Arts & Entertainment
A snitch in time …
‘Harry Potter’-inspired game enthralls gay athlete
Kedzie Teller (far right) playing quidditch with the Austin Outlaws during the 2016 Major League Quidditch tournament. (Photo by Tayyeb Mubarik)
Often life-changing moments come out of the blue.
In spring, 2009, Kedzie Teller stumbled upon a quidditch match between Boston University and Emerson College. His first thought was, “This can’t be real.”
What he didn’t know at that moment was that quidditch, a game inspired by one played in the “Harry Potter” books (albeit sans magical elements), would define the next eight years of his life.
Quidditch is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country with about 200 college and community teams registered with US Quidditch. In 2015, the sport went pro with 16 teams making up four divisions. Locally, Major League Quidditch has representation by the Washington Admirals.
The rest of the world is also catching onto the sport which has been described as a mix of rugby, handball and dodgeball. The International Quidditch Association World Cup is held every two years and in 2016 it drew teams from 21 countries.
Teller grew up in a soccer family all over New England with three sisters who also played the sport. Teller played on travel teams and captained his high school soccer team where he was all-state. He was also a sprinter on the track team and when it came time to pick a college, he had to make a choice.
“I had soccer offers from Division II colleges, but I am very competitive and I wanted to be an athlete at a Division I college,” Teller says. “I ended up accepting a track offer from Boston University in part because they had a communications program for journalism.”
When Teller first noticed the quidditch team on campus, it was the end of his freshman year and he was leaving the track team due to personal differences with the coaching. Hungry for a competitive outlet, he went to a quidditch practice at the beginning of his sophomore year and was immediately hooked.
“It is very competitive and super fun. I fell in love at the first practice,” Teller says. “The team was a mix of athletes and people who love Harry Potter and I met a lot of people who I wouldn’t have met otherwise. We also won a lot and I like to win.”
Teller played for Boston University Quidditch as a chaser for three years and captained in his senior year. When he graduated in 2012, he thought his career was over. Instead, he was selected to the United States National Quidditch Team and played in the inaugural World Cup in London winning a gold medal.
Reinvigorated, he returned to Boston and formed his own team, Q.C. Boston. By that time, US Quidditch had begun allowing community teams to compete against college teams. He was selected again to the national team in 2014 and won another gold medal at the World Cup in Vancouver.
“It has been so special being a part of this sport early on and to watch it develop,” Teller says. “The rules have evolved and the sport is incredibly better now.”
So much better in fact, that there are rumblings of the possibility that quidditch will be an Olympic sport someday. The International Olympic Committee has a list of guidelines when considering a new sport that includes outreach to youth. Yes, kidditch is alive and well.
Teller moved to Texas in 2015 to work as a brand strategist and began playing US Quidditch with the Lone Star Quidditch Club. He was sidelined by a torn ACL but his competitive spirit was still burning bright.
“People said I was done, but I got into the best shape of my life and came back better than ever,” he says. “The experience taught me how much I loved quidditch and how much I wanted to stay in sports.”
Teller was selected as an alternate to the United States National Quidditch Team in 2016 and turned pro when he qualified for the Austin Outlaw’s Major League Quidditch team.
He was selected again in 2017 for the Outlaws team only to have his season cut short when he moved to Philadelphia to further his professional career with the Social Channel. The Outlaws recently won the Major League Quidditch Championships and had a surprise for Teller.
“Little did I know that my GM/Coaching staff had kept me on the roster and collected a medal that they saved for me,” Teller says. “The gesture left me more grateful than they can understand and it was a beautiful way for things to end.”
He is now settling into life in Philadelphia, still involved in sports and playing tennis several times a week. His work as the director of content development for the Social Channel includes producing video content for the Women’s Tennis Association. In 2016, he became a sports ambassador for Athlete Ally whose mission is to end homophobia and transphobia in sports.
Teller came out in his freshman year of college and out to his family at age 20. All along he has always found acceptance from his quidditch family. The governing bodies of quidditch have established gender identity guidelines that put them on the forefront of forward thinking.
“Major League Quidditch was very receptive to getting on board with Athlete Ally,” Teller says. “The sport of quidditch has always felt so inclusive. I was safe and super protected.”
Kedzie Teller sits on the field after a quidditch match. (Photo courtesy Kedzie Teller)
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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