Sports
Going for the Gold
Organizers hoping for strong turnout for Cleveland Gay Games
Chris Coates, a D.C. track athlete planning to compete in the Gay Games next summer in Ohio. (Photo courtesy Kevin Majoros)
It has been more than four years since Washington lost the Gay Games 9 bid to Cleveland/Akron and the sting of that loss has faded. Now it’s time to seriously start thinking about your plans to go to Cleveland for the Gay Games to be held Aug. 9-16.
Cleveland? Akron?
I’ve been hearing a lot of rumbling in the LGBT sports community locally and nationally about the location of the Games. People are asking, “Why would I want to go to Cleveland or Akron?”
What’s in it for you and why should you attend? For those of you who’ve participated at the Games in the past, you know the reasons. For those of you who’ve not, I will supply a few.
The LGBT sports movement has been experiencing a great amount of support and progression over the past few years. The media will be in Cleveland on a large scale and this is our opportunity to shine as athletes and support our community.
I remember in 2006 when USA Today ran a cover story about the Chicago Gay Games and I was pleasantly surprised. During and after the Games, I didn’t see a lot of coverage. I think that will be different this time because the LGBT sports community now has a larger presence.
Paris recently won the bid for Gay Games 10 in 2018. If the Cleveland/Akron Games fail, there will be no Paris. While it’s true that the Gay Games received a $250,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation as a presenting sponsor (a first for the Games), if attendance is poor, it will hamper the efforts to fund the Paris Games.
According to Les Johnson, a Federation of Gay Games board member, Cleveland and Akron are excited about us coming.
“Washington D.C. has big things happening here all the time,” Johnson says. “The Gay Games are a really big thing for both Cleveland and Akron and they are looking forward to hosting us.”
There will be more than 35 sports contested in Cleveland and Akron and the sports venues are top notch, from the Cleveland State aquatic facility to the Firestone Stadium softball venue to the University of Akron track & field stadium. This is an opportunity to compete at well-run facilities with experienced officials.
You might be thinking that Cleveland doesn’t have a large gay scene. That’s true, but what do you think happens when 10,000 LGBT athletes from more than 65 countries invade a town for eight days? It becomes very gay.
You’ll see the LGBT community in force at restaurants, bars, tourist attractions and especially on public transport. At the past few Games I’ve met most of my cohorts for the week on public transport.
One of the popular features from the Cologne Games in 2010 and a personal favorite of mine were the athlete villages. Every day after competing, thousands of athletes and supporters converge on the villages for music, dancing, drinking, food and people watching. Dinner with the Icelandic swim team, beers with the Irish soccer team — what more can you ask for?
Another thing to be excited about is marching into the opening ceremonies with 10,000 athletes from all over the world. The Cleveland/Akron Games will open at the Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. The Arena is home to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Assocaiton, the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League.
Team D.C. is expecting to send more than 400 athletes from our LGBT sports community. Team D.C. will once again coordinate the uniforms and will march in together representing Washington behind the District flag and the Team D.C. banner. We always get a huge response.
Based on what I’ve heard so far, we will be represented in the sports of swimming, water polo, softball, soccer, flag football, tennis, running, triathlon, bowling, cycling, basketball, dancesport, open water swimming, volleyball and track & field.
The closing ceremonies will be held at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in downtown Cleveland and represents the last chance to hang out with all the new friends you made during the week.
Team D.C. is offering a discounted registration price for the Gay Games which ends Jan. 8. The code is “teamdc.”
What are you waiting for? Eight days of sports, music and world culture are calling your name.
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.
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