Sports
Getting in the game
Local gay bowling league has several opportunities in the region
Robert ‘Pixie’ Fontaine, winner of the 2011 Roger Newman Award, given annually by the Capital Area Rainbowlers Association. (Photo courtesy CARA)
The Capital Area Rainbowlers Association (CARA) is active year round and is always looking for people to join its leagues. A few of the bowling leagues are still looking for members to sign up for the winter season, which runs through the end of April.
Rainbowl League: This league bowls on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at AMF College Park Lanes. This is a social league composed of one-person teams. The league has room to expand and is looking for both new and experienced bowlers. Every regular league member will receive bowling shoes and the winning team will also get United States Bowling Congress (USBC) championship rings. therainbowlleague.com
We Are Everywhere: This league bowls on Thursdays at 7:45 p.m. at AMF Annandale Lanes. This is a very social/party league that consists of three-person teams. weareeverywhere.info
SMACK: This league bowls on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. at AMF Alexandria Lanes. Teams are composed of two people with team members changing each week. SMACK bowls a four-month league, from January to April. The shorter season of about 15 weeks in length allows for shorter time commitments from bowlers. carabowling.org/smack.html
CARA bestowed its 2011 Roger Newman Award, its highest honor, to Robert “Pixie” Fontaine in a recent ceremony. The award is given annually by the CARA president to someone who has made a significant contribution to the bowling community.
Fontaine has been involved and active in LGBT bowling since 1982. During the course of the past 30 years, he has held the positions of president and secretary of Pride of Alexandria, president of the summer duckpin league and has served as the president of the Friday Free State Mixed league in Bethesda for the past three years.
Fontaine has also been active for the past 25 years with a variety of duties for the annual Capital Halloween Invitational Tournament, serving as tournament director for five years. He was also the hospitality chairman for the International Gay Bowling Mid-Year Tournament in 2010. Congratulations Bob!
Coming up for Team D.C. is the annual Team D.C. Fashion Show and Model Search. Some of the proceeds from the event go to fund the Team D.C. Student/Athlete College Scholarship which is given each year to an openly gay athlete.
This year’s event will be held on March 10 at Town Danceboutique with fashions provided by Universal Gear, The Leather Rack, Fireboy and others great places. The winner receives $500 cash, a professional photography session with Robert Mercer Photography and several other great prizes. You can vote online in advance for the models at teamdc.org.
Each year the District of Columbia Aquatics Club hosts Swim for Life, a sanctioned U.S. Masters Swimming open water event that raises money for local HIV/Aids programs. You can be a part of this year’s event as a swimmer, volunteer or donor on July 14 on the Chester River.
If you’re planning a triathlon at some point, this is a great chance to get some open water experience in a safe, supervised and fun environment. More information and video coverage are at swimdcac.org.
The Adventuring outdoors group is hosting the Chain Bridge-Key Bridge Circuit Hike on Sunday. The group will start the 9-mile hike near Theodore Roosevelt Island (a short walk from the Rosslyn Metro Station), and will follow the Potomac Heritage Trail along the south side of the Potomac, cross the river at Chain Bridge and then take the C&O Canal Towpath to Georgetown.
From Georgetown, the group will cross the Key Bridge to return to Roosevelt Island. This is considered an easy hike except for a few challenging sections such as the rock scramble over jagged rocks after Donaldson Run. The group will meet near Roosevelt Island at 9:30 a.m. Trip fees are $2 and you should bring a lunch and water. Contact Jerry at [email protected] to RSVP and to get the exact meeting location.
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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