Sports
Everyone out for the ballgame
Washington Nationals host LGBT fans for 6th annual Night OUT
The Washington Nationals will host local LGBT fans for the 6th annual Night OUT on Tuesday, June 22 at 7:05 p.m.
Since 2005, Team DC has worked to create a night for the LGBT community to get together and cheer on the home team.
“It’s not just about visibility of our community,” said Brent Minor, president of Team DC.
Minor continued that Night OUT is a way to get people who normally don’t watch sports out with other members of the LGBT community.
In its first year, Night OUT brought more than 1,000 fans to RFK stadium.
“When we started the event, it was the first year the Nationals were in Washington,” said Minor. “We thought we’d only have about 300 people but we had 1,100.”
The event moved to Nationals Stadium along with the team and according to its website, Team DC is hoping to have 3,000 fans in attendance this year.
“We have over 2,300 people in our sections,” Minor said on Monday evening. “It’s already gonna top last year.
The Gay Men’s Chorus will start the night out as they have in past years singing the National Anthem. Council member Jim Graham will announce, “Play ball.”
DC Different Drummers will also be performing prior to the game on the Centerfield Plaza near the Night OUT seating as people come into the stadium.
“I think everybody is extremely excited,” said Zachary Parker, director of the Drummers. “It’s wonderful that [Team DC] is taking the initiative to include other GLBT organizations.”
The Drummers have been working with the Nationals entertainment organizers in preparation for this event. This will be their first appearance at Night OUT. Their performance will include some audience favorites from Pride.
“We’re all very honored,” said Parker.
Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch will be Revs. Darlene Garner and Candy Holmes, one of the first same-sex couples to get married in D.C.
“We are very excited to be part of Night OUT with the Nationals. We are delighted to support our team and to see a great game,” Garner and Holmes said in a statement to the Blade. “And mostly, we are honored to stand proudly as representatives of the entire proud LGBT community.”
Minor said the decision to invite Garner and Holmes was a way to recognize the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington.
There will also be recognition of event organizers and distinguished members of the LGBT community on the field before the game starts.
On Sunday, Nellie’s Sports Bar will be hosting a Beer Bust from 6-8 p.m. to celebrate the upcoming game. Team DC will raffle off tickets to games later in the season.
Nellie’s will also be hosting the 10th Inning Post-Game Party starting as soon as the game ends. Nellie’s and the Washington Blade are official sponsors of the event.
As of Monday, the Nationals were last in the National League East with a 31-33 record, six games behind the division leaders, the Atlanta Braves. Their record at home was 18-12. They will face the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
The Nationals have recently become one of the most talked about teams with the addition of their new pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, who after only two starts, has already racked up 22 strike-outs, 19 of which came before his first career walk.
Strasburg was the first overall selection in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. Debuting in the major leagues on June 8, he became the second player to strike out seven straight batters in an MLB debut, half of his strikeouts that night.
Fans in attendance for Night OUT can get tickets for one of three areas, the scoreboard pavilion, outfield reserved and right field mezzanine. Tuesday is also T-shirt Tuesday at the stadium and the first 10,000 fans will receive a free shirt. Visit nationals.com/nightout to purchase tickets.
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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