Sports
Out athletes going for gold
New milestones in queer representation at Tokyo Olympics
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games begin on June 23, with competitions continuing through Aug. 8. The Games were postponed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For many aspiring Olympians, the quadrennial event is the culmination of a lifetime of sacrifices to compete against the best athletes in the world while representing their country on an international stage.
The road to get there is filled with obstacles and this Olympic cycle produced one more barrier in the form of training disruptions that happened in almost every sport.
After all the dust settled during the qualifying process, 627 athletes were named to Team USA. More than 30 of those athletes are out members of the LGBTQ community.
Regarding the other countries competing, according to a recent story by Outsports, “At least 142 publicly out gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary athletes are headed to Tokyo for the Summer Olympic Games.”
Flashback to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games when a correspondent from The Daily Beast used hook-up apps such as Bumble, Tindr, Grindr, and Jack’d to message gay athletes. His published story went on to describe the athletes, creating potentially dangerous situations for the athletes from countries with high anti-LGBTQ violence rates.
What should we expect from the environment in Japan?
There have been a handful of Japanese athletes who have come out recently but for the most part, they are competing in other countries – notably trans soccer star Kumi Yokoyama who plays for the Washington Spirit and out lesbian Shiho Shimoyamada who plays soccer for SV Meppen in Germany.
LGBTQ activists in Japan were hoping that the worldwide attention on the Tokyo Olympics would help push their ruling Liberal Democratic Party to pass EqualityActJapan banning discrimination against LGBTQ people. Their legislature went into recess without passing the measure.
That setback did not stop Pride House Tokyo Legacy from opening in October 2020 in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It will serve as a permanent LGBTQ support center where individuals can feel safe and at home.
Pride House Tokyo Legacy has been authorized as part of the Tokyo 2020 Official Program by the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games along with full support from the International Olympic Committee. Those endorsements make it the first Pride House worldwide to achieve this status.
Visibility for the LGBTQ community is important for a variety of reasons and in the sports world, we tend to point to LGBTQ athletes as role models for younger generations.
Over the next few weeks we will bear witness to the first transgender athlete to compete in Laurel Hubbard as a weightlifter for Team New Zealand.
We will watch lesbian triple jumper Yulimar Rojas compete and carry the flag for her country of Venezuela in the Parade of Nations.
And we will sit enthralled as gay British Olympic diver Tom Daley is cheered on by his three-year-old son Robbie as he attempts to medal again in his fourth Olympics.
The last time the Blade checked in with out Tongan swimmer Amini Fonua, he was in heavy training to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and struggling with the funding needed to complete that journey.
Fonua was one of the Olympic athletes that spoke out against The Daily Beast story from 2016, which helped to get the story retracted, with an apology. It was the first instance where the International Olympic Committee, which also chimed in, had ever acknowledged an LGBTQ presence.
When the pandemic hit, Fonua’s training pool closed and his income from teaching swimming lessons dried up. In an effort to be closer to his training group, New York Athletic Club, he moved from New Jersey to New York City mid-pandemic.
To stay in shape, he ramped up his time spent on weight training, running, biking, and yoga.
“The pandemic changed a lot of things for all of us,” says Fonua. “This past year has been about survival, and I have done my best with what I have been given.”
Eventually pools opened back up with limits on swimmers per lane and time spent in the water. Fonua was only allowed four 45-minute swim practices per week, which is well below the amount of time that elite swimmers spend in the pool.
He also found employment with Fitter and Faster Swim Camps with all of his travel to swim camps completed by train to minimize his exposure to the virus.
As of May 2021, Fonua was not the top Tongan swimmer that would be selected for the Olympic team. He was also facing swim meet entry barriers due to COVID restrictions to even compete for a spot on the team.
In smaller nations and those with developing swim programs, the international federation for swimming, FINA, and the International Olympic Committee allow for universalityentries into the Olympics.
The universality system allows a nation with no Olympic swimming qualifier to enter up to one man and one woman in the Olympics. The two swimmers are chosen based on FINA points, which are calculated using a cubic curve.
Fonua received a last minute entry to the Atlanta Classic swim meet on May 14 where he would have one last shot to make the team. He threw down a time in the 100 meter breaststroke that moved him past the top Tongan swimmer based on FINA points and qualified him for his third Olympics.
For this Olympic experience, Fonua will be thinking about what his father always says to him regarding sports — be competitive, do your best, and have fun.
“I will be staying in the Olympic Village but there won’t be any Grindr this time because I am in love. I will be racing on the 24th and still hope to walk in the Parade of Nations the night before,” Fonua says. “My mom is the team manager for the Tongan swim team, and I am looking forward to cups of tea with her and visiting Pride House Tokyo. I know it will be different this time because of COVID, but there is nothing like experiencing a city hosting the Olympics.”
When you receive an email from out swimmer Michael Gunning, the signature line says Professional Athlete. He laughs when asked about it and says it is a continuation of what he used to write on his school essays — Michael Gunning, The Swimmer.
Gunning, who currently trains in Manchester, England, became fully committed to swimming at age 13 when he won a national competition in England. A few years later he was representing Great Britain on their junior national team.
“We have all heard that Black people don’t swim, and I wanted to prove it could be done,” says Gunning. “I began chasing those Olympic dreams at every event I swam in.”
Despite swimming well in the 200 meter butterfly in the qualifying trials for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was left off the Great Britain team.
Jamaica reached out and said they would love for Gunning to swim for them (his father was born in Jamaica). He represented the country for the first time at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest and again at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju.
“I was really on the fence before saying yes. I felt like I wasn’t being taken seriously in the UK and this was an opportunity to do my bit and inspire,” Gunning says. “That first experience in Budapest was amazing. The Jamaican team accepted me, and I finally felt good enough.”
When the Blade last checked in with Gunning, he was pointing toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At that time, he was the top Jamaican point earner if it came down to a FINA universality selection for the Olympics.
Then the pandemic hit. Gunning was out of the water for more than 100 days and scrambling to stay in shape with dryland training.
“Those were dark and desperate times,” says Gunning. “Once I was able to get back in the water, I trained by myself for 20 weeks.”
With COVID barriers for training and competitions, Gunning knew all along that another Jamaican swimmer could top his FINA points.
And then it happened.
FINA adjusted their earned points for the 200 meter butterfly downward and another swimmer earned more points in the 200 meter IM.
Gunning had one last shot in June at a meet in Glasgow but did not swim near his best times. He received the news earlier this month that he was not selected for the team.
“Swimming shapes you as a person. Whether you reach your end goals or not, you are so much stronger for it. I don’t regret any of the hard work I put in,” Gunning says. “Swimming prompted me to come out – swimming gave me that. We still need diversity and inclusion, especially at the grass roots level. I want to be that representation.”
With the news being so fresh, Gunning is unclear on his long term path in the pool. He will continue to teach swimming and field offers that come his way. Next year, he will be a Pride House ambassador at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“The Olympics make role models, and I am excited to support and cheer for the LGBTQ athletes who are competing,” says Gunning. “For now, I am going to live every day, one day at a time, being myself and being authentic.”
Sports
2 former NBA players launch cheap anti-trans stunt to exploit WNBA rules
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White are attempting to extend their finished sports careers through vague gender eligibility policy in the WNBA.
As transgender sports policy continues to make headlines, two former NBA players are attempting to use vague WNBA wording on players’ gender identity to extend their finished professional sports careers.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, two male former professional basketball players who have aligned themselves with the ‘far-right’ political spectrum, have announced that they plan to self-identify as transgender in order to meet the requirements to declare themselves eligible for the WNBA draft.
Freedom last played for the NBA in 2022, while White played his last professional game in 2018.
Both players have explicitly stated that this choice is an attempt to exploit the policy currently in place in the WNBA — one that assumes those who say they identify as transgender women are women — unlike what these two have done.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but it does not include more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth, according to The Athletic, The New York Times’s sports publication.
Neither Freedom nor White has previously made any statements about being trans.
“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA,” Freedom wrote on X. “Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.”
Hours later, White made a similar statement to Fox News, emphasizing that this was solely an attempt to exploit the policy — an attempt at inclusion — and use it as a loophole to stay relevant in the sport he left in 2018.
“I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,“ White told Fox News. “I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy. I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do.”
White also said that he would be open to suing the WNBA if he were not allowed to be a part of the draft, while making transphobic comments about genitalia in the same breath.
“I think the WNBA could come out and make a definitive statement about guys with a pair of balls playing in the Women’s Association,“ White said, saying he doesn’t “want to be discriminated against.”
“I want fair treatment,” White continued while also using the opportunity to promote his run for the U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota. “I’m a young Black, hopefully United States Senator that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete.”
“We’re gonna have to have a huge legal battle about discrimination if I can’t play,” he added.
White has made multiple failed attempts to run for office as a Republican since leaving the NBA, with statements surrounding conspiracy theories and his support for Trump coming under fire.
He has faced court actions after falling behind on court-mandated child support payments and has faced family repercussions for his political activities.
White’s grandfather has distanced himself from White, stating: “There’s no way I can support my grandson supporting the GOP, and in essence, Trump.”
In response to Freedom’s X post and White’s announcement, the Women’s National Basketball Players’ Association, the players’ union for the WNBA, released a statement doubling down on its commitment to inclusivity in the sport.
“We embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Those are the values that unite this Union and allow it to protect women’s sports while creating transformational change,” the statement said in a post on Instagram.
“Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations,” the post continued. “But we will not be used as political pawns.”
The statement comes just days after WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to teams attempting to address ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in women’s basketball.
“I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention,” Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday afternoon and published in the Associated Press. “I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the media with thoughtfulness and professionalism.”
“We recognize that this is a complex and nuanced topic, and we will continue to have important conversations with all of you and the Players Association in the weeks and months ahead,” Engelbert said. “We also plan to convene additional discussions and offer listening sessions for any team leaders who would like to participate. Your perspectives and feedback are invaluable, and I appreciate those who have already reached out to share their thoughts.”
The memo, which does not clarify whether the league’s stance on gender eligibility will change or what the ongoing conversations have looked like, comes as political figures — particularly those on the right — continue to fuel debates over transgender participation in women’s sports across the country and across sports.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also commented on the ongoing eligibility meetings the WNBA is holding, using the issue to criticize transgender participation in women’s sports.
“WNBA meeting to decide whether 2+2=4 or 2+2=5,” Desantis wrote on X on Saturday.
Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports. Cunningham’s comments sparked small rallies and protests in Seattle and Portland when the Fever were on the road last week.
Despite the loudest voices — and those being covered by non-LGBTQ outlets — highlighting negative takes on transgender inclusion on female sports teams, multiple WNBA members have voiced their support for transgender women participating in sports.
Seattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve have used their platforms to continue their vocal support for transgender women participating in sports.
“We need to protect trans kids,” Reeve said on Aug. 1. “To me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports.”
A source familiar with the league told the Blade that the WNBA is not taking Freedom and White’s announcements seriously and is not entertaining what the source characterized as bad-faith efforts to demonize the transgender community. The source emphasized that there are no serious or immediate eligibility issues involving the two men and said their attempts to enter women’s sports do not represent an effort to protect women’s sports.
“The WNBA will not allow bad-faith publicity stunts designed to mock or demean others to dictate serious conversations about league policy,” the source told the Blade on Tuesday. “There are no immediate eligibility issues affecting the WNBA.”
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.
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