Sports
Volleyball at last
New D.C. gay league hopes to avoid pratfalls of prior efforts
Players in action at the President’s Queer Cup Classic. (Photo by Kevin Majoros)
Every year at Capital Pride, the LGBT sports groups of Washington line up in their booths to recruit new players to their teams. Team D.C., the information clearinghouse for the teams, puts out a list asking what sports people are interested in playing that don’t seem to be available.
Every year, the most requested sport is volleyball. Over the past 10 years, the LGBT volleyball groups in D.C. have put together some great teams for the North American Gay Volleyball Association tournaments, but efforts to combine a long-term social and competitive structure have met obstacles.
As with most of the competitive sports teams in D.C., the biggest obstacle has been dealing with the search for a facility at which to play. The most recent volleyball club was Capital City Volleyball which consisted of a group of LGBT athletes playing pick-up games on non-regulation courts at Mackin High School on Wednesday nights.
Many of the competitive athletes did not want the social atmosphere of pick-up games.
Last month, a group of guys led by Michael D’Zgod, Jack Fleming and Marc Laplante, have worked out the logistics and have launched the D.C. Pride Volleyball League which will also run social play. The League immediately filled up with 130 players and will run from March 19 to June 18.
“Finding a place to play in the city has been difficult,” says D’Zgod, commissioner. “High school gyms are ideal, but they are always booked and the D.C Parks & Recreation facilities begin to shut down at 8:30 p.m.”
Many of the LGBT sports teams have discovered great spaces at the city schools only to realize that the schools have no incentive to rent out their space. All funds go back to the D.C. Treasury.
The League turned to long running Gotham Volleyball in New York for advice and ended up obtaining space through District Sports at Thomson Elementary. Competitive league play will be on Thursday nights and matches will run hourly from 6:30-10:30 p.m.with two divisions, intermediate and advanced.
The League will follow a prototype similar to the D.C. Gay Flag Football League where new teams are drafted every season to prevent team dynasties.
“We plan to use the League to cultivate the best players to represent the D.C. community at North American Gay Volleyball Association tournaments,” D’Zgod says.
The League will also offer social open play during the same time period on Wednesday nights and will cap that out at 48 players. They will also continue the tournament legacy of prior groups by running the President’s Queer Cup Classic tournament after Thanksgiving.
D’Zgod moved to D.C. in 2005 and works in congressional affairs. He has played competitive LGBT sports here in rowing, flag football, volleyball, kickball and soccer. Growing up an Army brat, he found himself drawn to the athletic and social benefits of playing sports.
He says sports were his entry into the D.C. community and he has met most of his friends through the LGBT sports leagues.
“It’s great that this is finally happening,” D’Zgod says. “We wanted our own league and we want to give back to the community.”
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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