Sports
Local sports leagues ready to play
Triangles, CAPS, Wetskins and more up and running
Larry’s Lounge wins the Summer of Freedom League championships. (Photo by Glenn Auve)
The competitive and club LGBT sports teams of Washington have had a successful summer season and are lined up for plenty of action in the coming fall months.
The Summer of Freedom Soccer League, hosted by the Federal Triangles Soccer Club, wrapped up in August with Larry’s Lounge winning the championship match. Also last month, the Triangles sent two teams to the 2015 IGLFA North American Championship II in Verona, Wis., and and won in the championship match.
On Sept. 19, the Triangles along with Team D.C., will host United Night OUT at RFK Stadium as D.C. United takes on Columbus Crew. Tickets are $25 and are available at teamdc.org.
Chesapeake and Potomac Softball sent four teams to the 2015 Gay Softball World Series in August and the D.C. Union took third place in the B Division. This month, the D.C. Party Animals are competing in the Gotham Softball Classic in New York and the D.C. Raptors are taking on the Midwest Invitational Softball Classic in Cleveland.
D.C. Pride Volleyball hosted the inaugural Rehoboth Beach Open Volleyball Tournament on the sands of Rehoboth Beach last month. Twenty teams from the Mid-Atlantic States competed in the event. This month they kicked off the second season of their competitive league.
Washington Wetskins water polo captured fifth place in the competitive division at the 2015 EuroGames in Stockholm last month. Also last month, its women’s team, the WCAPS, grabbed second place at the Midwest Open Water Polo Tournament in Chicago. On Oct. 10-11, they will host teams from the eastern seaboard at the 2015 Wetskins Columbus Classic at Takoma Aquatic Center.
Last month, the Capital Tennis Association won the 2015 Atlantic Cup in New York just nipping Boston in the final match. This month they kick off their fall league and on Sept. 12-14 they will host the Capital Classic XXIII at Rock Creek and East Potomac Park. The event will be broadcast live on the CCE Sports Network.
Washington Scandals RFC has just wrapped up its three summer rookie camps and will be begin the fall season with a home rugby match against the Charlotte Royals on Saturday, Sept.12.
D.C. Sentinels basketball will be sending two teams to Dallas in October to compete in the Dallas Showcase Classic 2015 tournament. Its Washington D.C. Gay Basketball League registration will also open in October and play will begin in January.
The D.C. Gay Flag Football League is firing up its 11th season with 270 players on 20 teams. Play begins on Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Carter Barron fields.
The District of Columbia Aquatics Club had a successful trip to the 2015 Stockholm EuroGames in August winning 125 medals. On Oct. 10, they will host teams from the region at the 2015 Columbus Day Classic at the Wilson Aquatic Center.
Eighteen teams from the D.C. Strokes Rowing Club traveled to the U.S. Rowing Masters National Championships in Camden, N.J., last month and won a silver medal in the Men’s Open 8-plus. This fall they will continue to compete in the longer distance head races throughout the region.
Capital Area Rainbowlers Association began its fall season this month offering nine different leagues throughout the metro area.
Stonewall Kickball, Stonewall Darts and Stonewall Bocce all begin league action in September with Stonewall Dodgeball beginning its next season in January.
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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