Arts & Entertainment

Celebrating wins, looking ahead

Local gay sports teams savor victories, gear up for fall activities

Published

15 years ago

September 8, 2011

Kevin Majoros

Gay diver Ben Takai of the Montgomery Dive Club won three gold medals in July in Honolulu. (Photo by Cliff Betita)

With summer coming to a close, the LGBT sports community of Washington has wrapped up some successful sporting adventures and also has many new ones approaching this fall.

Congratulations to the District of Columbia Aquatics Club for winning an unprecedented 10th title in the large team category at the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatic Championships in Honolulu. The swimmers took the crown by defeating strong teams from West Hollywood Aquatics and Team New York Aquatics. They are currently in training for the next Championships to be held in Reykjavik, Iceland in June. More on the swimmers can be found at swimdcac.org.

Congratulations to Ben Takai of the Montgomery Dive Club for sweeping the diving events at the same IGLA Championships in the 25-29 age group. Ben struck gold in the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform. The diving club is online at montgomerydiveclub.org.

Congratulations to the 13 members of the D.C. Strokes Rowing Club who medaled in seven events at the USRowing Masters National regatta in Oklahoma City, Okla. The rowers won medals in men’s, women’s and mixed events to cap off a long sprint race season. Check them out at dcstrokes.org.

Congratulations to the Chesapeake and Potomac Softball League whose members are welcoming home three teams having just competed in the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association Softball World Series in Chicago. The CAPS won the bid to host the World Series in Washington in 2013 over Portland and Dallas. The event is expected to draw about 160 teams and 2,000 players from member cities across North America. The fall season begins for the CAPS begins Sept. 11. Information on softball is at eteamz.com/caps.

The Capital Tennis Association is hosting the Capital Classic XIX tournament on Sept. 16-18 at the Hains Point Tennis Center. Singles and doubles will be contested on clay and hard courts in five different divisions. Fall tennis leagues are forming now and begin in October. Information on the tournament and the tennis team is at capital-tennis.org.

Team D.C. will be hosting a dodgeball tournament on Sept. 24 at the Columbia Heights Recreation Center. Teams consist of eight players and you can register a full team or sign up individually to be placed on a team. Details are at teamdc.org.

The Lambda Links Golf Club will continue to play on different courses on weekends through the fall season and nonmembers are welcome. Members will also be hosting their annual club championships on Sept. 25 and their halloween tournament on Oct. 27. Tee times are at lambdalinks.org.

The Washington Renegades rugby football team kicks off the fall season with match play on Saturday. The ruggers made it to the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union quarterfinals in the spring of 2011 and are looking for another successful season. Match days are posted at www.dcrugby.com.

The D.C. Gay Flag Football league starts its fall season on Sunday at the Carter Barron Fields on 16th and Kennedy. The ever-growing league is now boasting 16 teams that will compete weekly for the coveted championship trophy. League stats and information is at dcgffl.org.

Having just wrapped up the second Summer of Freedom League and hosting the Rehoboth Beach Classic XIII coed soccer tournament last weekend, the Federal Triangles Soccer Club is gearing up for a full slate of league action this fall. On Sept. 21, players will host the second United Night Out at RFK Stadium as the D.C. United take on Chivas USA. The event is part of the Night Out series brought to you by Team D.C. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at unitednightout.com. The Triangles can be found at federaltriangles.org.

On Sunday, members of the D.C. Frontrunners will compete in the 9-11 Memorial Run 5 K in Arlington. The event kicks off the fall race circuit for the Frontrunners which continues into December. More information on the group is at dcfrontrunners.org.

The Rainbow Spinnakers Sailing Club continues its two-hour sails on weekends into the fall season. Nonmembers are welcome and you can be an experienced sailor or a beginner looking to experience sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. They can be found at rainbowspinnakers.org.

The Lambda Divers Scuba Club is heading to Cozumel, Mexico for the week-long 20th anniversary of the Diving For Life charity event. In October, the group heads to the Caribbean for some diving off the coast of Grand Cayman. Check out your options at lambdadivers.org.

LGBT Family Day with the Washington Nationals is being held Sept. 18. Same-sex couples are invited to bring their kids for a special day at the ballpark. Tickets are just $16 and game time is 1:35 p.m. as the Nats take on the Florida Marlins. Info is at nationals.com/lgbtfamily.

Lambda DanceSport is offering up an all new location on Wednesdays and Sundays during its ‘DanceSport at DuPont Circle’ series. Lessons are being offered in country-western, international Latin and international ballroom. lambdadancesport.com.

Books

New book reveals what we can learn from animal sex

‘Poking the Squid’ on homosexuality, gender swapping, and more

Published

1 day ago

July 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy W.W. Norton)

‘Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex’
By Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
c.2026, W.W. Norton
$29.99 241 pages

Birds do it.

According to Cole Porter, bees do, too, but it’s not exactly what he imagined. Wild and tame, avians, insects, and mammals all have sex – although not always as you’ve been told or for reasons you might think. Even educated fleas do it and, as in the new book, “Poking the Squid” by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, humans can learn from them all.

If you read through scientific papers on animal reproduction, you might notice something unusual: for scientists, the word “sex” means a lot of different things.

Says Ireland, “It’s used to describe behaviors, biology, life histories, and more.”

That might be because animals are not simply binary.

Take, for instance, hyenas. It’s easy for the casual observer to mistake a male hyena for a female and vice versa because of stereotypes of anatomy. Mating, for hyenas, requires subordination for the male and a nifty trick on the part of the female’s body to get things done.

Our feathered friends are no birdbrains, either: black-browed albatrosses were once thought to be monogamous but global warming seems to have changed their nesting habits sometimes. Male flamingos have sex with one another, as a territorial thing; other birds and animals form same-sex pairs for other reasons.

The Chinese mantis eats her mate after fertilization. Female snakes, alpacas, guinea pigs, and monkeys are anatomically able to enjoy sex. Genitalia between species varies quite a bit; in fact, the vaginas of ducks “are highly complex.” Lionesses will mate up to 100 times when in heat. Female damselflies will change into a “third sex” to avoid overly aggressive mating males. Bearded dragons can change their sex, if needed, as can yellow clown goby fish. And seahorse pregnancy and birth sparked a book banning in Tennessee.

So, asks Ireland, if animals, including us, vary so much in biology and life, “… why are we using the word sex like it means something, anything, consistent?!”

Pick up “Poking the Squid,” page through it a few seconds, and you’ll see that the information here is largely told through cartoon-like drawings mixed with captions. It seems to be something on the lighter side, but don’t let that artwork fool you.

Author Perrin Roosevelt Ireland offers readers solid information that cozies up to the scholarly, with hard science, philosophy, feminism, and quotations from researchers to support it, thus furthering the narrative and hitting the points squarely. If you see the art and expect something lighthearted, comic, and small-talk-worthy, you could be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you want solid, wryly serious facts, you’re in for a treat.

There’s lots of learning to be gleaned here, and some slight nudge-wink whimsy to emphasize the absurdity of wrong-headed thinking. This can make readers feel like they’re in-the-know on the jokes, and the playfulness balances the seriousness of the information well.

So, serious, scholarly, or slightly silly, none of these are negative but you’re going to know what you want from a book like this. For the right reader, someone in the mood, “Poking the Squid” is wild.

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