Sports
Once paralyzed, gay rower eyes London
Former D.C. resident training for Paralympic Games
Jason Beagle was paralyzed from the waist after a 1994 car accident. (Photo by M.V. Jantzen)
In 1994, Jason Beagle was in a car accident that left him with shattered vertebrae, paralyzed from the waist down. Spinal fusion and many months of therapy enabled Beagle to regain the use of his legs.
Eventually, he was able to walk without a cane but still had to deal with physical limitations and some paralysis. After moving to D.C. to pursue work as a director at the Shakespeare Theatre, Beagle decided to test his body and joined the LGBT sports team, Chesapeake and Potomac Softball (CAPS).
“I wanted to try a sport that I had played before the accident,” said Beagle. “It turned out that softball was a little bit beyond my limits.”
In 2007, he joined another LGBT sports team, the DC Strokes Rowing Club (DCSRC) and entered the “Learn to Row” program. Beagle ended up falling in love with the sport and went on to compete in rowing regattas with the team and eventually became president of the club.
With the encouragement of DCSRC Coach Patrick Johnson, Beagle joined Capital Adaptive which was a new program offered by the Capital Rowing Club. Capital Adaptive was formed to introduce the Washington area’s population of disabled military veterans and civilians to the sport of rowing.
“I wanted to see what it was like to row with other athletes with disabilities,” says Beagle. “I was classified as an adaptive rower with functional use of his legs, trunk and arms (LTA).”
At the start of 2011, Beagle received an email from U.S. Rowing Coach, Karen Lewis, inviting him to a development camp at the Oklahoma City National High Performance Center (OKC-NHPC). At the conclusion of the development camp, he was invited to the international selection camp for adaptive rowers to be contested in June 2011.
With only 10 weeks to train, and along with help from the DC Strokes and Capital Adaptive, Beagle adopted a high performance training program that consisted of four hours of rowing a day along with his 45-hour work week.
Beagle ended up losing his seat race at the selection camp and returned to D.C. disappointed, but committed to the sport of rowing. He continued racing with the DC Strokes and competed in several adaptive rowing sprint races.
In July 2011, Beagle received another invitation from Coach Karen Lewis. This one was an invitation to consider moving to Oklahoma City and applying for residency at the OKC-NHPC. After several weeks of consideration and a trip to Oklahoma City for the U.S. Master’s National Championships, Beagle decided to take the plunge and his application for residency was accepted.
In December 2011, Beagle quit his job in D.C., packed up his car and moved to Oklahoma City. He is now in residence with more than 20 high performance rowers at the OKC-NHPC, which includes adaptive rowers and able-bodied rowers.
At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, rowing was added to the sports lineup for the first time. As designated by FISA, the international rowing federation, there are three categories in Paralympic rowing. Arms only (A), Trunk and Arms (TA) and Legs, Trunk and Arms (LTA).
Beagle is now in heavy training for a chance to compete for the USA at the 2012 London Paralympics. A typical day for Beagle consists of 12 miles of rowing in the Oklahoma River, six hours of work at Chesapeake Energy and another 12 miles on the river in the evening.
Somewhere in the course of a week he also fits in ergometer training, weight training, biking, light running and time in the indoor high propulsion rowing tank.
All the hard training has given Beagle some incredible results. “My time for 1,000 meters has improved by 35 seconds,” says Beagle. “That currently ranks me second in the United States in the LTA category.”
The selection camp for the 2012 London Paralympics will be contested in Charlottesville, Va., beginning on May 25 on the Rivanna River. The United States prequalified a boat for London in the LTA category, which is a four-person mixed sweep boat (4+) at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, Slovenia.
During the course of the two-week selection camp, four men and four women will be selected to compete in seat racing. Over the course of several days, the eight rowers will rotate spots in the four-person sweep boat looking for the combination that will result in the fastest time. The final selection will consist of the fastest two men and two women.
Getting into the mindset of an elite athlete has been an interesting challenge for Beagle. “Sometimes, because of my theater background, I feel like I am training for opening night of a play,” he says. “I have never pushed my body this hard and am looking forward to what challenges lie ahead.”
Regardless of the outcome in Charlottesville next month, Beagle will remain at the OKC-NHPC through the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “I am enjoying it in Oklahoma City,” says Beagle. “The LGBT community here is quite social and the various cliques seem to be very accepting of each other.”
Everyone here in D.C. will be rooting for Jason as he rows his way to London for a shot at the gold medal.
Information on local rowing is at dcstrokes.org and capitalrowing.org. Information on U.S. Rowing is at okc-nhpc.org.
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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