Sports
Local swimmers triumph at international competition
District of Columbia Aquatics Club members nab more than 100 medals


The historic World Pride and Stonewall 50 celebrations in New York City last month coincided with six days of athletic competition.
The International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics world championships drew in about 900 athletes from around the globe in the sports of swimming, water polo, diving, synchronized swimming and open water swimming.
When it was over, swimmers from the District of Columbia Aquatics Club (DCAC) had captured 82 gold, 28 silver and 27 bronze medals in the pool. DCAC broke 17 IGLA world records and had two swimmers win medals in open water swimming.
The IGLA championships were founded 30 years ago and have continued to thrive. The sense of history seemed especially prevalent at this yearās event.
āOn the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, it was important for DCAC and the Washington Wetskins water polo team to compete at this yearās championships,ā says Jack Markey, a founding member of both teams. āOlder athletes who were instrumental in founding and leading LGBT aquatics renewed friendships and athletic rivalries, while looking on with pride at the accomplishments of younger athletes from teams around the world.ā
For the fourth year in a row, a contingent of swimmers from Uganda were at the IGLA championships. They are wildly popular with all the teams and each year with them in attendance serves as a reminder as to how far other countries have progressed in regard to LGBT rights.
āUganda is a place where same-sex relationships are criminalized, social acceptance is low and LGBT individuals face harassment, imprisonment, blackmail and violence,ā Markey says. āWhile the challenges they face back home are reminiscent of pre-Stonewall America, their presence at IGLA reinforces the importance of LGBT sports programs and the positive effect they have on peopleās lives.ā
DCAC swimmer Geoff Heuchling attended his first IGLA in 1994 which was also held in New York City in conjunction with the Gay Games. He wasnāt planning on competing this year because of a career change and home move.
In April he went to a D.C. screening of the documentary āLight in the Waterā and changed his mind. The film chronicles the journey of the LGBT-based West Hollywood Aquatics team and offers a glimpse of what it was like to be a gay athlete in the 1980s. Not only is it a story about swimming, water polo and the HIV/AIDS crisis, it is a story about hope, perseverance and the battle for acceptance.
āThe film reminded me what IGLA is all about and prompted me to go. My brother Peter swam for West Hollywood Aquatics and died from AIDS in 1992,ā Heuchling says. āGoing back for another IGLA was a touchstone to my brother. IGLA was very meaningful to him.ā
Heuchling was one of DCACās record setters at the championships and he plans to continue competing for a variety of reasons.
āThese are people who I have been swimming against for decades and it is great to see them every year,ā Heuchling says. āSwimming is good for both my emotional and physical health and is a marker as to how I am aging. Plus, I value any time I get to spend with my DCAC teammates.ā
DCAC swimmer Chris Meadows was attending his first IGLA championships. Born in Georgia and raised in Tennessee, he was brought up with swimming as part of his family. The Georgia Tech aquatic center is named after his great-uncle, Herb McAuley.
A former American University swimmer, Meadows was competing at a multi-day swim meet for the first time since finishing his collegiate career in 2012.
āItās always a challenge to prepare your body for multiple fast swims over several days,ā Meadows says. āIGLA was a reminder of how much I love this sport and that I need to be in the pool.ā
Participating in his first LGBT swim meet also came with unexpected experiences and important interactions with older LGBT swimmers.
āOne thing that stood out was hearing everyoneās stories. Even if they were sad stories, such as the large number of swimmers lost to the AIDS epidemic, they were important to hear,ā Meadows says. āIām not just swimming, Iām learning life lessons. Plus, it was pretty cool to have a drag queen as an announcer at the pool.ā

FIFA has announced Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, despite concerns over its human rights record that includes the death penalty for homosexuality.
The Associated Press reported FIFA confirmed the decision on Dec. 18. The AP noted Saudi Arabia is the only country that bid to host the 2034 World Cup.
āThis is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia and a dream come true for all our 32 million people who simply love the game,ā said Sport Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al- Faisal, who is also president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, in a statement the Saudi Press Agency posted to its website.
Saudi Arabia is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.
A U.S. intelligence report concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ālikely approvedā the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A federal judge in 2022 dismissed a lawsuit against Prince Mohammed after the Biden-Harris administration said he was immune to the lawsuit because he is the countryās prime minister.
Human rights activists have also criticized the Saudi government over the treatment of women, migrant workers, and other groups in the country.
“No one should be surprised by this,ā Cyd Zeigler, Jr., co-founder of Outsports.com, an LGBTQ sports website, told the Washington Blade in an email after FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. āFIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and many other world governing bodies routinely turn to authoritarian countries with terrible human-rights records to host major sporting events. There are simply few other countries willing to spend the billions of dollars it takes to build the needed infrastructure.ā
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a statement described FIFAās decision as āa betrayal of the values that football should stand for: Inclusivity, fairness, and respect for human rights.ā
āThis is not about football; itās about sportswashing,ā said Tatchell. āThe Saudi regime is using the World Cup to launder its international image and distract from its brutal abuses. By granting them this platform, FIFA is complicit in whitewashing their crimes.ā
Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia, hosted the 2022 World Cup.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Qatar.
āSaudi Arabia was the only country to bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup,ā said Zeigler. āSo, until FIFA, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and other governing bodies ban major human-rights violators from hosting, we’ll continue to see events like this in SaudiĀ Arabia, China, Qatar, and other countries with terrible LGBTQ rights issues.”
The Blade has reached out to FIFA and the Saudi government for comment.
Sports
Controversy grows over member of Calif. universityās womenās volleyball team
Coach suspended, NCAA sued, more rivals forfeit

San Jose State Universityās women volleyball team has collected yet another W by forfeit ā its seventh so far this season ā as controversy swirls around one player on its roster. Sheās one of the seniors, and she has been dragged in the media by her own co-captain, who outed her as transgender.
The Washington Blade is not naming this student athlete since neither she nor the school have confirmed or even commented on her gender identity.
SJSU visited San Diego last weekend for a match before the Aztecsā biggest home crowd of the season ā including protesters waving āSave Womenās Sportsā banners and booing one player on the Spartans team in particular: The woman who is reported to be trans.
Security was tight, with metal detectors and extra guards and police officers present. Video posted to YouTube by a right-wing sports media site ā which names the player ā shows an angry fan arguing with security about his First Amendment rights.
Video recorded during Nov. 9ās game shows a player for San Diego was injured following a spike by the player rumored to be trans, and had to be helped off the court. However, the video clearly shows that player was injured by landing poorly on one foot, not as a result of the spike.
The Aztecs defeated the Spartans 3-1, but San Jose has still punched its ticket to the conference finals, thanks to its record number of forfeits.
Wyoming was set to visit SJSU Thursday, but for the second time is joining other universities that have forfeited games against the Spartans, all without providing a reason. Boise State announced it will forfeit an upcoming match set for Nov. 21, its second forfeit against SJSU.
In September, the Spartansā co-captain, senior Brooke Slusser, outed her own teammate, the player at the center of this controversy, in joining a federal lawsuit against the NCAA spearheaded by anti-trans inclusion activist and former college athlete Riley Gaines.
Slusser said in the lawsuit and in subsequent interviews that the player in question shouldnāt be on her team. The suit claims the NCAAās policy on trans athletes violates Title IX by allowing āmenā to compete in women’s sports and use women’s locker rooms where they display āfull male genitalia.ā
The NCAA policy for trans athletes participating in womenās volleyball aligns with that of USA Volleyball, which requires trans female athletes to suppress their testosterone below 10 nmol/L for a period of one year before competition. That is also how the NCAA determines eligibility. SJSU has stated repeatedly that all its players are eligible.
The lawsuit also asks the NCAA to revoke any titles or records won by trans female athletes in women’s competitions, which seems to be specifically aimed at stripping out trans NCAA champions Lia Thomas and CeCĆ© Telfer of their titles in swimming and track and field, respectively.Ā
Prior to this season, the player rumored to be trans did not attract any attention other than being a successful starter, like Slusser. But now that she is in the media spotlight, Slusser has come forward to tell right wing media, including Megyn Kelly, why she feels another woman two inches taller than she is poses a danger.Ā
“I don’t feel safe,” Slusser said on “The Megyn Kelly Show” last month. “I’ve gone to my coaches and said I refuse to play against [her] ā¦ It’s not safe.”
In the video, both Kelly and Slusser refer to the player as āhimā and a āman,ā and name her.
Now comes another twist: San Jose State University suspended associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose with pay, indefinitely, after she filed a Title IX complaint against SJSU. She claims the player Slusser identified as trans conspired with an opponent to help the team lose a match and injure Slusser. Batie-Smoose named the player in question in her complaint and on Sept. 23, joined the same lawsuit that Slusser is now a part of.
“Safety is being taken away from women,” Batie-Smoose told Fox News. “Fair play is taken away from women. We need more and more people to do this and fight this fight because womenās sports, as we know it right now will be forever changed.”
Media reporting on the suspension, including Fox News, continue to name the athlete in question, with some also reporting what they say is the athleteās birth name.
San Jose State released a statement following the suspension of Batie-Smoose: “The associate head coach of the San Jose State University womenās volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter,” the team said.
SJSU Coach Todd Kress told ESPN that reports saying that any member of the Spartans colluded with their opponent are ālittered with lies.ā
The Spartans are currently among the top six finishers in the Mountain West Conference that will qualify to compete in the conference tournament scheduled for Nov. 27-30.
Sports
University of Nevada forfeits game rather than play possible trans athlete
Womenās volleyball team cites ānot enough players to competeā

For the fifth time, a womenās volleyball team has chosen to forfeit instead of play against San Jose State University, because of rumors that one of its players is a transgender woman.
The University of Nevada, Reno, officially announced on Friday that it would forfeit Saturdayās game against the SJSU Spartans. This followed an announcement by Wolf Pack players who said they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details.
Originally, Nevada’s athletic department had said the program would not back out from the match, citing state equality laws, but also said that no players would be disciplined if they chose to not participate.
āThe vast majority of our team decided this is something we wanted to take a stand on,ā Nevada team captain Sia Liilii told Fox News. āWe didnāt want to play against a male player.”
āIn all of our team meetings it just kept coming back to the fact that men do not belong in womenās sports. If youāre born a biological male, you donāt belong in womenās sports. Itās not even about this individual athlete. Itās about fair competition and safety for everyone.ā
Outsports and several conservative and right-wing websites have identified the player who is rumored to be trans, but the Washington Blade has opted to not do so since she herself has not come forward to either acknowledge or deny she is trans.Ā
As ESPN reported, Nevada follows Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State in canceling games against the Spartans. Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State, and Nevada are all members of the Mountain West Conference, so those contests are considered forfeits and count as valuable wins in the league standings for San Jose State.
Riley Gaines, the anti-trans inclusion activist for the Independent Womenās Forum has joined the chorus in claiming the Spartansā roster includes a trans woman.
If you're wondering why teams are forfeiting against @SJSU, here's the reason.
Last night another woman was smashed in the face by a kill from a man posing as a woman.
It's unfair, unsafe, and regressive, yet our "leaders" remain silent. pic.twitter.com/OS15AFxQsp
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 18, 2024
Despite this, neither San Jose State nor any of the other forfeiting teams have said the universityās women’s volleyball team has a trans player. SJSU issued a statement defending its roster.
āOur athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and they are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. We will continue to take measures to prioritize the health and safety of our students while they pursue their earned opportunities to compete,ā the statement read.
The governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming ā all of whom are members of the Republican Party ā have issued public statements supporting the cancellations, claiming itās in the interest of fairness in women’s sports. This week, Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee and former president, spoke at a Fox News televised town hall when asked about trans athletes in women’s sports.
āWeāre not going to let it happen,ā Trump said. āWe stop it, we stop it, we absolutely stop it. We canāt have it. You just ban it. The president bans it. You donāt let it happen. Itās not a big deal.ā