This post was submitted by John "Jolly" Bavoso

In last week’s post I promised to focus more on different facets of queer life in the international community outside of pure politics and the law. This week, we’re tackling one aspect of the LGBT community that is often overlooked, with the exception of its use as fodder for cheesy adult films: athletics. TNG’s own Sports section is fairly light on content compared with other topics and, as for myself, the only sports I play are fake, meant for the very young, and very old and Italian (kickball and bocce, if you hadn’t already guessed). While sports and athletics in general are often viewed as the sole domain of heteronormative culture, these activities create for the international queer community a space to not only compete and entertain, but to build a global community and reveal the struggles of sexual minorities around the world through a medium that appeals to a broader audience.

As I said, sports is by no means my forte, but in drawing a connection between the political and social, athletics has long served as an unofficial (and sometimes official) form of diplomacy within the international community, with athletes being transformed into un-ordained diplomats of sorts. International sporting events, in particular, help to bring together queer individuals that may not have had the opportunity to meet in other ways. Also, representing one’s country at an athletic competition may be a way for an LGBT person to actually leave his or her home when such an experience might not be possible otherwise due to finances or politics.

Also, in terms of serving as lay diplomats, athletes may help to illuminate the prejudices of their home countries and represent their community within these nations, rather than presenting a purely nationalistic picture of their homes. To draw a potentially messy connection between race and sexuality, this type of situation was played out starkly by Jesse Owens, who shattered expectations during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Nazi Germany by winning four gold medals in track and field events.

More noteworthy, perhaps, than his performance on the field, were his statements made off the track, especially about his own country. Owens made very public statements to distance himself from the United States government and famously announced that, “Hitler didn’t snub me—it was FDR who snubbed me. The President didn’t even send me a telegram.” Owens was frequently asked for autographs by Germans in the street and was able to stay in a racially mixed hotel (unlike in the United States), and when the media tried to say that Hitler mistreated him because of his race, he replied, “When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in Germany.”

Clearly, the United States wasn’t looking for any American to defend or validate the Nazi regime (and I hope it’s abundantly clear that I’m not either by using this as an example) on the global stage, let alone criticize its own racial politics, but that’s the power of the unofficial diplomat. This highlights how athletes are representative of their home country, but can also serve as the face of their sub-national communities on the international level, a fact that highlights the multi-faceted nature of queer identities in general. Not only are connections and bonds forged at international LGBT sporting events, like the IGLFA’s World Championships, held in DC earlier this year, a space is also opened up for frank dialogue about the lives of homosexuals in different parts of the world, which is ultimately a good thing.

The biggest story in international queer sports these days is obviously the World Outgames 2009, which kicked off on July 27th in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event allows all athletes to participate regardless of sexual orientation, but is specifically geared towards the LGBT community. This year, athletes from 98 countries are participating in 38 different sporting events. An interesting component to these games is that they’re being held in tandem with an international mayoral conference held to discuss LGBT rights, also in Copenhagen. As the director of the event has said, this represents a blending of aspects of queer life and the political implications of sport: “[The World Outgames is] the Olympics in 3D, where sport is accompanied by two equally important dimensions: a wide-ranging cultural programme and a human rights conference.”

The event has also unfortunately revealed just how necessary the human rights portion of the week is: the games have been marred by anti-gay violence, despite their being held in a progressive Northern European country. Three men, representing Sweden, Norway and the UK, were attacked the night of the opening ceremonies right outside of the venue. A more large-scale attack came when what were originally believed to be bombs, but were later described as fireworks, were thrown at athletes by a 31-yer-old Danish man, injuring the hand of one American runner.  These events reinforce just how vital such displays of visibility and solidarity are for the international gay community.

In addition to organizing sporting events specifically for the LGBT community, queer athletes are speaking out against homophobia in “mainstream” athletics as well. This past Saturday’s gay pride canal parade in Amsterdam featured a float with few of The Netherlands’ top athletes, including Dutch Olympic champions. Openly gay swimmer Johan Kenkhuis, whose goal it is to promote acceptance and tolerance of LGBT people in sports, organized the float. It was not Kenkhuis’ goal to condemn sports, however, as being a non-safe place for sexual minorities. It was just the opposite: to take some of the tolerant values he saw in athletics and extend them to the greater international community.

“In sports, especially at the highest level, it is all about winning, teamwork and fair play. You need your team-mates, your coach, the audience and even your competitors to win that gold medal; you can’t do it alone,” he said. “That’s why we have to accept and respect all players for who they are. That’s an attitude that feels natural to all top athletes, but is never really brought to people’s attention.”

The inclusion of more LGBT peoples in sports also helps to broaden the interest in queer issues in general. While the relationship between lesbians and athletics is a complicated one, the greater visibility of one particular lesbian in South Africa due her status as an athlete is helping to strengthen the calls for justice being made on her behalf. I’ve already noted that curative rape and violence against lesbians is all too common in South Africa, but the case of Eudy Simelane, a queer soccer player for Banyana Banyana, South Africa’s national women’s team, and noted gay rights activist, who was raped and stabbed to death in 2008, has drawn more national and international attention, thanks in part to her sporting identity.

The greater attention is making it easier to call for widespread reform and the linkage of various issues. As one LGBT activist has said: “Let’s fight for a South Africa free of homophobia, xenophobia, patriarchy, racism, sexism and chauvinism.” The number of protesters expected to appear outside the courtroom is an indication that, while this woman’s murder was terrible and worthy of attention on its own, her prominence as an out athlete has helped to raise the nation’s consciousness and shatter some of the silence surrounding this issue.

Here in DC, the effort is right now being made to bring the Gay Games to DC in 2014. You can read more about these efforts and support the campaign by visiting the DC Bid Committees website and attending the events they’re throwing around town.

Do you agree, fellow Global Gazers? Are sports an important part of international queer life and are athletics a valid tool for advancing political goals and promoting equality? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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