LGBT athletes team up for sports visibility

LGBT athletes will take to the fields, the courts, the pool and many other venues this weekend for a series of events that exhibit the varied sports prospects for the community.

Sports Week, June 5-14, is organized by Team Philadelphia, the umbrella organization that oversees all Philadelphia LGBT sports, which has spearheaded the series since 1992.

“We started this as a way to introduce people to the organizations that were a part of Team Philadelphia and to promote awareness of the opportunities available to LGBT people in athletics,” said Rick Van Tassel, Team Philadelphia board member and director of Sports Week.

Van Tassel said Sports Week additionally functions as a precursor to the quadrennial Gay Games, which will next be held in 2010 in Cologne, Germany.

Soheila Nikpour, Team Philadelphia chairperson, said the week also helps to dispel myths among mainstream athletic communities that LGBT individuals are not interested in sports.
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Quotes from New Hampshire’s gay marriage debate

“Thank you!” — Gay marriage supporters to lawmakers as they left the Statehouse following Wednesday’s gay marriage vote.

“A lot of New Hampshire families have come to know people in their families who are gay — co-workers, former classmates — and that’s what really made this difference. We are no longer talking about an issue. We are talking about people.” — The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, the church’s only openly gay bishop.

“This legislation makes clear that we understand that certain faiths do not recognize same-sex marriage, and it protects them from having to participate in marriage-related activities that violate their fundamental religious principles.” — Gov. John Lynch, as he signed the gay marriage bill into law.

“We certainly would like to see new legislators and a governor who keeps his word on the issue. If he tells the voters he doesn’t support same sex marriage, that’s what he means. If that happens, who knows, we may be looking at repeal in the next legislative session.” — Kevin Smith, executive director of gay marriage opponent Cornerstone Policy Research. See Quotes from New Hampshire’s gay marriage debate Chicago Tribune

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Gay soccer referee forced to quit in Turkey, vows to keep fighting

It would appear that being gay excludes you from having any chance of being a soccer referee in Turkey.

Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ, who was forced to quit his job as a ref due to his sexual orientation, appeared on Turkish television Saturday night to say he would continue his legal fight.

Dinçdağ was forced to leave his job because he had been excused from his compulsory military service on account of his homosexuality, which was documented in a medical report. According to the sport’s regulations, anyone who fails to complete his military service for health reasons is unfit to perform as a referee.

Apparently, in Turkey homosexuality is seen as a medical condition that would preclude military service. Dinçdağ appealed to others who have been discriminated against and urged them to keep fighting as well.

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Bill Making Identification Change More Accessible for Transgender Persons Passes Key Assembly Committee, Moves One Step Closer to Becoming State Law

Sacramento – The Equal ID Act took one step closer to becoming law today when it passed the State Assembly Judiciary Committee by a 7-3 vote. The bill, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and introduced by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D – Torrance), increases the legal rights and recognition enjoyed by transgender people by clarifying that qualified transgender people born in California can return to the county of their birth to obtain a court order reflecting their correct gender and accompanying name change. The court order is then used to obtain a corrected California birth certificate.

“All Californians deserve legal documentation that accurately reflects who they are,” EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors said. “Once passed, this law will make it easier for transgender people both in California and beyond to obtain accurate identification, apply for jobs, and live their lives as full and equal members of society.”

Until recently, California law only allowed transgender persons to petition the court for an order recognizing a change of gender in the county in which they presently reside. Last month, the Transgender Law Center successfully challenged the residency requirement in the California Court of Appeals. In Somers v. Superior Court, the court held that the residency requirement violated the equal protection rights of California-born transgender people residing out of state. The Equal ID Act is the next step in ensuring that all Californians are able to obtain accurate birth certificates.

“The Equal ID Act would bring the Health and Safety Code up to date with case law,” said Kristina Wertz, Legal Director of the Transgender Law Center. “It would alleviate any confusion and ensure that California-born people residing in other states know that they, too, can be afforded the dignity of a birth certificate that reflects who they truly are.”

The new bill ensures that transgender people born in California know that they can return to the county of their birth to obtain a corrected birth certificate. It also provides greater access to transgender persons living in the state, allowing them for first time to petition the court in their home counties.

“The Equal ID Act would make it clear to others in my situation that they can go back to the counties in which they were born to get a court order changing their gender. It would save people all the trouble I went through finding attorneys and spending nearly four years in the courts,” said Gigi Marie Somers, who testified at this morning’s committee hearing. Ms. Somers, a transgender woman born in California, was unable to obtain a new birth certificate in the state of Kansas, where she now resides. Ms. Somers was the plaintiff in the legal action brought by the Transgender Law Center.

“The rights of Californians should not end at our state’s borders,” Assemblymember Leiu said. “The Equal ID Act makes certain every Californian has the freedom and liberty to be true to his or herself.”

Birth certificates are used as primary source of identification and are often necessary to secure other forms of identification, including social security cards and passports.
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Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org
The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. TLC uses direct legal services, education, community organizing, and advocacy to transform California into a state that recognizes and supports the needs of transgender people and their families. www.transgenderlawcenter.org

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Being openly gay in Dartmouth athletics

In an article on gay pride week at Dartmouth College, the Ivy League school in New Hampshire, the school paper The Dartmouth interviewed two gay athletes and what they said is not a surprise to anyone who has followed the subject: they wish there were more out jocks.
“[Being gay at Dartmouth] has been a very positive experience, but one thing that definitely disappoints me is the very small population of out gay athletes,” Tyler Ford ‘11, a member of the men’s track and field team, said. “That leaves us without a support system.”
A former water polo player at the school who is about to graduate echoed this sentiment.
“Sports is one of the hardest places to come out in, to feel comfortable. Especially for guys, it’s such a macho area,” Taylor Holt said.
“Dartmouth has had a history of out gay athletes, and gay athletes at Dartmouth have the responsibility that they need to represent something more to closeted gay athletes throughout athletics, to the gay community in general,” Holt said.
In the past, Outsports has featured two out jocks from Dartmouth: Andrew Goldstein in lacrosse and Jamal Brown in track and field. Both athletes reported a positive response from coming out. Still, though, there is tremendous resistance among the majority of athletes to take that step. See Being openly gay in Dartmouth athletics
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17 gay couples bus to Iowa, marry, go back to Missouri

Iowa City, Ia. — Friday was a long, busy day for 17 gay and lesbian couples from Missouri.

They were awake by 4 a.m., hopped on a bus to Iowa City around 6 a.m., said “I do” in the afternoon and were unmarried by the time they returned home Friday evening.

The couples took advantage of the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the Hawkeye State. But, back home in Missouri, where a constitutional amendment defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, their Iowa certificates documenting a legal bond carries little weight. “We knew when we get back there our legal status will be the same as it was,” said Julie Brueggemann, 35, of St. Louis. “Hopefully, one day in the not too distant future, Missouri will be as open as Iowa is.”

The Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City hosted the 17 weddings. Each couple, one by one, stood before a minister, said vows, were pronounced wed and kissed.

“It’s a unique experience. How many other people can say they got married with 16 other couples?” said Kim Coleman, 32, of Florissant, Mo. She and Kimberly Banks-Brown, 38, have been together for five years. “But, it’s a logistical nightmare.”

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Mother calls for change after son’s suicide

A mother whose 11-year-old son took his own life this week is speaking out. She says her son, Carl Joseph Walker Hoover, was constantly bullied at school in the weeks leading up to his death.

Sirdeander Walker: I called his name and he didn’t respond. So I went upstairs to get Carl — and um. I found him, you know. I found him. My baby.

What happened to 44-year old Sirdeaner walker is any parent’s worst nightmare. On Monday evening, she found her 11-year old son, Carl, dead in his bedroom. He had committed suicide by hanging himself with an extension cord.

Sirdeaner Walker: It was just unbelievable to me. I thought I was in a dream. I thought I was in a nightmare. I couldn’t lift him – so all I could do was scream.

In the days since, Sirdeaner and her close family – have been asking the question why? They say Carl was a great kid who loved sports and was involved in many community organizations and attended church every Sunday. The answer, they believe, can be traced to the cruelty of some of his classmates at the New Leadership charter school in Springfield.

Sirdeander Walker: He was being teased at the school – he was being made fun of – he was being bullied. A lot of it surrounded by “you act gay,” “are you gay.”

Walker, captain of the 6th grade parent teacher organization says the bullying has been going on all year — she knew Carl had been upset by it and had alerted the school.

See Mother calls for change after son’s suicide NECN