Sports
Lambda Divers relaunch gay scuba group
Organization planning more events
Ross Yerger, left, and Brian Goldthorpe of Lambda Divers in Belize. (Photo courtesy Yerger)
After being formed in 1989 by David Bress, Lambda Divers enjoyed a long period of success promoting recreational scuba diving to the LGBT community in the D.C. area.
Over the years, their participation at the international Diving for Life event has raised more than $200,000 for local LGBT charities with a focus on HIV/AIDS prevention.
That all ended in 2014 when everyone involved in the organization found themselves at a crossroads in terms of their interests and direction.
Toward the end of last year, they reconvened and conducted a survey as to what the members wanted to accomplish going forward. They found there was enough interest to relaunch the group.
In January of this year, a new board was formed and the divers rejoined Team D.C. Their first focus was to kick-off a membership drive with their first two big pushes at Team D.C. SportsFest and Capital Pride. The Pride Festival resulted in 68 new email addresses from interested parties.
Their next course of action was to partner with Blue Planet Scuba to launch their Discover Scuba Splash Party at Gallaudet University followed by a happy hour at H Street Country Club.
“We had instructors working poolside to introduce people to the experience of scuba diving,” says Vice President Ross Yerger. “It’s important to show them what they need to be comfortable under the water.”
The group is planning more Discover Scuba events and happy hours to continue the push for new members. They were expecting to sponsor their first dive in 2017 but that changed when they were approached by David Bress, one of the original founders of Lambda Divers.
“David has completed 998 dives,” Yerger says, “and he wanted Diving for Life to be his 1,000th dive.”
In the diving community, multiple clubs sponsor the same trip to obtain group rates and defray costs. The local divers have attached themselves to two international events coming up later this year.
Yerger, who works as a federal agent in D.C., received his diving certification right after graduating from Penn State University. After several years of not diving, he rediscovered his love for scuba diving on a trip to Puerto Rico. He met the Lambda Divers through a friend in 2009 and is looking forward to the future of the club.
“The happy hours we are going to host in between the diving trips helps to keep people engaged,” Yerger says. “We are going to target quieter settings for the get-togethers so people have a better chance to talk and share photos from prior trips.”
They have trips planned to Bonaire (Sept. 10-17), Lake Phoenix (Aug. 19-21), the Phillipines (Nov. 5-12) and to Cozumel, Mexico in 2017.
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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