In case it isn't clear, the AFA believes the word Gay sounds inappropriately positive, whereas Homosexual casts us in the accurately dim and murky boy-child molesting, disease-ridden, Jesus-taunting, apocalypse-baiting light where we live out our sad and depraved so-called lives. You win, AFA.
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This event preview was submitted by Ben Takai, who is is the captain and cofounder of the kickball team The Easy Tigers.
After a hard night of kickball, three teammates- Brandon Neukam, Ben Takai and Tyler Kalogeros (Pictured, from left to right) decided that their field could use a little cleaning. Neighborhood bar Nellie's decided the boys were right!
Tonight, June 13th at 8 PM, please join these kickballers at Nellie's to raise some funds to clean up the field located at 11th and Rhode Island Avenues, NW. $1 of every Nellies Beer sold will go to fix up the park, and if you're not a beer drinker, feel free to drop a few dollars in the donation jar!!
The money raised will buy new benches, patch up the field, cut the grass and make it a place where everyone will want to play kickball, softball, soccer, and yes, even croquet.
Nellie's is located at 900 U Street, NW.
A lesbian couple was booted from a Seattle Mariners game because some squirmy patrons complained to the homophobic staff about the couple kissing. Or, a lesbian couple was booted from a Seattle Mariners game because, after being asked to "tone done" their "groping" and "making out," they became verbally abusive to the staff.
It would be easier to believe the Mariners' version of events had the seating host not told one of the women, "There's children in the crowd. It's not fair for parents to have to explain to their kids why two women are kissing."
Of course, that's if you believe the lesbian. In this case of lesbian-said, Corporate Spokesperson-said, I'm going to go with: we all know hetero and homo Public Displays of Affection are treated differently. Personally, I'm pro-PDA regardless of orientation or even attractiveness, but however you feel about that issue (and hopefully it's not as polarizing as flip-flops), I think we've all heard this tired whine before: we shouldn't have to explain your gayness to our kids. I'm calling bullshit on the Mariners.
Hebden Bridge is falling down...under a great density of lesbians. NPR reports that the Yorkshire, England locale was "just another dying mill town" before being overrun with strange sisters in the '90s. Today, 1 in 5 adults is of the gay lady persuasion, thanks to the welcoming nature of Hebden Bridgers.
Do you know where else 1 in 5 adults are lesbetarians? At HRC's Mystics Pride Night. There's no time like three weeks from now to finally get your ass to a Mystics game. It'll be like having Guerilla Queer Bar at a queer bar.
The helpful flyer says that $40 gets you a decent seat and entry to the after party, which the players are supposed to attend. Do not get drunk and hit on a player. You will look foolish.
Where: Dewar's 12 Clubhouse, 2nd Floor of Verizon Center
When: Saturday May, 31 from 3:30pm - 10:00pm
Okay. You got me. I'll admit it. I go to the gay gym. And I love it.
I know what you're thinking: Why would a self-respecting alterna-queer gay hipster be caught dead in the gay gym? You might be wondering how I even feel comfortable in the locker room, or whether I skip it all together and just walk home in my sweaty gym clothes. Or perhaps you imagine me wearing really bulky sweatshirts to cover my scrawny body so I don't get to intimidated by all the muscle jocks.
Well, my friends, the short answer is: None of the above. I was always picked last in gym class. I was never naked in the high school locker room. And I couldn't hit a baseball to save my life. But somehow I feel perfectly comfortable at the gay gym.
I think I attribute this odd comfort to a variety of things. But the main reason is this.
Gyms are always very sexualized environments. There's the locker room and the showers. Then the hot guys lifting weights, stretching, bending, making fuck-faces in the mirrors... Really, what gay guy can resist? No wonder gays like going to gyms.
But unlike the at the "straight gyms" where any sexual interest must be hidden, where any flirtation must be covert, any glances must be furtive... Unlike the straight gyms, at the gay gym if you want to look a guy you think is hot, you just look at him. If you want to talk to someone and maybe ask him out on a date, you can walk right up to him and start flirting. And if you want to look at dicks in the shower, chances are the owners of those dicks are looking right back at yours.
How liberating! Where else in this country can you find an environment filled with gay men who are collected at that space without the express purpose of getting wasted and hooking up? If you think about it, the gays have two spaces all to themselves: gay bars and gay gyms. Only in those two locations can you find such high concentrations of queers. And unlike at the bars, the gays are at the gyms for a purpose other than sex.
Sure, there are lots of muscle guys at the gay gym, but I see all different types of guys there, too. From super super skinny guys to guys who are so muscular they can't lift their arms over their heads. From jocks to queens, geeks to pretty boys. It's refreshing to see them all when they're not dressed to impress, sweating and quite possibly in pain. Or even humbled by a weight too heavy or a yoga posture too gravity-defying.
Could I be intimidated surrounded by all these hot guys? Well, as I just said, they're all not that hot. And chances are, even the hot ones have low self esteems. But sure, I could be intimidated, but I'm not. Instead, I'm putting myself out there, into one of DC's few true gay social spaces, and I'm getting a pretty good workout while I'm at it.
This post was submitted by Elbert Ortiz, a native of Austin, Texas living in DC since December 2006. 
Image from The Iron Ladies, a movie that tells the true story of a Thai male volleyball team that won the national championships in 1996 with a team consisting mostly of gay men, drag queens, transsexuals and one straight guy.
The boys of Flaming Football on the Mall have been catching passes with their tight ends for well over a year now. They meet every sunday on the mall for games of two-hand touch. I haven't joined them since last summer, as I try not to leave my house in weather less than 60 degrees, but it's getting warmer so it may be time lace em' up.
Girls are welcome, and you don't really need to know how to play.
You can check out their facebook page or their website. Details are after the jump.
From Flaming Football on the Mall:
Join Flaming Football on the Mall!
We've been playing for over 1 year, every Sunday on the Mall!
Even if you're not gay - you're invited to play some 2 hand touch (if you're not afraid to get touched) in the friendliest game in town (girls are always welcome too).
Do not be intimidated! We've attracted a few serious players, but we're all here to have fun (we have no structured teams).
We play from 2pm until 4pm every Sunday. Come join when you can, but we prefer if you are there BY 2pm!!!
We have moved to our "winter field" on the National Mall at 14th and Madison Avenue (the North West part of this corner) under the shade of the actual Washington Monument!
Please call or text me for more information (202) 494-0050
We have been playing on the Mall since July 2006! And Providence, RI has also begun their own Flaming Football chapter. Look for "Flaming Football (Providence Chapter)" on Facebook. Start your own Chapter!
You can even visit - www.flamingfootball.org
Women are still playing basketball, and some small segment of the population is still caring. Let's haphazardly review the women's Final Four from a TNG perspective:
Tara VanderVeer and the Standford Cardinal are IN. VanderVeer is the lesbian coach most cited in the gay-smearing recruting wars. Represent, Tara! But consider a 21st century lesbian makeover. I know coaches are too busy to feed or dress themselves, but think about it in the offseason. In other Stanford news, star Candice Wiggins (high-fiving cheerleader at right) is cute.
(Not) Gay New Divorcée and Queen of Basketball Pat Summitt is IN, even though Tennessee's badass star Candace "The One Who Can Dunk" Parker has been playing with a separated shoulder. Candace'll be the first pick in this year's WNBA draft, going to L.A., and she was one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People, which means she must really love fiancé Shelden Williams —>Next Sunday A Different Kind of Ladies Night is throwing a Super Bowl party at Phase 1, and it will be followed up by the new episode of The L Word. Considering that New England sports and ladies are two of my main interests in life, I'm planning to be there, and will be dragging lesbian friends who I supported during last year's Super Bowl when their team (the Bears) was in it. 5 p.m. on February 3 at Phase 1, 525 8th St., SE. $10.
This picture is all over the Internet right now. See anything wrong with it? No, I didn't think so. But here's a response from the Courier-Journal, the paper that originally published the picture of two college players embracing, in which they defend their decision to run the picture in the wake of negative responses from readers. Why is a bigger deal made about athletes who are/could be gay than in other professions? Why are lesbian athletes never called out like gays are? I don't understand the straight male mind, despite having many things in common with it, so I don't understand why some would be uncomfortable simply being around gay men.
Like every other big baseball fan out there, I’m avidly following the fallout from the Mitchell Report, the report released last Thursday by former senator George Mitchell, who looked into steroid usage in the MLB.
The report implicated nearly 90 players, with every single team represented. Mitchell conducted 700 interviews with players, coaches, and Kirk Radomski, a former New York Mets clubhouse employee who, until late 2005, was the go-to guy for illegal performance enhancing substances for MLB players.
While it’s great that the MLB decided to really look into steroid usage, there are problems swirling around the report. First, one player, Baltimore Oriole Brian Roberts, was implicated by one witness who said Roberts mentioned that he used steroids “once or twice.” For all the other players named, the evidence is much more substantial, and other players are speaking out about how Roberts’ name has been defamed. There’s also the fact that some players were rumored to be involved, such as Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciaparra, who are on various lists circulating the Internet, but who are not named in the report. What kind of effect will these rumors have on the players? When I heard that these two were named, I was immediately disappointed in both, and also in disbelief, since Garciaparra is not, shall we say, very built.
The second problem is what to do now — can awards like MVP be rescinded, like Ken Caminiti’s 1996 award? Caminiti admitted 8 years later that he used performance-enhancing drugs during that season. What about entire World Series Championships? Only one current Red Sox player, Eric Gagne, was named in the report, but is that enough to strip the Sox of their 2007 title? The Olympic Committee is making Marion Jones’ relay teammates have a hearing to petition to keep their medals, since the track star was stripped of her five 2000 Olympic medals for using performance-enhancing drugs. Granted one player on a baseball team has less effect than one person on a relay team of four people, but the idea is the same.
If the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs is this widespread, how can the MLB keep it in check? And once new technology has become so pervasive, is there anything that anyone can do to stop it?
The drugs that athletes use pose serious risks to their health, and have resulted in deaths, meaning a lot more than records are at stake — why is anything that could potentially shorten one’s life worth doing? And if so many baseball players are using these drugs and the MLB doesn’t throw them out of the league, is there soon going to be no place in major league sports for athletes who don’t illegally enhance their performances? And there’s an overarching question here: have we created a society of unrealistic expectations?
A recent study by sociologist Eric Anderson reveals that more than a third of former American high school football players admitted they had had sexual relations with other men.
He says: “The evidence supports my assertion that homophobia is on the rapid decline among male teamsport athletes in North America at all levels of play,” and that ‘Being masculine is not about whom you sleep with…Heterosexual athletes contesting masculinity and the one-time rule of homosexuality’.
Ok, so his sample set came from former football players who are now cheerleaders... I am still using this information as justification for putting pictures of football man candy below the fold (Parker, this is for you).
Jeremy Bloom of the Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, He's a Wide Reciever.
Brady Quinn of the Cleveland Browns stretches before action.
Patrick Kearney of the Atlanta Falcons. I love football pants, don't you?
Colt Brennan may possibly be the best football name ever.
Reggie Bush: New Orleans Saints. Holla!
Now THAT'S a tight end!
Alex Smith of the 49ers takes a dip.
I haven't been able to get away from the tragic death of Washington Redskins Safety, Sean Taylor. Every day for a week, whether it be television, print, or online, I've seen this story take a prominent position in the news of the day.
It's sad when people die, and it's great that he was much loved among his teammates, was a fantastic player, and apparently a good father. It's also touching how on the first play of the Redskins game this Sunday, the team fielded only 10 players instead of the usual 11 (that's class). However, do we really need to act as if a head of state died? It's not like he's the Pope, people. He was 24, had a relatively short career in the NFL, and other than being able to knock the shit out of people and being a good guy, I don't see why he would get this level of media attention for a solid week.
I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but I don't think even Mother Theresa got this kind of news coverage. Seriously. At this point I'm waiting for him to rise from the grave after three days, or at least become one of those conspiracy theory icons that people refuse to believe is dead.
My gut tells me that this is probably more about the power of football than any one person. The religiosity of this game and the way that its worship seems to overwhelm the minds of the plebian masses so completely as to undermine the importance of the things that really matter, is scary. I love football, and I've followed the New Orleans Saints religiously since I was a kid, but far too frequently I speak with people who can talk endlessly about football players but have next to no understanding of anything else. I'm at the point that when I see people with flags on their cars, I wince.
This weekend I saw many people wearing Sean Taylor Jerseys or having some insignia commemorating his life (mostly "21", his number). It was heartwarming to see so many people who apparently care a great deal, but something about it didn't sit well in my gut. You see, I couldn't remember the last time I saw anyone wear an insignia for the tens of thousands of civilians our country has killed in Iraq, the monks lost in Burma, or the thousands of lives destroyed in Sudan. Then again, I've never seen a monk stop a running back cold on 3rd and 1 from the goal line.
As disturbed as I am by this, I realize it is inevitable. In a world where we have made sport our religion, it's only fitting that we send off its greatest warriors as one might a God.
