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YEAR IN REVIEW 2014: Sports

From far-flung tournament wins to strong Gay Games showing, local leagues enjoy banner year

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LGBT sports, gay news, Washington Blade

 

LGBT sports, gay news, Washington Blade

Lucas Amodio of D.C. Aquatics Club wins the two-mile open water race at the 23rd annual Swim for life. (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)

It was another banner year for the LGBT sports community of Washington. The clubs have continued their steady growth and are the shining example of what a cohesive LGBT sports community can accomplish.

Twenty teams consisting of 270 players battled during season nine of the D.C. Gay Flag Football League in pursuit of the DCGFFL Super Bowl title. The TangerQueens (Orange) took out the Rear Admirals (Navy) in a score of 41-28 in the championship game.

LGBT sports, gay news, Washington Blade

TangerQueens (Orange) win the DCGFFL Super Bowl in season nine. (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)

Ski Bums spent 2014 looking for the best skiing and snowboarding powder around the United States and other parts of the world. Upcoming international trips in 2015 include Austria, Japan and Argentina. National trips to Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York are also being booked. This year’s D.C. day trip will be to Seven Springs, Pa.

Chesapeake and Potomac Softball sent three teams to the Gay Softball World Series in Dallas and continued to provide league play in the open division and women’s division. They hosted their annual MAGIC Tournament and traveled to New York City and Cleveland for more tournament action.

The D.C. Strokes Rowing Club continued with multiple rowing programs and hosted the 21st annual Stonewall Regatta bringing about 400 rowers to D.C. The Strokes continued to race sprints and head races through the season and had great success at regattas in Grand Rapids and Cleveland.

The Capital Tennis Association hosted Capital Classic XXII and several players traveled the Gay & Lesbian Tennis Alliance World Tour stops. The group continues to host 20 leagues across four seasons and was honored by the United States Tennis Association’s D.C. branch as the 2014 Community Program of the year.

The Federal Triangles Soccer Club continued to host its annual tournaments, the Women’s Indoor Cup, the Rehoboth Beach Classic and the Turkey Bowl along with the Summer of Freedom soccer league. The squads traveled to tournaments in New York and Ohio. This year’s United Night OUT at RFK Stadium drew about 500 fans.

United Night Out, gay news, Washington Blade

United Night Out (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)

Women’s full tackle football made its way into the LGBT sports community of D.C. with the Washington Prodigy becoming part of the Team D.C. Night OUT series. The Prodigy plays in the Independent Women’s Football League and competes against teams along the eastern seaboard.

The District of Columbia Aquatics Club drew about 230 swimmers to their open water race, the 23rd annual Swim for Life which also raises funds for those living with HIV/AIDS and the Chester River Association. The swimmers competed at meets throughout the region and capped off its year with a successful trip to Cleveland.

The Washington Scandals Rugby Club did a lot of traveling this past year going to events in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chambersburg, Pa. Several team members partnered with another rugby team and headed to Sydney, Australia to compete in the Bingham Cup.

The D.C. Sentinels continue to host the Washington, D.C. Gay Basketball League along with pickup games twice a week. Members traveled the country playing in tournaments and picked up a win at the Coady Roundball Classic in Chicago.

Stonewall Sports offered league play in four different sports, Stonewall KickballStonewall BocceStonewall Darts and Stonewall Dodgeball. Combined, they are fast approaching 1,500 players.  Stonewall Kickball traveled to Las Vegas for tournament action and hosted its first tournament in July.

The Washington Wetskins water polo players hosted the Washington Wetskins Fall Invitational drawing teams from Richmond, Boston, New York and Montreal along with several local teams.  They also traveled to Cleveland for tournament action.

The D.C. Front Runners hosted the second annual Pride Run 5K drawing about 1,000 runners as part of the Capital Pride events. They continue to offer their walk, run and racing series and several of their runners competed throughout the region along with a trip to Cleveland.

LGBT sports, gay news, Washington Blade

The D.C. Front Runners performed a dance number following the Pride Run 5K. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Washington Renegades Rugby Football Club teams ended their fall season with the Blues squad finishing first in their division and making the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. The Reds squad finished second in their division and made the playoffs for the second time in its two year existence.

The Capital Area Rainbowlers Association continues to host nine fall/winter leagues along with three summer leagues. Along with hosting their annual Capital Holiday Invitational Tournament, the bowlers traveled the region competing in tournaments.

The biggest display of the prowess of the LGBT sports community of D.C. came at the 2014 Cleveland/Akron Gay Games where Team D.C. competed against more than 7,000 athletes from around the world and brought home 246 medals in 18 different sports.

Team DC, Cleveland Gay Games, gay news, Washington Blade

Team DC athletes medaled in 18 sports during last month’s Gay Games held in Cleveland/Akron. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Those sports were rowing, swimming, sailing, tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track & field, figure skating, open water swimming, rock climbing, golf, cycling, racquetball, road running, squash, bowling and triathlon.

 

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Sports

English soccer bans transgender women from women’s teams

British Supreme Court last month ruled legal definition of woman limited to ‘biological women’

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(Photo by Kirill_M/Bigstock)

The organization that governs English soccer on Thursday announced it will no longer allow transgender women to play on women’s teams.

The British Supreme Court on April 16 ruled the legal definition of a woman is limited to “biological women” and does not include trans women. The Football Association’s announcement, which cites the ruling, notes its new policy will take effect on June 1.

“As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and FIFA,” said the Football Association in a statement that announced the policy change. “Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.”

“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary,” added the Football Association.

The Football Association also acknowledged the new policy “will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify.”

“We are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” it said.

The Football Association told the BBC there were “fewer than 30 transgender women registered among millions of amateur players” and there are “no registered transgender women in the professional game” in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Football Association, which governs soccer in Scotland, is expected to also ban trans women from women’s teams.

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Sports

Saudi Arabia to host 2034 World Cup

Homosexuality remains punishable by death in the country

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(Image by wael_alreweie/Bigstock)

FIFA has announced Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, despite concerns over its human rights record that includes the death penalty for homosexuality.

The Associated Press reported FIFA confirmed the decision on Dec. 18. The AP noted Saudi Arabia is the only country that bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

“This is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia and a dream come true for all our 32 million people who simply love the game,” said Sport Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al- Faisal, who is also president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, in a statement the Saudi Press Agency posted to its website.

Saudi Arabia is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.

A U.S. intelligence report concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “likely approved” the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A federal judge in 2022 dismissed a lawsuit against Prince Mohammed after the Biden-Harris administration said he was immune to the lawsuit because he is the country’s prime minister.

Human rights activists have also criticized the Saudi government over the treatment of women, migrant workers, and other groups in the country.

“No one should be surprised by this,” Cyd Zeigler, Jr., co-founder of Outsports.com, an LGBTQ sports website, told the Washington Blade in an email after FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. “FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and many other world governing bodies routinely turn to authoritarian countries with terrible human-rights records to host major sporting events. There are simply few other countries willing to spend the billions of dollars it takes to build the needed infrastructure.”

Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a statement described FIFA’s decision as “a betrayal of the values that football should stand for: Inclusivity, fairness, and respect for human rights.”

“This is not about football; it’s about sportswashing,” said Tatchell. “The Saudi regime is using the World Cup to launder its international image and distract from its brutal abuses. By granting them this platform, FIFA is complicit in whitewashing their crimes.”

Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia, hosted the 2022 World Cup.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Qatar.

“Saudi Arabia was the only country to bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup,” said Zeigler. “So, until FIFA, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and other governing bodies ban major human-rights violators from hosting, we’ll continue to see events like this in Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar, and other countries with terrible LGBTQ rights issues.”

The Blade has reached out to FIFA and the Saudi government for comment.

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Sports

Controversy grows over member of Calif. university’s women’s volleyball team

Coach suspended, NCAA sued, more rivals forfeit

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(Photo by muzsy/Bigstock)

San Jose State University’s women volleyball team has collected yet another W by forfeit — its seventh so far this season — as controversy swirls around one player on its roster. She’s one of the seniors, and she has been dragged in the media by her own co-captain, who outed her as transgender. 

The Washington Blade is not naming this student athlete since neither she nor the school have confirmed or even commented on her gender identity.

SJSU visited San Diego last weekend for a match before the Aztecs’ biggest home crowd of the season — including protesters waving “Save Women’s Sports” banners and booing one player on the Spartans team in particular: The woman who is reported to be trans. 

Security was tight, with metal detectors and extra guards and police officers present. Video posted to YouTube by a right-wing sports media site — which names the player — shows an angry fan arguing with security about his First Amendment rights. 

Video recorded during Nov. 9’s game shows a player for San Diego was injured following a spike by the player rumored to be trans, and had to be helped off the court. However, the video clearly shows that player was injured by landing poorly on one foot, not as a result of the spike. 

The Aztecs defeated the Spartans 3-1, but San Jose has still punched its ticket to the conference finals, thanks to its record number of forfeits. 

Wyoming was set to visit SJSU Thursday, but for the second time is joining other universities that have forfeited games against the Spartans, all without providing a reason. Boise State announced it will forfeit an upcoming match set for Nov. 21, its second forfeit against SJSU. 

In September, the Spartans’ co-captain, senior Brooke Slusser, outed her own teammate, the player at the center of this controversy, in joining a federal lawsuit against the NCAA spearheaded by anti-trans inclusion activist and former college athlete Riley Gaines.  

Slusser said in the lawsuit and in subsequent interviews that the player in question shouldn’t be on her team. The suit claims the NCAA’s policy on trans athletes violates Title IX by allowing “men” to compete in women’s sports and use women’s locker rooms where they display “full male genitalia.”  

The NCAA policy for trans athletes participating in women’s volleyball aligns with that of USA Volleyball, which requires trans female athletes to suppress their testosterone below 10 nmol/L for a period of one year before competition. That is also how the NCAA determines eligibility. SJSU has stated repeatedly that all its players are eligible. 

The lawsuit also asks the NCAA to revoke any titles or records won by trans female athletes in women’s competitions, which seems to be specifically aimed at stripping out trans NCAA champions Lia Thomas and CeCé Telfer of their titles in swimming and track and field, respectively. 

Prior to this season, the player rumored to be trans did not attract any attention other than being a successful starter, like Slusser. But now that she is in the media spotlight, Slusser has come forward to tell right wing media, including Megyn Kelly, why she feels another woman two inches taller than she is poses a danger. 

“I don’t feel safe,” Slusser said on “The Megyn Kelly Show” last month. “I’ve gone to my coaches and said I refuse to play against [her] … It’s not safe.”

In the video, both Kelly and Slusser refer to the player as “him” and a “man,” and name her. 

Now comes another twist: San Jose State University suspended associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose with pay, indefinitely, after she filed a Title IX complaint against SJSU. She claims the player Slusser identified as trans conspired with an opponent to help the team lose a match and injure Slusser. Batie-Smoose named the player in question in her complaint and on Sept. 23, joined the same lawsuit that Slusser is now a part of. 

“Safety is being taken away from women,” Batie-Smoose told Fox News. “Fair play is taken away from women. We need more and more people to do this and fight this fight because women’s sports, as we know it right now will be forever changed.”

Media reporting on the suspension, including Fox News, continue to name the athlete in question, with some also reporting what they say is the athlete’s birth name. 

San Jose State released a statement following the suspension of Batie-Smoose: “The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter,” the team said.

SJSU Coach Todd Kress told ESPN that reports saying that any member of the Spartans colluded with their opponent are “littered with lies.” 

The Spartans are currently among the top six finishers in the Mountain West Conference that will qualify to compete in the conference tournament scheduled for Nov. 27-30. 

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