Sports
Ready to roll
Gay Games vet focuses on bowling this time for practical reasons
Jeremy Glasser with the Gold Medal he won at the last Gay Games in 2010. He brought it and his bowling pin for a quick photo shoot this week at Night Out at the Kastles. (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)
When Jeremy Glasser went to his first Gay Games in Sydney, Australia in 2002, he competed in both bowling and tennis. Considering both sports run the entire week of the Games, it was a lofty undertaking. Added to that challenge was the issue of dragging his bowling ball and tennis racket half way around the world.
Next month, Glasser will compete in his third Gay Games in Cleveland, his first on American soil, and will limit himself to one sport.
“For Cleveland, I chose to compete in bowling because I can just throw my bowling ball in the trunk of my car and drive there,” Glasser says. “For Paris in 2018, I will probably choose tennis since it will be easier to transport my racket.”
Another reason for choosing bowling in Cleveland is that he wants to defend his gold medal in team bowling that was won in the 2010 Cologne Gay Games.
Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, Glasser played the obligatory little kids sports such as T-ball and soccer. In junior high, he coached volleyball but most of his focus was on academics.
After moving to Washington, where he works as a paralegal and is an alumni of George Mason University, Glasser and his partner at the time were looking for something to do outside of the bar scene. They joined an LBGT bowling league in 1996 and Glasser has continued to bowl with the Capital Area Rainbowlers Association (CARA).
The bowling led to a season with the Chesapeake and Potomac Softball League and then the Capital Tennis Association. Glasser is currently a member of both CARA and the Association.
“I bowl in a CARA league during the winters and play on the CTA league in the summers,” he says. “Bowling is my social outlet and tennis is my exercise.”
At the Gay Games next month, Glasser will compete in the singles, doubles and team events in bowling. He recently used the Liberty Bell bowling tournament in Philadelphia as a tune-up and will continue to practice bowling weekly along with his tennis play leading up to the Games.
Glasser has a few reasons for staying in the sport of bowling for almost two decades.
“I love the social aspect and there are so many nice and friendly people,” he says. “Since you don’t have to be athletic, I feel that bowling is inclusive of everyone. All types of people can bowl.”
Glasser, who is hearing impaired, is active with the International Gay Bowling Organization and serves as national Co-Chair of the Deaf & Disabled Bowlers Advisory Committee. Their goal is to give everyone an opportunity to participate and to foster a sense of belonging at tournaments and events. They also provide ASL interpreters and ensure that all event venues are ADA compliant.
“Another wonderful thing about bowling is that the handicap pin count scoring system allows an average bowler to directly compete with a good bowler,” he says. “Not every sport offers a chance for all to feel equal.”
Now 40, Glasser says that his favorite thing about the Gay Games is the opening ceremonies. Washington, D.C. is generally the last team before the host team to march into the stadium during the parade of athletes.
“Once Team DC comes into the stadium, it is already packed with athletes and fans. The noise level will be incredible and I won’t be able to stop smiling,” Glasser says. “There is a real sense of acceptance and belonging to a greater community.”
He adds laughing, “I mean the Pointer Sisters are going to be there. I’m so excited. Right?”
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
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