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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 theĀ D.C. Gay Flag Football LeagueĀ 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 BumsĀ 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 yearā€™s D.C. day trip will be to Seven Springs, Pa.

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

TheĀ D.C. Strokes Rowing ClubĀ 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.

TheĀ Capital Tennis AssociationĀ 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 Associationā€™s D.C. branch as the 2014 Community Program of the year.

TheĀ Federal Triangles Soccer ClubĀ continued to host its annual tournaments, the Womenā€™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 yearā€™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)

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

TheĀ District of Columbia Aquatics ClubĀ 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.

TheĀ Washington Scandals Rugby ClubĀ 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.

TheĀ D.C. SentinelsĀ 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 SportsĀ offered league play in four different sports,Ā Stonewall Kickball,Ā Stonewall Bocce,Ā Stonewall DartsĀ andĀ Stonewall Dodgeball. Combined, they are fast approaching 1,500 players.Ā  Stonewall Kickball traveled to Las Vegas for tournament action and hosted its first tournament in July.

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

TheĀ D.C. Front RunnersĀ 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)

TheĀ Washington Renegades Rugby Football ClubĀ 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.

TheĀ Capital Area Rainbowlers AssociationĀ 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 whereĀ Team D.C.Ā 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 monthā€™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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Caitlyn Jenner backs NY county transgender athletes ban

‘Letā€™s stop it now while we can’

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Caitlyn Jenner endorses Nassau County's transgender athlete ban during a press conference. (YouTube screenshot)

Caitlyn Jenner flew from Malibu to New York this week to join her fellow Republicans in their nationwide quest to keep transgender girls and women from competing in sports with other women. 

ā€œLetā€™s stop it now while we can,ā€ said the Olympic gold medalist, at a news conference carried live by Fox News Channel. 

Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman organized the event so that Jenner could speak in support of his February executive order banning trans athletes at more than 100 county-owned facilities. 

ā€œTrans women are competing against women, taking valuable opportunities for the long-protected class under Title IX and causing physical harm,ā€ said Jenner without providing supportive evidence of her claim. Jenner said the ban would defeat ā€œthe woke agenda.ā€ 

Her comments drew praise from former NCAA swimmer and paid shill Riley Gaines, who represents the Independent Womenā€™s Forum and has also worked with the failed presidential campaign of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on his anti-trans athlete platform.

ā€œIf the left wants to fight this battle on this hill, itā€™s a losing battle,ā€ said Jenner. ā€œWe will win the battle.ā€ She claimed she spoke on behalf of women and girls, contradicting her past statements in support of trans girls competing according to their gender identity and despite the fact she herself still competes in womenā€™s sports.

Shortly after the ban was announced last month, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, denounced it and accused Blakeman of ā€œbullying trans kids.ā€ 

James called the order ā€œtransphobic and deeply dangerous,ā€ and argued that it violates the stateā€™s anti-discrimination laws. The state attorney general challenged it in court March 1 with a ā€œcease and desist letter,ā€ demanding that Blakeman rescind the order, saying it subjects womenā€™s and girlsā€™ sports teams to ā€œinvasive questioning.ā€

As the Los Angeles Blade reported, Blakeman’s legal team countered with its own lawsuit on March 5, claiming her cease and desist letter violates the 14th Amendmentā€™s equal protection clause.

ā€œNot only was the executive order legal, but we had an obligation to defend it,ā€ Blakeman said Monday. 

The order has also been challenged by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit last week on behalf of a womenā€™s roller derby league based in Nassau County that welcomes trans women and would be barred from using the countyā€™s facilities by Blakemanā€™s executive order.

Just days before the Long Island news conference, Jenner joined Olympian Sharron Davies, who also campaigns against trans inclusion in sports, for an conversation with a British newspaper, the Telegraph, which has been outspoken against trans inclusion.Ā 

They recalled that in their day, tests to determine sex were mandatory in order to compete, and Jenner said she has been ā€œpushingā€ for sex tests to return to sports, decades after sports organizations around the world abandoned the practice because they were unreliable. ā€œIf they continue down this road, it will be pretty much the end of womenā€™s sport as we know it.ā€

ā€œI can still hit a golf ball 280 yards,ā€ Jenner continued, not mentioning she plays from the ladiesā€™ tee. She did however opine about not being ā€œa real woman,ā€ acknowledging that many trans women disagree with her view. 

ā€œThey keep saying, ā€˜Oh, Iā€™m a real woman, Iā€™m a real woman,ā€™ and Iā€™m going, ā€˜No, youā€™re not,ā€™ā€ said Jenner. ā€œI will use your preferred pronouns, I will treat you as a female, you can run and dress and do whatever you want, I have nothing against that, itā€™s fine, but biologically youā€™re still male.ā€

She added: ā€œā€‹Let me explain ā€” I am biologically male, OK? Iā€™m XY. Thereā€™s nothing I can do to change that. If you believe in gender dysphoria, and I think most people do realize itā€™s not a disease, itā€™s a mental condition, just like some people are left-handed and some people are right-handed, itā€™s kind of the way youā€™re born and Iā€™ve dealt with it my entire life.ā€œ

ā€œI consider myself a trans person, I am still genetically male, I changed all of my ID right down to my birth certificate so technically yes, I am female, but on the other hand I know Iā€™m not.ā€

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Former UMD basketball player Abby Meyers discusses lesbians in sports, March Madness

Potomac native signed with the London Lions last August

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Abby Meyers (Photo courtesy of Abby Meyers)

Star basketball player Abby Meyers signed with the London Lions last August, but she called Maryland home before calling the shots in London.

Meyers, a lesbian shooting guard, grew up in Potomac and graduated from Walt Whitman High School in 2017. She played for Princeton in her undergraduate years and played for the University of Maryland during graduate school.

She began playing basketball in elementary school, and she was already showing an abundance of potential by the time she was in high school.

In her freshman year of high school, the schoolā€™s basketball coach sat down with Meyers and her family and showed them a list of universities with Division I basketball teams. Meyers circled the names of the schools that she was interested in attending. From there, the doors leading to a collegiate basketball career began to open. She began working towards her dream and ended up playing for Princeton.

ā€œIt was kind of like a mutual understanding between the two of us, me and basketball,ā€ Meyers told the Washington Blade. ā€œI took more individual lessons, and I just realized that the potential was sky high.ā€

She came back to her home state to attend the University of Maryland not only for its business program but also for its celebrated basketball team.

ā€œI grew up watching Alyssa Thomas, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and so many other legends that passed through that program,ā€ Meyers said. ā€œSo for me, I knew that basketball-wise, it was the best decision I could make. ā€¦ They definitely had all of the qualities to make me the best player I could be.ā€

Before shipping off to London, Meyers briefly played in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics in the summer of 2023. In fact, the aforementioned UMD alum Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was one of her teammates.

She described her time with the WNBA and in London so far as a ā€œlearning experience.ā€ 

ā€œI got to relearn what it meant to be a rookie again,ā€ Meyers said. ā€œAll of a sudden you enter a new team, a new level and you’re at the bottom, and you just have to let your actions speak louder than your words.ā€

Meyers publicly came out around 2019, and since then she has been a role model for many other lesbian women in sports.

ā€œBy coming out I’m actually being my authentic self, but I was scared that people were going to judge me and look at me differently when in fact, I was met with open arms, love, and appreciation,ā€ Meyers said.

Meyers believes the journey one takes to coming out is an individual process that looks different for everyone.

ā€œAt the end of the day, it’s your own race; run it at your own pace,ā€ Meyers said.  ā€œNever be apologetic for who you are. When you have to start compromising yourself and your values for other people like though thatā€™s not the community you want to be a part of.ā€

She has not experienced much anti-LGBTQ stigma since coming out, but that does not mean that it does not exist in other sports communities. However, in this modern social climate, Meyers pointed out, people are much more accepting of gay women in sports.

Nina Hazra, a University of Maryland medical student, grew up playing basketball with Meyers. The two were on the same team in middle school, but they went to different high schools and would often play against each other. 

Hazra did not play much past high school, but she remained close friends with her former teammate and rival to this day. She went to most of the home games during Meyersā€™ stint at UMD.

Though Hazra does not identify with the LGBTQ community, she noticed a tension in the sports world that affects all women, regardless of sexuality. However, with todayā€™s shifting climate, it has become easier for female athletes to express their identities

ā€œWomen who express strong emotions in sports are often treated differently than men who do the exact same thing,ā€ Hazra said in an interview. ā€œI feel like as we’ve gotten older, there’s been a lot more celebration of womanhood in whatever form in sports, and I think that’s one of the places where you can then kind of go outside those societal norms.ā€

But Hazra still noticed the impact Meyers had on younger generations in sports who may be struggling with their identities.

ā€œIt doesn’t matter your sexuality, your gender identity, all that stuff. That doesn’t matter when you’re playing a sport,ā€ Hazra said. ā€œA lot of us didn’t have role models in those years growing up and just to get to see her being that for so many girls is so amazing.ā€

Elisa Pinzan, also a former Terrapin, is good friends with Meyers. 

Originally from Italy, Pinzan played for the University of South Florida for four years before entering the transfer portal and landing at UMD. She now plays for Keflavik IF in Iceland.

Pinzan and Meyers formed a strong bond while playing for the Terrapins together. 

ā€œShe was the first person I got close to; she is very open, smiley and friendly, and I felt comfortable around her from the first day,ā€ Pinzan described. ā€œI am glad to have met someone like Abby, with such a kind soul.ā€

Pinzan thought that fans should keep their eyes peeled for the Terrapins this upcoming March Madness season. 

ā€œThey are a very young team with energy, enthusiasm and grit on the floor, and I think they are a lot better than the record they have,ā€ Pinzan wrote about the Terrapins in an interview. ā€œDespite being young though, they are learning a lot every game and I am sure they will be able to transfer these lessons for the best time of the year coming up.ā€

Meyers agreed that there is a lot to look forward to this March Madness. She said that with Coach Brenda Freseā€™s game plans and strong assistant staff, the Terrapins have a strong chance of advancing throughout the competition.

According to Meyers, March Madness will be different for womenā€™s basketball this year, pointing out that itā€™s more popular right now than menā€™s games, as womenā€™s basketball is selling out arenas.

ā€œI only think it’s gonna get better and it’s going to grow even more,ā€ Meyers said. ā€œJust the marketing, the social media, the overall awareness of the women’s game. Fans are growing by the number.ā€

Meyers believes that female basketball players have to rely more on their skill than their athleticism, which she believes makes womenā€™s games just as ā€” if not more ā€” exciting than menā€™s games. She said that over the past few years, there has been a strong shift in womenā€™s viewership that has shrunk the gap between menā€™s and womenā€™s basketball, including from a technical standpoint, given that men and women play with the same level of equipment.

Regardless of where UMD ends up this March Madness, Meyers will be cheering the Terrapins on from across the pond ā€” especially the women.

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Banned trans golfer Hailey Davidson: ā€˜Hate and bigotry will never win’

NXXT mandates players must be ā€˜biological female at birthā€™

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Hailey Davidson on Good Morning Britain. (Good Morning Britain YouTube screenshot)

Transgender pro golfer Hailey Davidson is pushing back against a policy change announced Friday by the Florida-based mini-tour, NXXT. From now on, competitors must be ā€œa biological female at birthā€ in order to participate. 

ā€œEffective immediately, I have been removed (banned) from the next three NXXT tournaments that I had already signed up for and been approved to play,ā€ said Davidson in a post on Instagram. ā€œThey changed their policy mid season, after signing me up already and being 2nd in the Player of the Year race.ā€Ā 

The three-time winner from Scotland has played nine times on the tour this season.

According to a statement by the tourā€™s CEO, Stuart McKinnon, the change underscores the organizationā€™s commitment to ā€œmaintaining the integrity of womenā€™s professional golf and ensuring fair competition.ā€ NXXT Golf issued that statement on International Womenā€™s Day.

ā€œAs we navigate through the evolving landscape of sports, it is crucial to uphold the competitive integrity that is the cornerstone of womenā€™s sports,ā€ said McKinnon in the statement. ā€œOur revised policy is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to celebrating and protecting the achievements and opportunities of female athletes. Protected categories are a fundamental aspect of sports at all levels and it is essential for our Tour to uphold these categories for biological females, ensuring a level playing field.ā€

Davidson said the policy change in her social media post was discrimination, adding that the decision denigrates cisgender female athletes as well as trans athletes. 

ā€œYou know what really bugs me is that people think I win just by showing up,ā€ she wrote. ā€œThis is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in.

ā€œYou think youā€™re attacking me, but youā€™re actually attacking and putting down ALL other female athletes.ā€

She concluded with a vow: ā€œYou can scream at me, threaten me, throw insults at me, and even ban me BUT I will ALWAYS get back up and keep fighting to the very end. Hate and bigotry will never win.ā€

Davidson also posted a message for the women she had planned to compete against: ā€œI hope those NXXT players who are now in the top five are still able to earn those Epson Tour exemptions they were promised and continue to be reminded of in the previous couple of tournaments.ā€ 

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