Sports
Joining forces
New gay football league forms; teams play on Sundays in Rock Creek Park
Gay football enthusiasts gather every Sunday in Rock Creek Park to play. The teams have a rigorous method for ranking players. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Majoros)
It’s mid October and the smell of football is in the air.
The Baltimore Ravens are 4-2, the Washington Redskins are 3-3 and both Gang Green and Golden Wave are 4-1. No, those are not new NFL teams; they’re the frontrunner teams in the D.C. Gay Flag Football League’s inaugural season. The league had been a dream for many players for years and has finally come to fruition.
A group of guys began playing flag football near Dupont Circle in 1994 and another group began playing on the Mall in 1997. In September 1998, the two groups merged and continued to play pickup games throughout the winter season.
In October 2003, the group was invited to compete in the National Gay Flag Football League’s (NGFFL) Super Bowl in Boston. The team was named the Washington Monuments and went on to win the tournament in their first attempt. They repeated as champions in 2004. In 2007 the League offered the Monuments a second slot in the Championships to be held in New York, so a new team was formed called the Washington Metros.
Both teams competed that year and again in 2008. In 2009, Washington was awarded Gay Bowl IX and the two teams formed the League as a 501(c)3 to host the tournament.
The Monuments and Metros also travel annually to Chicago in June to compete in the Pride Bowl. Just two weeks ago, the teams participated in Gay Bowl X in Phoenix. Their performances qualified them to compete once again in the A bracket next year in Houston at Gay Bowl XI.
After intense planning and recruitment led by Chris Cormier, the league organizers had a list of more than 100 players with which to begin selecting teams. Funding came from the $25 registration fees for the players and team sponsorship from local businesses. The new league follows the guidelines set up by the League which is seven-on-seven play for two 30 minute halves. At the end of each half, three plays are run with no timing. The season consists of six weeks of regular play with two weeks of playoffs for the league championships. The next step in setting up the league became figuring out a way to separate the players into competitive teams.
League Commissioner Brandon Waggoner devised a strategy to rank the players. Fifty of the players were veterans of the Monuments and Metros teams thus their abilities were known to the league organizers. Skills clinics were held and the players were also asked to rank their own abilities on a skills list.
Based on the findings, the players were then ranked. According to League President JJ Johnson, the number of teams in the league was determined by the number of experienced quarterbacks on the roster of players. It was decided that seven teams would be formed led by a captain, a co-captain and a quarterback. Ninety-four players were chosen for the seven teams with the rest of the players put on a waiting list. After week three of season play, eight more players were pulled from the waiting list to beef up the teams.
The League plays its games on the Carter Barron Fields in Rock Creek Park on Sundays usually at 10 and 11:30 a.m. If you head out to watch them in action, you will be treated to well-executed plays, some trash talking and the occasional diving catch. Diversity of the players is present as the league boasts a 10 percent straight and 3 percent female base.
Johnson says any growth for the future will be contingent on the number of quarterbacks who step forward. That sounds like a challenge for all you retired quarterbacks out there. The group would also like to have more stats on its website and could use a volunteer statistician.
Check out the league here.
Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.
Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”
Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.
FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”
Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.
“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”
“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.
“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.
The Baltimore Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. for Pride Night at Oriole Park.
The first 15,000 fans will receive an exclusive Pride Night Orioles jersey. The Washington Blade is a media sponsor of this event.
To purchase tickets, visit Orioles.com/Tickets.
Sports
Minor league team in York, Pa., forfeits Pride Night game after some players refuse to wear special jersey
City is roughly 20 miles north of Md. border
An independent minor league baseball team says it is forfeiting a game because some of its players refused to wear a special Pride Night jersey.
The Atlantic League Pro Baseball’s York Revolution were planning to hold their 11th annual Pride Night event Thursday for a game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
But the Revolution announced the day of the game that it wouldn’t be played. York is about 20 miles north of the Maryland line. The Blue Crabs play in Waldorf.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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