Sports

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A Transgender Powerlifter Fights for the Right to Compete

The first time JayCee Cooper walked out onto the platform at a women’s powerlifting competition, everything else fell away: her years-long internal struggle over her gender identity, her decision to leave men’s sports when she began transitioning, her doubts that she would ever feel safe if she returned to competitions. When she stepped out in front of a hundred people in the gym in Fort Collins, Colorado, last September, all she focused on was the barbell, which she hoisted off the ground. And then she heard the cheers of the crowd: “Come on JayCee!” She had found not only a […]

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Caster Semenya Loses Case Challenging Testosterone Levels

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled against gold medallist Caster Semenya, who challenged the implementation of rules which would limit the testosterone levels of female athletes. The landmark ruling on May 1, brought forward by the South African three-time world champion, comes after a long and bitter dispute over proposed rules by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) last year. Under the regulations, the IAAF rule that female athletes with a so-called difference of sexual development (DSD), will have to undergo testosterone restrictions. The UN condemned such treatment as an “unnecessary, humiliating and harmful medical procedure.” In reaction to the […]

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Tel Aviv Games for Gay Athletes Slated for Late March

A singular experience can sometimes change your life path. One lone swimmer from Israel traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, to compete in the 2014 Gay Games. He was part of a group of eight Israeli athletes who made the trip halfway around the world to participate. Exhilarated and wanting to share his experience, he returned to Tel Aviv and became involved in creating an organized LGBT sports community. When the Washington Blade caught up with Sagi Krispin in 2016, the TLV LGBT Sports Club was already a thriving entity. Krispin wasn’t done though. In 2017, the Tel Aviv Games launched as a multisport […]

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Caster Semenya fights to compete without reducing her Testosterone Levels

South African Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya. South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya is fighting for her right to compete without reducing her testosterone levels. The openly gay athlete appeared at the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) on 14 February. She is asking to compete without ‘unnecessary medical intervention’.    Lawyers for athletics’ governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), suggested that, if Semenya was successful in next week’s landmark case, it could lead to athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) and transgender athletes ‘dominating the podiums and prize money in sport’. ‘Her case is about the rights of women such as […]

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Gay former Dallas Cowboy Jeff Rohrer is Marrying his Boyfriend

Jeff Rohrer (left) and Joshua Ross will marry one another this Sunday.Allen Zaki With Jeff Rohrer, you have to expect the unexpected. When the 6-foot-3, 235-pound former Dallas Cowboys linebacker approached our table in the corner of a dimly lit Beverly Hills restaurant a couple of weeks ago, he was dressed like a stereotypical straight guy, clothes on the baggy side, carrying an over-sized duffel bag… and a delicately clenched martini. Sitting down, he quickly launched into some questions for me, as well as ground rules for our conversation. He was nervously hopeful about this entire public coming-out process and […]

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Tadd Fujikawa Becomes First US Open Golfer to Come Out

Japanese-American professional golfer Tadd Fujikawa has come out as gay. In 2006, Fujikawa became the youngest player every to qualify for the US Open at the age of 15. He is one of the first pro golfers to come out, and the first US Open player to do so. On Tuesday (11 September), Fujikawa made an Instagram post to announce his coming out. ‘So… I’m gay,’ he begins the post simply. ‘My hope is this post will inspire each and every one of you to be more empathetic and loving towards one another.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/BnkdY3TlalW/ He reveals later in the post […]

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Let the Gay Games Begin!

Gay Games Paris are from Aug. 4 – 12. With the 10th Annual Gay Games celebration in Paris, France right around the corner, Southern California athletes in the LGBTQ+ community are gearing up to bring home the gold! Most notable local participant, West Hollywood Councilmember John Heilman will be running a half marathon and two 10ks. “While we’ve made significant progress in advancing equality for LGBTIQ people in the U.S., progress has been much slower in other parts of the world,” Heilman said on his GoFundMe fundraising page. “In fact, homosexuality is still a crime in over 70 countries, and […]

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Baseball star Josh Hader to be Sent for ‘Sensitivity Training’ After ‘I Hate Gay People’ Tweet Row

A major league baseball player will be sent for “sensitivity training” after it emerged he sent a slew of homophobic and racist tweets as a teenager. Josh Hader, the 24-year-old pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers, faced a storm when his Twitter history emerged – while he was busy playing in Tuesday’s 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In messages dating from 2011 to 2012, he wrote “I hate gay people” and “Gay people freak me out, this dude comes in with pony shirts and a pony mal bag #thefuck”. Josh Hader #71 of the Milwaukee Brewers and the National League pitches in the […]

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LGBT Youth in Sports “Overwhelmingly” Remain Closeted

At least 80 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer teen athletes hide their sexuality from coaches, a report published last week by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) foundation and the University of Connecticut showed. The percentage of closeted student athletes increases to 82 percent among trans youth. The study surveyed more than 12,000 teenagers in the US, aged between 13 and 17, who participated in HRC’s online 2017 LGBT+ Teen Survey. Researchers decided to focus specifically on the experience of LGBT+ youth in sports because of the positive social, psychological and physiological effects of engaging in physical activities that teen may miss out due to lack […]

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Stay in the Closet at World Cup, Gay Fans Warned

Football fans have been warned to stay in the closet at the World Cup and not openly “display” their sexuality. The World Cup, which is taking place in Russia later this month, has been marred by threats of violence towards LGBT fans from the country’s homophobic ultra-nationalist factions. The Russian government had assured FIFA that everyone would be safe at the contest – but concerns for safety has led to eleventh-hour appeals for gay fans to hide their sexuality to avoid becoming a target. Guidance from the UK Government was recently amended to make a warning to fans. The Foreign and […]

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