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, āAt least 142 publicly out gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary athletes are headed to Tokyo for the Summer Olympic Games.ā
Flashback to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games when a correspondent from The Daily Beast used hook-up apps such as Bumble, Tindr, Grindr, and Jackād 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 ā 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, Fonuaās 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.
āThe pandemic changed a lot of things for all of us,ā says Fonua. āThis past year has been about survival, and I have done my best with what I have been given.ā
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 ā be competitive, do your best, and have fun.
āI will be staying in the Olympic Village but there wonāt 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,ā Fonua says. āMy 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.ā
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 ā 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.
āWe have all heard that Black people donāt swim, and I wanted to prove it could be done,ā says Gunning. āI began chasing those Olympic dreams at every event I swam in.ā
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.
āI was really on the fence before saying yes. I felt like I wasnāt being taken seriously in the UK and this was an opportunity to do my bit and inspire,ā Gunning says. āThat first experience in Budapest was amazing. The Jamaican team accepted me, and I finally felt good enough.ā
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.
āThose were dark and desperate times,ā says Gunning. āOnce I was able to get back in the water, I trained by myself for 20 weeks.ā
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.
āSwimming shapes you as a person. Whether you reach your end goals or not, you are so much stronger for it. I donāt regret any of the hard work I put in,ā Gunning says. āSwimming prompted me to come out ā swimming gave me that. We still need diversity and inclusion, especially at the grass roots level. I want to be that representation.ā
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.
āThe Olympics make role models, and I am excited to support and cheer for the LGBTQ athletes who are competing,ā says Gunning. āFor now, I am going to live every day, one day at a time, being myself and being authentic.ā
Sports
Every MLB team except this one celebrated Pride
Right-wingers react to ābacklashā against Rangers: āBullying is unacceptableā
Once again, the Texas Rangers opted not to celebrate Pride last month with a dedicated day or night on its 2024 promotion schedule. And once again, the American League West team is the only Major League operation to do so.
This repeated omission by the reigning World Series champs has sparked what one conservative news site calls a āridiculous backlash.ā As the Washington Examinerās Kimberly Ross wrote this week:
āThere is no getting away from these ubiquitous celebrations. Instead of āto each his own,ā major league teams are nearly required to give in and perform in an effort to placate the loudest crowds. Itās not good enough to include everyone at all times. You must kowtow or else. This kind of bullying is unacceptable, and itās worth pushing back against whether youāre a regular citizen or the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers.ā
But the only evidence of the ābacklashā was a balanced report by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press that appeared on the website of KSAT-TV in San Antonio, detailing the frustrations of local LGBTQ advocates and fans. His report was posted by the AP under the headline: āWhy are the Texas Rangers the only MLB team without a Pride Night?ā The virulently anti-trans British tabloid, the Daily Mail rehashed that same AP piece but added that LGBTQ groups were āFURIOUSā without substantiating that claim with a single quote.Ā
At most, DeeJay Johannessen, chief executive of the HELP Center, an LGBTQ organization based in Tarrant County, where the Rangers play, told the AP he felt ākind of embarrassed.ā The Daily Mail headline writer was apparently ākind ofā clickbaiting.
āIt’s kind of an embarrassment to the city of Arlington that their team is the only one that doesnāt have a Pride night,ā Johannessen said. Local advocate Rafael McDonnell said, āIt pains me that this remains an issue [after] all these years.ā
How painful? McDonnell told the AP he considered not attending the championship parade with his boyfriend when the Rangers celebrated their first World Series championship last fall. Ultimately, he decided to go. So much for āFURIOUS.ā
McDonnell is the communications and advocacy manager for the Resource Center, which is an organization that grew out of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. He added that his group has worked with the Rangers, at their invitation, to help them develop a policy of inclusion, starting about five years ago.
The team has sent employees to volunteer for programs supporting its efforts in advocating for marriage equality and transgender rights.
Although McDonnell said members of the Rangers staff keep in contact with him, he told the AP he canāt recall any conversations with the team since its five-game victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in last yearās World Series.
āFor a long time, Iāve thought that it might be somebody very high up in the organization who is opposed to this for some reason that is not clearly articulated,ā McDonnell said. āTo say that the Rangers arenāt doing anything for the community, well, they have. But the hill that they are choosing to stake themselves out on is no Pride night.ā
The Rangers did celebrate Mexican heritage during a game last month, and also host nights throughout the season dedicated to other groups as well as the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, first responders, teachers, and the military. The team also recognizes universities from around the Dallas-Fort Worth area and other parts of the Lone Star State. But not Pride.
Why? The Rangers issued a statement, very similar to one from 2023. It lists various organizations the team has sponsored and steps it has taken internally to ācreate a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive environment for fans and employees.ā
āOur longstanding commitment remains the same: To make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball ā in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do ā for both our fans and our employees,ā the team said. āWe deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.ā
āI think it’s a private organization,ā said Rangers fan Will Davis. āAnd if they don’t want to have it, I don’t think they should be forced to have it.ā Davis is from Marble Falls, about 200 miles southwest of the stadium in Central Texas and attended a recent game with his son’s youth baseball team.
āI think if it were something where MLB said, āWeāre not participating in this,ā but the MLB does participate in it. And the Rangers have chosen not to,ā said Rangers fan Misty Lockhart, who lives near told the ballpark. Lockhart told the AP she attends almost three dozen games every season. āI think that’s where I take the bigger issue, is they have actively chosen not to participate in it.ā
While Lockhart says she doesn’t see Pride night as a political issue, she suggested there would be more pressure on the Rangers if their stadium was downtown, in the heart of Dallas County, where the majority of elected officials are Democrats. Tarrant County, home to Arlington, Fort Worth and Global Life Stadium, is generally more conservative, just like the governor, lieutenant governor, legislature, and fans like Will Davis.
āIn something like this, this is a way for people to go as a state,ā Davis told the AP. āWe don’t want the political stuff shoved down our throats one way or the other, left or right. We’re coming out here to have a good time with friends or family and let it be.ā
Unfortunately, some Rangers fans decided they could not ālet it beā the one time the team welcomed local LGBTQ groups to a game as part of a fundraising event, as it does for other groups. This was in September 2003, two years after the Chicago Cubs hosted what is considered the first-ever Pride game. At that time, Rangers fans raged about the invitation on a website, and showed up to protest outside the stadium before that game.
The Rangers never extended that invitation again.
Sports
Haters troll official Olympics Instagram for celebrating gay athlete and boyfriend
Campbell Harrison clapped back at online trolls
Olympian Campbell Harrison has already conquered an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, and disappointment for skipping the Tokyo Summer Games so he could support his older sister in her battle with cancer.
So, heās saying āno wuckaāsā (meaning, āno problemā in Aussie lingo) to the bigots, trolls, mongrels, and “drongos” (meaning, ādicksā and āfools,ā respectively) who plastered their disapproval in the comments of an Instagram post celebrating him as the first LGBTQ sport climber in Olympic history.
The post wasnāt even his; the official Olympics Instagram account shared pictures from his qualifying climb from November 2023, and tagged Harrison earlier this week.
āCelebration kiss for the ages ššā reads the caption. āAfter not making it to Tokyo 2020, Australian sport climber Campbell Harrison did not give up and four years later secured a quota spot for the Olympic Games #Paris2024. It was an emotional victory celebrated together with his partner, Justin.ā
Harrison, having seen the negative comments multiply, took them in stride with a snappy response that included a tag to his boyfriend, Justin Maire, whose account is private.
āAll these people mad cause we’re hotter than they are š,ā Harrison wrote.
Harrisonās mother, Yvette, shared her support: āI could not be more proud of you my beautiful son. You and Justin are such a beautiful couple and we love you both very much. š³ļøāššā¤ļøā
There were plenty of other supportive comments, and haters were called out, too: āI love all the people following the @Olympics page due to the Olympic spirit (among other values), who donāt see the irony of bashing an Olympic athlete because of who they love,ā wrote out travel writer and LGBTQ rights advocate Mikah Meyer.
The person managing the official Olympics Instagram account was asked to do a better job curating the comments, which were largely vitriolic and cruel. The account posted this plea: āLet’s keep our community positive ā¤ļø Please ensure your comments are respectful and avoid any language that could be offensive, or harmful to others. We reserve the right to remove comments that do not adhere to this guideline.ā
Gay Olympic champion diver Matthew Mitcham commented: ā15 years ago I kissed my partner on camera when I won in Beijing 2008. This one post by @olympics has received more hate than I did in my whole career.āĀ
Today is Harrisonās 28th birthday. He, his boyfriend and his mother recently spoke with Climbingās Holly Yu Tung Chen. She wrote:
āCampbell arrived in the world on June 28, 1997, screaming inconsolably. Unlike his three other siblings, who were all āpeaches and cream,ā said Yvette, baby Campbell was “squishy and cuddly, yes ā but he had a lot to say from the word go.”
āCampbell started climbing at age eight when Russell took the children to the Victorian Climbing Centre and noticed Campbellās immediate vigor. Itās the age-old climber tale: Campbell almost immediately lost interest in the other sports he dabbled in, including swimming, soccer, and track and field. All he wanted to do was climb.ā
Harrison told Climbing although he never actually ācame outā as gay, he never hid his sexuality, and simply made sure his parents and siblings knew who he was. For example, when he told the family heād be joining Climbing Cuties, an affinity group for queer climbers, they told him to have fun. On another occasion, Harrison let them know heād be taking part in a panel for queer climbers, and his parents asked if they could attend.
As for his boyfriend, Harrison told Climbing they met cute.
āIn the age where most people meet online, we had the classic story of catching each otherās eye from across the room,ā said Harrison. Maire told the reporter he recognized Campbell from social media, where the climber does not hide their relationship, and that often results in comments that his posts have āgotten too political.ā
āHow is that political?ā he asked, rhetorically, noting that most of the hateful comments he receives online come from Americans. āWhy should I change the way I feel just because of someone elseās perception of me?ā he said.
Last November, the only climber to top the menās finals route during the IFSC Oceania Qualifier in Melbourne was Harrison. Watching him ascend were his parents and boyfriend, as he clipped the final draw and collapsed inward, his hands covering his face as he was lowered down. He had punched his ticket to Paris with this win.
Once he was on the ground, Harrison made a beeline to Maire, where they hugged and kissed, as recorded on Instagram.
The Washington Mystics will be having their upcoming Pride game on Saturday against the Dallas Wings.
The Mystics Pride game is one of the teamās theme nights they host every year, with Pride night being a recurring event. The team faced off against the Phoenix Mercury last June. Brittney Griner, who Russia released from a penal colony in December 2022 after a court convicted her of importing illegal drugs after customs officials at Moscowās Sheremetyevo Airport found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage, attended the game.Ā
Unlike the NBA, where there are currently no openly LGBTQ players, there are multiple WNBA players who are out. Mystics players Emily Englster, Brittney Sykes, and Stefanie Dolson are all queer.
The Mystics on June 1 acknowledged Pride Month in a post to its X account.
āCelebrating Pride this month and every month,ā reads the message.
Celebrating #Pride this month and every month š³ļøāšš«¶ pic.twitter.com/yFhDoggAVZ
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) June 1, 2024
The game is on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Entertainment and Sports Arena (1100 Oak Drive, S.E.). Fans can purchase special Pride tickets that come with exclusive Mystics Pride-themed jerseys.
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