Mitcham makes his way to Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010

San Francisco – (14 February 2010) 5,300 artists and athletes have already registered at Cologne's sports and cultural festival Gay Games VIII (www.games-cologne.com) and every new day the numbers grow. Now, Australian Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham has announced he will travel to Germany to be part of Cologne's edition of the Gay Games. Matthew will be making appearances at several events while in Cologne, but won’t be competing in the sports program.

“I’m excited to be part of something so important for our communities around the globe. This event brings lesbian and gay life out on the court, onto the track, and into the pool", Matthew explains. “Being ‘out’ means for me being just as I am with nothing to be ashamed about and no reasons to hide. Participating at the Gay Games is a great chance for all gays and lesbians to show that we as a community are not like the stereotypes the straight media loves to portray. I will take time off from training and travel to Cologne, since I strongly feel we have to celebrate our own values and help others to accept that it is OK to be different.” Matthew will capture his trip to Germany and participation in the Gay Games on his Facebook page, allowing people who can’t be there to follow his personal story of being involved in a life-changing event like the Gay Games.

From Outsports: A winter Olympian on being out

Olympian: Why gay jocks don’t come out
February 15th, 2010

I asked a friend of mine, who is gay and who competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics and who is a member of the National Guard, why he thought there were so few out athletes in Vancouver. His reply was so interesting and articulate, I asked him if I could post it here.

He is insightful about what keeps Olympians in the closet, “crushes” in the Olympic village, parallels to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and even some advice for Bode Miller about getting to bed early before his race:

By A Former Winter Olympian

I don’t think much has changed within Olympic sport since I competed in 2006, despite Matthew Mitcham winning gold in 2008. Sport and the military are the last vestiges of homophobic, conservative tradition in Western culture. Whereas the military could be made less homophobic by policy (if someone got around to doing that), sport is a disparate and complex network of organizations, sponsors, and athletes that span the globe, whose values can’t be changed by decree.

Homophobia hurts straight people, too

We're sure that you're already aware of FGG Ambassador John Amaechi's blog entitled "Dear John". But we want to point out a recent post with a powerful message, written in the wake of the Football Association video debacle. Here are some extracts:

I have mentioned at the beginning of this piece that I don't think the effect of homophobia on the LGBT community is the crux of why we should focus on the "gay issue."

I think homophobia is an important issue because of the effect it has on straight people. Homophobia is literally and figuratively killing our youngsters - especially young, straight boys.

In school, for a boy, being clever and interested in academia is gay, being kind and thoughtful is gay, being respectful to parent, authority figure or woman is gay.

YouTube video from TEAM PILIPINAS

Team Pilipinas recently joined the FGG as a partner organisation. This Facebook entry was distributed by their president. It is an excellent simple video media campaign for human rights.

Rainbow greetings to you all!

Philippine Forum on Sports, Culture, Sexuality and Human Rights (TEAM PILIPINAS) is a registered non-profit organization working on social change for and by young Filipino LGBTIs and other SGMs from the grassroots. The organization believes that society’s view on LGBTIs and SGMs as either being mentally disordered, freaks of nature, sinners, or immoral people is clearly wrong, blatantly oppressive and totally unjust and that there is a need to raise people’s awareness on these issues and to mobilize public action against discriminatory views and practices towards building a society that recognizes, promotes and protects the equality in dignity, rights and freedoms of all persons no matter what their statuses or conditions in life are.

Flashback to Gay Games VII

At the Opening Ceremony of Gay Games VII at Chicago's Soldier Field, the participants gathered on the field formed an illuminated rainbow flag. A fantastic moment for everyone present! Come to Gay Games VIII in Cologne this summer and be part of manyh more moments to remember for a lifetime!

Flashback to Gay Games VI

GAY GAMES VI
OPENING CEREMONY SYDNEY
SATURDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2002

COURAGE
The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG

Under different stars, at the beginning of a new millennium, in an old land and a young nation, we join together in the hope and conviction that the future will be kinder and more just than the past.

At a time when there is so much fear and danger, anger and destruction, this event represents an alternative vision struggling for the soul of humanity. Acceptance. Diversity. Inclusiveness. Participation. Tolerance and joy. Ours is the world of love, questing to find the common links that bind all people. We are here because, whatever our sexuality, we believe that the days of exclusion are numbered. In our world, everyone can find their place, where their human rights and human dignity will be upheld.

This is a great night for Australia because we are a nation in the process of reinventing ourselves. We began our modern history by denying the existence of our indigenous peoples and their rights. We embraced White Australia. Women could play little part in public life: their place was in the kitchen. And as for gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities, they were an abomination. Lock them up. Throw away the key.

We have not corrected all these wrongs. But we are surely on the road to enlightenment. There will be no U-turns.

Brian Sims has a cool job

Brian Sims, the latest leader to join the team of Gay Games Ambassadors,has been named by the Advocate as one of 23 people with "the coolest jobs".

BRIAN K. SIMS
Attorney
Philadelphia // 31

It’s a wonder Brian Sims has time to breathe. He is staff counsel for policy and planning at the Philadelphia Bar Association, a body that guides attorneys, judges, and politicians on controversial legal matters. Sims is also president of the board of directors of EqualityPA, chairman of the board of directors of Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia, and has recently joined the national campaign board of the Victory Fund. “My not-so-subtle agenda since I joined the bar was to make it more gay-friendly,” he says. It’s a lot of work, but Sims insists, “I work with some powerful, influential, and wealthy people who have enormous influence on civil rights. To see them come out of the woodwork on civil rights is tremendous.” Sims—who made a splash in the collegiate sports world in 2000, when, as a defensive tackle and captain of the Bloomsburg University football team, he came out to his team—is also a speaker in high demand, talking to college students about being a gay jock. Thought his advocacy, policy work, and public speaking, Sims is uniquely situated to see positive change in action. “I’m going to see the fruits of my labor, here and now.”

FGG launches new website

As part of a new online initiative that will include a registration system to be made available to future Gay Games hosts and to FGG member organizations, the Federation of Gay Games has just launched a new version of its website.

Provided by SportingPulse, a world leader in online services for sports events, most recently the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia, the website will allow for more frequent updates, greater interactivity with users, and easier access to historic information going back to Gay Games I in 1982.

The new home page features an appeal for scholarship donations, and information about member organizations and FGG Ambassadors. The current featured video is a message from Olympic gold-medal-winning diver Matthew Mitcham, welcoming participants to Gay Games VIII in Cologne, Germany, from July 31 to August 7, 2010.

It's early days for the website, and there are certain to be bugs to work out, layouts to be harmonized, and data to be transferred. Please report any bugs to Kelly Stevens, Officer for Communication, at kstevens@gaygames.org.

The website remains available at the usual FGG addresses: gaygames.com and gaygames.org.

Sport is a human right... and you have to be alive to play

"Team Uganda" entering Soldier Field in Chicago for the Opening Ceremony of Gay Games VII (photo Kat Fitzgerald for FGG/CGI)

From the very beginning of the Gay Games in 1982, our movement has been about equality and human rights. Since the first Gay Games, the life of gay men and lesbians has significantly improved in many places.

Spectators and participants present in Soldier Field at the Opening Ceremony of Gay Games VII heard plenty -- some thought too much -- about one of the last critical obstacles to equality in the USA, the right to marry the person you love. The Gay Games movement is part of this evolution that has lead the US and many other countries to progress toward true equality.

In other parts of the world, things have not improved so much, or have even regressed. One of those places is Africa. When Federation of Gay Games delegates came to Cape Town in 2008 for the FGG's Annual Meeting, we learned that even in the most progressive country in Africa, one where protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is written in the Constitution, gays and lesbians face violence and death.

But in South Africa, those committing these atrocities are considered criminals. Elsewhere, those who murder gays and lesbians are not considered criminals: they are considered moral, ethical officers of the law. In Uganda, for example, a country where homosexuality is already illegal and punishable by up to 14 years in prison, whatever the final text of the "anti-homosexuality bill" being adopted, the message is clear. Homosexual men and women must legitimately fear for their life and well-being.

68 and Living Personal Best Every Day

Arde Johnson is a Gay Games alumni. He is a sports leader by example and by his work. He understands the mission of the Gay Games and articulates it well in this article in the www.oregonlive.com news.

A quote from Arde Johnson:
"That's the thing with the competing in the games, it's not about winning first. It's about doing my best."

Click HERE to read the full article. It will make you smile and believe you can be your best at age 18, 28, 68, or 98. Go Arde!

Team Oregon in the news

Just Out has been covering the work of Team Oregon to prepare for Gay Games VIII.

Starting with this article about Team Oregon itself (extract):

But another group of Northwest athletes has its sights set on this coming August, when the world’s largest sporting event—in terms of participation—zeroes in on Cologne, Germany. Gay Games VIII is poised to be well-represent­ed by Oregon, thanks to organizational efforts by a slew of gay, lesbian, bi, and trans activists, athletes, supporters and more. Collectively, they are Team Oregon 2010.

Four years ago, Portland businessman Brian Craig assembled a group of athletes to attend Gay Games VII in Chicago. While the trek to the Windy City that year was a success, with many lauded individual performances and a good share of medals, the scope of that organi­zational project was considerably smaller than the Team Oregon 2010 effort.

It's a strange, strange world: Prop 8 judge is gay, and represented USOC in Gay Olympic Games case

Judge in Prop 8 trial outed
News update Feb. 7, 2010

The San Francisco Chronicle has outed Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who is overseeing the Prop 8 same-sex marriage trial in California. Testimony has ended in the case, and final arguments from both sides are expected soon.

According to the Chronicle, the fact that Walker, an Illinois native, is gay is actually an open secret and is widely considered to be a non-issue. See the story at LINK.

This brings up the issue of whether sexuality matters in this case. If Walker was straight, would be have to recuse himself?

Writers Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross state: "Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise -- or advertise - his orientation. They also don't believe it will influence how he rules" on the Prop 8 case.

Ironically, Walker is the attorney who took a case against the gay community, and late activist Dr. Tom Waddell, when the U.S. Olympic committee sued to deny the Gay Olympics the right to use the Olympic word; they were forced to change to Gay Games. Walker was a private attorney back then, representing the IOC, which had never challenged other groups from using the word.

The Chronicle reports that the Prop 8 case was actually assigned to Walker randomly. The lawyer for the pro-Prop 8 side claims they would not make an issue of Walker's sexuality if the case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, the paper reported.

Jack Mackenroth training for Cologne

Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth is training hard for Gay Games VIII. From an interview in Queeried:

In all of your travels, both professional and personal, what would you say would be your favorite, and why?

I swim competitively, so I love traveling internationally for big swimming competitions. My favorite is the Gay Games. I have been to every Gay Games since 1990. They’ve been held in Amsterdam, Sydney, and Vancouver, just to name a few. This summer they will be in Cologne. I just started training again two weeks ago with Team New York Aquatics (TNYA.org). It will be a blast. Although right now me body is hating me.

Sport is a human right... and you have to be alive to play

From the very beginning of the Gay Games in 1982, our movement has been about equality and human rights. Since the first Gay Games, the life of gay men and lesbians has significantly improved in many places.

Spectators and participants present in Soldier Field at the Opening Ceremony of Gay Games VII heard plenty -- some thought too much -- about one of the last critical obstacles to equality in the USA, the right to marry the person you love. The Gay Games movement is part of this evolution that has lead the US and many other countries to progress toward true equality.

Is Matthew Mitcham the greatest athlete in Australia?

We're great fans of Matthew, so we'll be rooting for him as he competes in a television face-off between exceptional Australian athletes from a variety of disciplines. The show began this weekend, and you can follow Matt's progress at the show's (not very easy-to-use) website HERE.

This comes hot on the heels of Matthew's great performance at 2010 Australian Open Diving championships in Sydney, where he placed 1st in the 1m and platform, 2nd in the 3m, and in synchro with Ethan Warren, took 2nd in the 3m and 1st in the platform.

Team Berlin joins the Federation of Gay Games!

The international Federation of Gay Games is pleased to welcome its latest member, Team Berlin, which has joined the FGG General Assembly as an associate member.

Team Berlin is made up of the athletes and artists from Berlin and environs, together with their friends and supporters, who participate in international LGBT sports and cultural events.

For more information about Team Berlin, visit their website HERE.

Gay Games VIII warm-ups heat up

More and more teams are getting ready for Gay Games VIII with special matches.

Among them, the Leftfooters Football Club and the London Royals Hockey Team (pictured), who will face off in a charity hockey meets football competition this weekend. Half the match will be football, the other half field hockey.

More info HERE.

And on the other side of the world, water polo teams Sydney Stingers and Melbourne Surge recentlyh faced off in the first of two pre-Gay Games matches, with a close win by the Surge.

More info HERE.

Have you got some Gay Games warm-up matches planned? Let us know by writing to kstevens@gaygames.org.

Former Gay Games Chicago Co-Chair Seeks Chicago City Council Post

Mona Noriega, the first co-chair of the Chicago 2006 Gay Games bidding group, has thrown her hat into the ring for an appointment by Chicago Mayor Daley to the post of Alderman (City Council Member). The position is open because the current Alderman has accepted a state-wide position from the Illinois Governor. If not appointed, Noriega may choose to run for election in 2011.

Noriega would be the 2nd openly LGBT member of Chicago's City Council. Tom Tunney, an openly gay businessman, represents Lakeview, including Halsted Street's famous "Boystown" business district.

Read more HERE in the Windy City Times.