Sports
Stonewall spin-offs
Local LGBT sports league blossoms in unexpected ways
A friendly game of tug-of-war was held during the halftime of Stonewall Kickball’s ‘DragBall.’ (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Ever since Stonewall Sports burst onto the LGBT sports scene in Washington in 2010, there has been one successful sports launch after another for the organization.
Stonewall Kickball began in the fall of 2010 with 90 players and more than doubled that amount in its next season. The Sunday league is currently maxed out at 450 players with overflow from the league being handled by D.C. Kickball on Wednesday nights.
The fall 2014 season that just ended last weekend was held on the National Mall due to the ongoing renovations at Stead Park Field. It’s unclear at this time when, if at all, they will return to their longtime home.
A member of Stonewall Darts in action. (Photo courtesy John Jack Photography)
Stonewall Bocce kicked off in Logan Circle in 2011 with similar success and was followed by Stonewall Darts in 2013, held at Diego’s. Both leagues are at more than 200 players.
In the spring of 2014, Stonewall Sports introduced Stonewall Dodgeball, which outgrew its venue in the first season and is now contested at the Jewish Community Center with more than 200 players.
Martin Espinoza, co-founder of Stonewall Sports and the current Stonewall Kickball commissioner points to two key components that have led to the success of the model built by Stonewall Sports.
“Any of the Stonewall sports are an easy entry into the gay community for someone who is shy, new to the area, just getting over a break up or even someone who is recovering from an addiction,” Espinoza says. “It’s a chance to be outside the bar scene and to build a new network of friends.”
The other aspect that has proven popular is the sense of community that the leagues provide to their players. Each league is set up as a fundraising model so that the teams have the ability to raise money for their chosen charities.
“The D.C. Center for the LGBT Community receives the largest contribution from our fundraising but we have set the model up so that the teams are also competing for charities of their own choosing,” Espinoza says. “Stonewall Kickball has donated over $50,000 to charities since its inception in 2010.”
The structure of the Stonewall leagues has been noticed by members of other LGBT communities around the country. Espinoza was approached by some friends in Raleigh, N.C., who wanted to create a Stonewall league in their own small tight-knit community and Stonewall’s first expansion league was born.
“Raleigh thought they might be able to drum up four teams, but ended up with double that in their first season in 2013,” Espinoza says. “They are now at 20 teams with 450 players and raised $10,000 in their second season.”
Along with D.C. and Raleigh, Stonewall Sports now has leagues in Charlotte, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago with four more cities also looking to come on board.
“Kickball has been the mainstay for the expansion leagues, but now the other cities are looking to add the other sports,” Espinoza says. “As long as they maintain the Stonewall mission, my involvement is only whatever they need it to be. It is their city and their league.”
Along with their expansion cities, Stonewall Sports is next looking to add volleyball to its list of offerings.
Earlier this year, a D.C. team from Stonewall Kickball traveled to Las Vegas for their first kickball tournament at the Sin City Shootout and followed that up with the inaugural Stonewall Kickball Summer Tournament which drew teams from the expansion cities. This January, five Stonewall Kickball teams from D.C., Raleigh and Philadelphia will travel to Las Vegas for the next edition of the Sin City Shootout.
“The game is what brings people to Stonewall Sports leagues, but there is so much more to be offered,” Espinoza says. “The socialization, the fundraising, the camaraderie and the sport together make it a combined experience.”
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Sports
Blade, Pride House LA announce 2028 Olympics partnership
Media sponsorship to amplify stories of LGBTQ athletes
The Los Angeles Blade and Washington Blade on Friday announced a media partnership with the Out Athlete Fund, which will produce Pride House LA for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Pride House is the home for LGBTQ fans and athletes that will become a destination during the L.A. Summer Games in West Hollywood in partnership with the City of WeHo. This 17-day celebration for LGBTQ athletes and fans will include medal ceremonies for out athletes, interactive installations, speakers, concerts, and more.
The Los Angeles Blade will serve as the exclusive L.A.-area queer media sponsor for Pride House LA and the Washington Blade will support the efforts and amplify coverage of the 2028 Games.
The Blade will provide exclusive coverage of Pride House plans, including interviews with queer athletes and more. The parties will share content and social media posts raising awareness of the Blade and Out Athlete Fund. The Blade will have media credentials and VIP access for related events.
“We are excited to partner with the Washington Blade, the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the United States and the Los Angeles Blade, already a strong supporter of Out Athlete Fund and Pride House LA/West Hollywood,” said Michael Ferrera, CEO of Pride House LA. “Our mission is about increasing the visibility of LGBTQ+ athletes and fans to challenge the historical hostility toward our community in the sports world. Visibility is what publications like the Washington and Los Angeles publications are all about. We know they will play a key part in our success.”
“LGBTQ visibility has never been more important and we are thrilled to work with Out Athlete Fund and Pride House LA to tell the stories of queer athletes and ensure the 2028 Summer Games are inclusive and affirming for everyone,” said Blade Editor Kevin Naff.
Out Athlete Fund is a 501(c)3 designed to raise money to offset the training cost of out LGBTQ athletes in need of funding for training. The Washington Blade is the nation’s oldest LGBTQ news outlet; the Los Angeles Blade is its sister publication founded nine years ago.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are expected to compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that open on Friday.
Outsports.com notes eight Americans — including speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy and figure skater Amber Glenn — are among the 44 openly LGBTQ athletes who will compete in the games. The LGBTQ sports website also reports Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, is the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics.
“I’ve always been physically capable. That was never a question,” Glenn told Outsports.com. “It was always a mental and competence problem. It was internal battles for so long: when to lean into my strengths and when to work on my weaknesses, when to finally let myself portray the way I am off the ice on the ice. That really started when I came out publicly.”
McDermott-Mostowy is among the six athletes who have benefitted from the Out Athlete Fund, a group that has paid for their Olympics-related training and travel. The other beneficiaries are freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, speed skater Brittany Bowe, snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick, alpine skier Breezy Johnson, and Paralympic Nordic skier Jake Adicoff.
Out Athlete Fund and Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood on Friday will host a free watch party for the opening ceremony.
“When athletes feel seen and accepted, they’re free to focus on their performance, not on hiding who they are,” Haley Caruso, vice president of the Out Athlete Fund’s board of directors, told the Los Angeles Blade.
Four Italian LGBTQ advocacy groups — Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano — have organized the games’ Pride House that will be located at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan.
Pride House on its website notes it will “host a diverse calendar of events and activities curated by associations, activists, and cultural organizations that share the values of Pride” during the games. These include an opening ceremony party at which Checcoro, Milan’s first LGBTQ chorus, will perform.
ILGA World, which is partnering with Pride House, is the co-sponsor of a Feb. 21 event that will focus on LGBTQ-inclusion in sports. Valentina Petrillo, a trans Paralympian, is among those will participate in a discussion that Simone Alliva, a journalist who writes for the Italian newspaper Domani, will moderate.
“The event explores inclusivity in sport — including amateur levels — with a focus on transgender people, highlighting the role of civil society, lived experiences, and the voices of athletes,” says Milano Pride on its website.
The games will take place against the backdrop of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision to ban trans women from competing in women’s sporting events.
President Donald Trump last February issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S. A group of Republican lawmakers in response to the directive demanded the International Olympics Committee ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
The IOC in 2021 adopted its “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” that includes the following provisions:
• 3.1 Eligibility criteria should be established and implemented fairly and in a manner that does not systematically exclude athletes from competition based upon their gender identity, physical appearance and/or sex variations.
• 3.2 Provided they meet eligibility criteria that are consistent with principle 4 (“Fairness”, athletes should be allowed to compete in the category that best aligns with their self-determined gender identity.
• 3.3 Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times, require testing of an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no athlete should be subject to targeted testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.
The 2034 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City. The 2028 Summer Olympics will occur in Los Angeles.
Sports
‘Heated Rivalry’ stars to participate in Olympic torch relay
Games to take place next month in Italy
“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will participate in the Olympic torch relay ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics that will take place next month in Italy.
HBO Max, which distributes “Heated Rivalry” in the U.S., made the announcement on Thursday in a press release.
The games will take place in Milan and Cortina from Feb. 6-22. The HBO Max announcement did not specifically say when Williams and Storrie will participate in the torch relay.
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