Sports
Let the Gay Games begin
Cleveland prepares for its close-up after controversies
Les Johnson and Team D.C. expect to field a strong contingent at next year’s Gay Games in Cleveland. (Washington Blade file photo by Pete Exis)
The two quadrennial international sports competitions taking place in 2014 — the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the Gay Games in Cleveland — couldn’t be setting more dissimilar tones.
Though it hasn’t been without its own controversies, next August, organizers of the Cleveland Gay Games are prepared to welcome the LGBT athletes that Russia vows to muzzle.
Rob Smitherman, sports and operations director for Cleveland’s Gay Games 9, said that, even as much of the western world begins to embrace LGBT rights, the continued need for the Gay Games couldn’t be more obvious since Russia and the IOC have begun warning athletes not to attempt to test the nation’s new anti-gay “propaganda” law.
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“People need a place to come to feel that they are safe and to express themselves fully,” Smitherman said. “To be who they are, not feel like they have to hide in any way. And it’s still important.”
He said athletes from around the world still contact him saying they can’t compete and be open anywhere besides the Gay Games.
“Even in the United States and Europe, we still need this. For the kids in small towns and states like Alabama.”
Atlanta-based 10-year hockey veteran Chuck Hagel — who will be attending for the first time as an official and a participant with his group Gay Hockey International — said the games are much different than other traditional, non-sporting events because they are inclusive of people of all ages, ability levels, and even include a focus on non-competing attendees.
“This particular event is incredible because it brings together athletes of all different playing levels, different types of sport,” Hagel told the Blade, adding that the games are perfect for those who may have felt less included or sidelined in other championship events. “Promoting athleticism and camaraderie at all different age groups.”
Smitherman touts the walkability of all of the venues from the official 30 host hotels in Cleveland and Akron offering registrants special rates through the Games’ site. Early bird registration ends Sept. 1, but Team D.C. announced in its Facebook group a special discount through Sept. 15 for Team D.C. members.
Team DC President Les Johnson — who attended the 2010 games in Cologne, Germany with more than 100 other Team D.C. participants as a bowler — said that for most athletes at the Gay Games, competing is about “personal best.”
“It’s something that ordinary people don’t experience,” Johnson said of experiencing the festive and affirming spirit of the Gay Games. “Getting that medal really means a lot because you’re competing against all of your peers”
“Cleveland is going to be totally different because we can drive to Cleveland,” Johnson said, contrasting it with Cologne. Johnson said Team DC could bring more than 500 athletes.
Ten percent of the 11,000 expected attendees have already registered. Most competitive events are free for spectators, making this an ideal getaway for LGBT sports fans — assuming there are hotel rooms left.
“People need to get a move on and get registered,” said Smitherman, who has attended and played basketball in four Gay Games.
Smitherman said participants should be excited about the non-sporting events too, with opening ceremonies at the home of the Cavaliers basketball team, Quicken Loans Arena, and closing ceremonies taking place at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — all within walking distance of the hotels.
Pink Flamingo is an event that many who attend Gay Games look forward to, where aquatics teams compete for prizes performing synchronized swimming routines in outrageous costumes.
“It’s kind of a highlight of the games every time,” said Smitherman.
Besides official Gay Games events, Johnson said the games always feature a multitude of unofficial parties every night around town, and Smitherman said that his group is working with local theaters and galleries to offer even more cultural opportunities. Additionally, the Gay Games is partnering with the International Gay Rodeo Association to bring an event to Akron as part of the festivities.
Smitherman said the Gay Games 9 organizers are eager to move on after a previous group, the Synergy Foundation, had its license revoked by the Federation of Gay Games, which the Washington Blade reported on extensively.
“Our organization is a gay organization that has a really diverse board. We have straight people on our board,” Smitherman tells the Blade, saying while their involvement with the Gay Games ended abruptly, had it not been for Synergy Foundation, Cleveland would not have won its bid for the games against other the larger cities competing, including Washington, D.C. and Boston. “We’re way past the drama of ‘who should host the games.’”
Johnson said Russian athletes also plan on taking part in the Gay Games.
“I’m not for boycotting personally, but it does seem some kind of action needs to take place,” Johnson said regarding the legal quagmire faced by athletes, coaches, personnel, trainers and fans heading to Sochi, where any demonstration of support for LGBT people could be penalized.
Sports
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry strike a pose in memorable Olympics performance
Madonna’s presence is being felt at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Guillaume Cizeron and his rhythm ice dancing partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France performed a flawless skate to Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Rescue Me” on Monday.
The duo scored an impressive 90.18 for their effort, the best score of the night.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season to get over 90, so it was nice to see the score on the screen,” Fournier Beaudry told Olympics.com. “But first of all, just coming out off the ice, we were very happy about what we delivered and the pleasure we had out there. With the energy of the crowd, it was really amazing.”
Watch the routine on YouTube here.
Italy
Olympics Pride House ‘really important for the community’
Italy lags behind other European countries in terms of LGBTQ rights
The four Italian advocacy groups behind the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ Pride House hope to use the games to highlight the lack of LGBTQ rights in their country.
Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano organized the Pride House that is located in Milan’s MEET Digital Culture Center. The Washington Blade on Feb. 5 interviewed Pride House Project Manager Joseph Naklé.
Naklé in 2020 founded Peacox Basket Milano, Italy’s only LGBTQ basketball team. He also carried the Olympic torch through Milan shortly before he spoke with the Blade. (“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie last month participated in the torch relay in Feltre, a town in Italy’s Veneto region.)
Naklé said the promotion of LGBTQ rights in Italy is “actually our main objective.”
ILGA-Europe in its Rainbow Map 2025 notes same-sex couples lack full marriage rights in Italy, and the country’s hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity. Italy does ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, but the country’s nondiscrimination laws do not include gender identity.
ILGA-Europe has made the following recommendations “in order to improve the legal and policy situation of LGBTI people in Italy.”
• Marriage equality for same-sex couples
• Depathologization of trans identities
• Automatic co-parent recognition available for all couples
“We are not really known to be the most openly LGBT-friendly country,” Naklé told the Blade. “That’s why it (Pride House) was really important for the community.”
“We want to use the Olympic games — because there is a big media attention — and we want to use this media attention to raise the voice,” he added.
Naklé noted Pride House will host “talks and roundtables every night” during the games that will focus on a variety of topics that include transgender and nonbinary people in sports and AI. Another will focus on what Naklé described to the Blade as “the importance of political movements now to fight for our rights, especially in places such as Italy or the U.S. where we are going backwards, and not forwards.”
Seven LGBTQ Olympians — Italian swimmer Alex Di Giorgio, Canadian ice dancers Paul Poirier and Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian figure skater Eric Radford, Spanish figure skater Javier Raya, Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson, and Irish field hockey and cricket player Nikki Symmons — are scheduled to participate in Pride House’s Out and Proud event on Feb. 14.
Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood representatives are expected to speak at Pride House on Feb. 21.
The event will include a screening of Mariano Furlani’s documentary about Pride House and LGBTQ inclusion in sports. The MiX International LGBTQ+ Film and Queer Culture Festival will screen later this year in Milan. Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood is also planning to show the film during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Naklé also noted Pride House has launched an initiative that allows LGBTQ sports teams to partner with teams whose members are either migrants from African and Islamic countries or people with disabilities.
“The objective is to show that sports is the bridge between these communities,” he said.
Bisexual US skier wins gold
Naklé spoke with the Blade a day before the games opened. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will close on Feb. 22.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are competing in the games.
Breezy Johnson, an American alpine skier who identifies as bisexual, on Sunday won a gold medal in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, on the same day helped the U.S. win a gold medal in team figure skating.
Glenn said she received threats on social media after she told reporters during a pre-Olympics press conference that LGBTQ Americans are having a “hard time” with the Trump-Vance administration in the White House. The Associated Press notes Glenn wore a Pride pin on her jacket during Sunday’s medal ceremony.
“I was disappointed because I’ve never had so many people wish me harm before, just for being me and speaking about being decent — human rights and decency,” said Glenn, according to the AP. “So that was really disappointing, and I do think it kind of lowered that excitement for this.”
Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny shares Super Bowl stage with Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga
Puerto Rican activist celebrates half time show
Bad Bunny on Sunday shared the stage with Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif.
Martin came out as gay in 2010. Gaga, who headlined the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show, is bisexual. Bad Bunny has championed LGBTQ rights in his native Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
“Not only was a sophisticated political statement, but it was a celebration of who we are as Puerto Ricans,” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, told the Washington Blade on Monday. “That includes us as LGBTQ+ people by including a ground-breaking superstar and legend, Ricky Martin singing an anti-colonial anthem and showcasing Young Miko, an up-and-coming star at La Casita. And, of course, having queer icon Lady Gaga sing salsa was the cherry on the top.”
La Casita is a house that Bad Bunny included in his residency in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, last year. He recreated it during the halftime show.
“His performance brought us together as Puerto Ricans, as Latin Americans, as Americans (from the Americas) and as human beings,” said Serrano. “He embraced his own words by showcasing, through his performance, that the ‘only thing more powerful than hate is love.’”
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