Sports
Message in the miles
Runners use marathons to spread HRC platform
MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry runs an HRC marathon in Washington in 2013. (Photo courtesy HRC)
At 1.5 million members, the Human Rights Campaign is the largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBT equality. In an effort to continue moving forward, its members maintain multiple programs to raise awareness at a grassroots level.
Athletes for Equality engages people in the LGBT and allied sports communities to become involved with HRC efforts by competing in a world-class marathon.
Tommy Lodge, associate director of HRC’s membership outreach, travels to multiple festivals throughout the year as part of HRC’s Pride Outreach and is also an organizer of Athletes for Equality.
“By joining one of our endurance teams, an individual commits to raising money for HRC in exchange for coaching and training support, team camaraderie and fundraising support,” Lodge says. “Plus, during the race they get to wear our gear and are cheered on by groups of enthusiastic HRC volunteers.”
Athletes for Equality is attached to four current marathons: Marine Corps Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Los Angeles Marathon and Publix Georgia Marathon.
Coming Oct. 26 is the Marine Corps Marathon which has already sold out at 30,000 participants. The contributions received by the runners are earmarked for the HRC 501(c)3 workplace programs which qualifies the HRC team to receive additional guaranteed spots for each year they participate.
In this, their fourth year at the Marine Corps Marathon, there are only a few spots remaining in the 50 guaranteed openings and team captain, Angel Boord, is excited to be a part of the team.
“I have always been an athlete and a runner. Now, I am happy to also call myself an activist. I know many experienced runners who may not have run with a charity before, but I wholeheartedly recommend it,” Boord says. “The camaraderie provided via HRC’s Athletes for Equality helps me push myself more than ever before.”
Lodge says the program will be expanding in the future with more sponsored events to be added to the four already in existence.
For now, athletes can also carve their own path if they want to participate in an event under the Athletes for Equality banner. Over the past two years, about a hundred cyclists have completed bike rides and marathons have been run in places as far away as France and Namibia.
“We even had a mountain climber who wanted to climb Mount Everest for us,” Lodge says.
The peer-to-peer fundraising platform is an added benefit for raising awareness at a grassroots level. A family member may be aware of his or her relative’s athletic capabilities, but may not be familiar with the HRC vision.
“Athletics are one of the last bastions of homophobia,” Lodge says. “We meet the team members where they are as athletes and offer them the chance to push themselves physically all while doing it for a cause.”
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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