Entries from December 2009 ↓

No longer able to count on the support of the BC government, Vancouver’s Outgames organizers are turning to the private sector to ensure the North American portion of the international gay sports and culture festival will continue as planned in 2011.

When planning the games in 2007 and 2008, Outgames chair John Boychuk says representatives from “ministries associated with sport” initially made a verbal promise to contribute $400,000 to the event. Eventually that verbal commitment was reduced to $150,000 to $200,000.

“A year later they told us that things were a little bit tight but on track,” Boychuk says. “After 18 months they said, ‘We can’t continue to commit to any amount.’”

Boychuk says the uncertainty surrounding government funding pushed Outgames organizers to move from planning a volunteer-run event to working with a corporate partner.

International Conference Services (ICS) will now provide secretarial, sponsorship, accommodation, registration and accounting services for the event, according to Boychuk.

The partnership with ICS will also give Vancouver’s Outgames the backing it needs to secure facilities for the event.

“In order to be secure a hotel contract you have to have money to be able to back up what you’re asking for,” Boychuk explains. “So if you’re asking for 250 hotel rooms for five nights you have to put up a bond or credit card. We don’t have the cash to do such a thing so we have to have someone with that line of credit.”

Boychuk is still hopeful that the 2011 Outgames will receive provincial funding.

Read more at xtra.ca (some ads at the website NSFW)

The organizers of Aspen Gay Ski Week (AGSW) and presenting sponsor Bud Light, have announced dates and a schedule of events for their 2010 “Into the Woods” themed event taking place Sunday, January 17, 2010 through Sunday, January 24, 2010.

Established in 1976 by a small group of Aspen residents to host social events and organize educational forums, AGSW was the first of its kind and has served as both an inspiration and model for other gay ski weeks in ski towns across the nation. The event has morphed into a week-long celebration packed with events that include skiing, snowboarding, après ski parties, dining, shopping, comedy, a down-hill costume competition and more. “What started as a forum for the gay community has expanded to a week of premier skiing and outstanding entertainment for all. This year we are working with a new Board of Directors who have brought new ideas and innovative approaches to this historic event,“ said Peter Helburn, acting Executive Director for AGSW. For more information go here.

Following this event Vail will be hosting a gay sking event (see previous posting).

In February it’s the Telluride Gay Ski Week. 

Telluride Gay Ski Week is going to be just a little bit different than other gay ski weeks; the experiences you will have here will be flavored by the ambience of the charming yet upscale Telluride, and the hip more urbane and European-style town of Mountain Village. We offer an unpretentious FUN week including an incredible array of events that will leave you with a smile on your face, new friends that have been made, and ready to return for more!

This year T-10 welcomes the Matthew Shepard Foundation as our new presenting sponsor with LOGO network returning as a major media sponsor.  They are joined by a host of new and returning sponsors which include the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, Chemstry.com, Singha Beer, Pravda Vodka, House Jams Wines, GLOSS Magazine, Passport Magazine, Pink Banana Media, IGLTA, the Peaks Resort and the Capella Telluride.  

We have a full week of events and parties planned and we are once again offering a VIP T-Pass that includes entry into all of our official events*, exclusive discounts and a VIP gift bag…all for only $195. That is a value of over $300! 

Gareth Thomas may be the first high-profile rugby union player to declare he is a homosexual but the former Wales captain is not the first leading sports star to announce that they are gay.

The following sporting personalties paved the way for Thomas’s announcement:

Justin Fashanu (football): The first black British player to command a one million pounds transfer fee, he remains the only English top-flight footballer to come out as gay. When he took that step in 1990, there was much less public sympathy for sportsmen in his position.

The brother of fellow striker John Fashanu, Justin’s career was already in decline at this stage and in 1998 he committed suicide aged just 37.

Billie-Jean King (tennis): One of the most successful female players in tennis history, King – who was married to husband Larry at the time – was ‘outed’ in 1981 when her then secretary, who was her lover, filed a ‘palimony’ suit. King had wanted to retire that year but had to play on because of legal costs.

“Within 24 hours (of the lawsuit being filed), I lost all my endorsements; I lost everything,” King recalled. “I lost two million dollars at least, because I had longtime contracts. I had to play just to pay for the lawyers.

“It was very hard on me because I was outed and I think you have to do it in your own time. Fifty percent of gay people know who they are by the age of 13. I was in the other 50 percent.

“I would never have married Larry if I’d known. I would never have done that to him. I was totally in love with Larry when I was 21.”

Donal Og Cusack (hurling): Cusack, in a country where the Catholic church still has a major public role, became the first top-class Irish sportsman to reveal he was gay in an autobiography, ‘Come What May’, published earlier this year.

“Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I’ve always been at peace with it,” he wrote.

Nigel Owens (rugby union): The Welsh referee, who survived a suicide attempt, came out in 2007.

Owen recounted his experiences in an autobiography, ‘Half Time’, published this year, where he recalled what it was like to discover as a teenager he was gay while growing up in the Welsh village of Mynyddcerrig.

“I didn’t want to be gay,” he said. “It was frightening. Coming from this old-fashioned, close-knit community, I didn’t really know what a gay person was or looked like.”

Source – fijilive sports/AFP

As I was driving home from work tonight listening to WCBS-AM in New York City, a report came on starting with “George Micheal … ” and I immediately said “oh no”.

Yes, the report went onto say George had passed away at the age of 70 from complications of chronic lymphocytic leukemia at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC.

For years living in Danbury, CT I listened to WABC-AM in NYC and George was my favorite evening DJ (besides Cousin Brucie who George replaced) at the “clear signal” giant which when atmospheric conditions were right at night could be heard as far West as New Mexico and Arizona.

After Howard Cosell stopped doing his weekday evening short sports report, “Speaking Of Sports”, George picked up where Cosell left off, and at the end of each report signed off with “and that’s all about the games that people play”.

Along with many others in news and sports who I listened to and watched over those years prior to getting into radio broadcasting and even through reading about and watching/listening to archival broadcasts of the likes of Edward R. Murrow, George was most definitely an inspiration for me to get into radio broadcasting, not knowing at the time it would lead to a four year stint at two of our local radio stations here in Danbury as Sports Director, producer and reporter.

As with many of my “careers”, I fell into doing sports and use to listen intently to George and Warner Wolf who at the time worked for WABC-TV in New York City. While I never tried to copy their style, I did learn the value of how to do good interviewing and delivery. John Chanin who was then the director of sports radio programming for the ABC Radio Network (who I had done “stringer” work for) was another “teacher” who told me never be afraid to express my opinion on subjects. Bascially, but not in so many words, be like Cosell and don’t give a damn what people think as long as you believe in your opinion.

As a way to show my appreciation of George Michael, I signed off the last sports report each morning with the same sign-off George used.

When he eventually moved on to Washington, DC in 1980 to WRC-TV, after “the day the music died at WABC-AM” it was a sad event for me as I thought I’d never be able to hear those fabulous “pipes” again. Then along came the syndicated “George Michael Sports Machine”, and this time instead of just hearing the “pipes”, I got to see George each Sunday night after the 11:00 news on WNBC-TV in NYC.

Although I never had the opportunity to met George Michael much to my regret, he is the reason, in my mind anyway, that during my tenure at WLAD-AM & WDAQ-FM in Danbury I was recognized for three consecutive years by the Associated Press for my sports reporting.  By listening as a “student” to his delivery and interviewing skills, he was my “professor extraordinaire” for sports broadcasting.

George leaves behind his wife Pat, daughter Michelle and many, many friends, former co-workers and one very grateful former radio sports broadcaster. George was without a doubt one of the good guys.

And that’s all about the games that people play.

After a delay due to the world economy, Antwerp, Belgium has been named by the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA) as the host city for the 2013 World Outgames.

GLISA director for Europe Tatjana Eggeling said: “We are very happy to see that the City of Antwerp, the Province of Antwerp and the Flemish Government have taken partnership in the project and will provide both financial and in kind support now and in the years to come.”

Jack Mackenroth (pictured) took home 8 medals for swimming during this year’s games held in Copenhagen. For more info on Mackenroth’s winnings, go to Ethan Says.

More than 5500 participants from 92 countries attended the games in Copenhagen with over 200,000 tourists and locals enjoying the week long event. 25,000 welcomed the athletes at the start of the games and 40,000, if not more were on hand for the closing of the games.

GLISA co-president, Julia Applegate said in an email to the events organizers “everything was absolutely fantastic”.

Although the games went off pretty much unscathed, there were some isolated incidents of attacks on participants which were registered as “hate crimes’”, however fortunately no one was seriously injured. All suspects were caught, charged and jailed by Copenhagen police.

The United States sent 631 athletes and, Denmark aside, was second only to Germany by one member with the largest contingent. The USA won a total of 513 medals including 119 Bronze, 152 Silver and 243 Gold.

According to Luisa Yanez at The Miami Herald, A female athlete wins an Olympic gold medal, but later a sexual verification test detects she has the testosterone levels of a man.

What action does the International Olympic Committee take?

Two faculty members from Florida International University’s new medical school will help set the framework on how to tackle such cases in future elite international athletic competitions.

Genetics professors Joe Leigh Simpson and Maria New from FIU’s Wertheim College of Medicine are hosting the groundbreaking second annual World Conference on Genetic and Hormonal Basis of Sexual Differentiation Disorders on Jan. 15-18 at Miami Beach’s Eden Roc Hotel.

The conference brings together scientists and physicians who deal with sex differentiation disorders, including hormone issues, genetics and sexual psychology.

Early retirement is treating Mike Piazza well. The former all-star New York Mets catcher and wife Alicia Rickter are now raising two daughters, having welcomed new addition Paulina Sophia Piazza to the family.

“We are blessed to have two healthy girls – we are so grateful,” Mike, 41, tells PEOPLE.

Paulina arrived on Monday, August 3rd at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, weighing 6 lbs., 3 oz., and measuring 24 ½ inches long. She and mom Alicia, 37, an actress and former Playboy model, are healthy and happy, says a Piazza rep.

Paulina is the Piazza’s second daughter. Big sister Nicoletta Veronica, 2 ½, is thrilled with her new little sister, and Mike says that having two kids is double the fun. “Being a father – it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” he says.

When the former catcher – who announced his retirement on May 20, 2008 – is not changing diapers and burping babies, he’s busy coaching the Italian national team entry for the World Baseball Classic. As he said prior to Paulina’s arrival, “I’m excited to be at home and enjoy moments with my kid.”

Source – People/Writer – Lorenzo Benet

He spent the last years of his life wandering the streets of San Francisco, especially Castro Street, the heart of the gay community. Yes, the onetime Dodger outfielder made another kind of baseball history in 1982, two years after his premature retirement from the game, when he became the first player to openly declare his homosexuality. So far there has not been a second, although former umpire Dave Pallone, also openly gay, says there are and have been more. [Editor's note: This pre-dates Billy Bean]

“He was a hero to us”, said Jack McGowan, former sports editor of the San Francisco Sentinel, a gay newspaper. “He was … real. He was athletic, clean cut, masculine. He was everything that we wanted to prove to the world that we could be.”

McGowan, a long-time friend of Burke’s, was joined in his praise of the product of Oakland sandlots by Tommy Lee, a Castro district restaurateur and another old friend. “People were just honored to he in his presence. My God, a major league player, and he’s gay.”

In August 1994 I read a “Where are they now?” type story in the L.A. Times. Burke was suffering from AIDS, an 0-2 count anyway you look at it. Usually the gay community rallies around an AIDS victim. Certainly this would be expected for a hero.

But there were no helping hands for Glenn.

From an article written in 1995 by Bob Brigham, The Diamond Angle.

Read the full story at OUTSPORTS