We hope to establish Pro-Gay Homepage as an electronic center for coordination of Pro-Gay members & friends. It will also be a hub for friendship and unity with other gay groups, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, and heterosexuals in the Philippines & around the world.
INSPIRED by the Gay Games VII in Chicago, USA and the First World OutGames in Montreal, Canada, ProGay Philippines carried on the spirit of gay athletics to its grassroots communities with the ProGay Pink Sports Festival.
With the support of Rep. Liza Maza of the Gabriela Partylist and Rep. Oscar Malabanan, 1st district of Caloocan City, the local chapters of ProGay Kabaro PUP and Maskara Caloocan City worked together to launch its first community-based athletic competitions of gay and transgender youth. The games were conducted in four Sundays that started August 13.
The Pink Sports Festival started with a rowdy Pride Parade in the streets of the smokestack factory areas of northern Caloocan, where 80 participants traipsed on a two-kilometer show of gay pride and waved to supportive onlookers riding the jeepneys and buses in the busy afternoon traffic.
The athletes brandished their political pride messages as they carried with dignity the 7-meter snippet of the world's longest Rainbow Flag (that was first unfurled in Florida by rainbow originator Gilbert Baker).
Afterwards, they trooped to the Bagbaguin covered court where cheerleader teams opened the games with boisterous cheer routines that wowed the adoring crowd. The bare amenities of a typical village basketball court, which was hardly classy, did not dampen the seriousness of the athletes who were only too imbued with the games spirit.
Three teams composed of 20 persons - Blue, Pink and Purple - competed in cheering, basketball, volleyball and badminton. Each team went out to the community to raise funds for uniforms. As each team explained to the communities the importance of gay pride and athletics, micro businesses such as bakeries, repair shops and food stalls shelled out a few pesos each until each team had enough to get their sets of "varsity tank tops."
Each Sunday, urban poor women and children looked forward to the games and cheered on the teams they root for. Even two dozen women's rights activists from Gabriela braved the traffic to give support to the event.
The final Sunday, September 3, of the Pink Sports Festival was almost discontinued because of sudden downpours that threatened to flood the basketball court during a close contest between the Blue and Pink teams. Immediately, the players and their supporters took out their brooms and frantically swept the incoming waters. The athletes decided to play out last basketball match on top of puddles of stormwater, with the Blue team bagging the championship for basketball.
There were times during the games that the players got too serious with their sports and some hotheaded team captains traded barbs during the heat of the game. That was when ProGay leaders reminded them of the great thems of the LGBT games which was inclusion, participation and personal best. Oscar Atadero, one of the delegates to the Gay Games in Chicago, explained to the teams the more important reason for LGBT people in organizing pride events such as the Pink Sports Festival.
ProGay earned much admiration from the grassroots community because of the creative advocacy that went with the games. It is hoped that the activist organization will be participating in both global and localized implementation of the burgeoning LGBT human rights mobilizations. We encourage many LGBT communities to give flesh to more activities that encourage the positive role of LGBTs in society.
MONTREAL, CANADA -- It was an exhilirating LGBT activist week at this city, as I joined 2,000 delegates from more than 100 countries in the International Conference on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Human Rights that segued into the 1st World Outgames on 26-29 July.
At the Palais des congrès, Montréal’s world-class convention centre more than 200 different simultaneous workshops tackled the five main Conference themes: Essential Rights, Global Issues, the Diverse LGBT Community, Participation in Society, and Creating Social Change.
The four-day conference which preceded the Out Games provided an often sobering reality check to the boisterous festivities that rocked the stadium. Speakers from Iran, Russia, Latvia and Serbia, amongst others, gave graphic descriptions of the repression of LGBTs in their countries. Video and still pics showed police, politicians and religious leaders brazenly and violently repressing our rights to organize, assemble and speak out for our freedom. "The police were absolutely useless," said gay Latvian activist Gaston Lacombe about a series of confrontations with fascists which easily could have been fatal. Lacombe said they had evidence that the fascists have received heavy funding from organizations within the United States.
Activists in Belgrade, Serbia and Moscow spoke about gangs of street-fighting fascist youths, and tolerance of them by the authorities, which makes open LGBT organizing virtually impossible. Alice Knom, a woman lawyer defended nine men in Cameroon who were arrested for being gay. All other Cameroon delegates were denied visas by the new Conservative Party Canadian government.
One of the most dramatic moments of the conference came in the plenary on Africa and the Arab World when Lebanon's Rasha Moumnoh, spokeswoman for Helem, the first LGBT non-governmental organization in the Arab world, was forced to give her presentation via videotape on a huge projection screen. Moumnoh, who had previously planned to attend the conference in person, said that the struggle for LGBT rights cannot be divorced from other, "non-LGBT" issues, especially in a country whose modern infrastructure is being obliterated and over 600,000 homeless refugees crowd the nation's broken highways and cities. Moumnoh reported that her organization had turned over its entire facilities to aid the refugees.
The Philippines was represented by LGBT activists including yours truly, Angie Ubac of Rainbow Rights and Mira Ofreneo of CLIC. I personally participated in the panel of a workshop "Against War?" together with Bob Schwartz, Member, Gay Liberation Network (USA) and Andy Thayer, National Action, DontAmend.com (USA). The workshop discussed how and why many LGBT activists connect their gay activism with anti-war activism.
"It is obvious that social services like health care, education and housing are hurt when military spending takes priority. The gay community's particular need for AIDS health care and research for treatments and a cure will never be adequate as long as the United States spends as much on its military as almost the rest of the world combined," Mr. Thayer said in the conclusion of our workshop.
Martin Cauchon, the former Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General, said at the close of the conference, "Separate but not equal has no place in our society." Cauchon is a hero to many in Canada for going against his own party to vote for full, equal marriage rights for same sex couples. He said he favors not just legal equality, but "full social acceptance." "If we deny equality to gays and lesbians today, who's next? I strongly believe that we should not play politics with fundamental rights."
Also on the podium was a recently retired Supreme Court justice, Claire L'Heureux Dube, who years ago voted as a minority of one against government contracts with religious institutions which discriminate against LGBT people, holding that the same standard that applies to racially discriminatory private organizations should hold with anti-gay ones as well.
Lesbian and tennis celeb Martina Navratilova rounded out the program, saying "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be tolerated. I want to be ACCEPTED. You tolerate someone with a bad smell, or someone who speaks too loudly on their cell phone. I want acceptance."
A most touching keynote address was delivered by Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. "I also encourage human rights NGOs to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their agenda and to partner with LGBT NGOs to advocate better protection of human rights for everyone. Civil society will play an indispensable role in advancing the reach and scope of human rights law, towards the realization of a truly universal ideal. I also wish, with you, for a better and fairer world."
Afterwards, the “Declaration of Montréal” was presented during the closing luncheon of the Conference and will then be presented to authorities at the United Nations and to various governments around the world, enhancing the reputations of Montréal and of Québec as global leaders in the promotion of tolerance and inclusion.
That evening, together with other members of the Philippine delegation, thousands of conference delegates and athletes joined the emotional Out Games opening ceremonies. Lesbian singer k. d. lang slammed conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper for passing up his invitation to attend the games. He sent, in his place, Quebec Senator and Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, who was roundly booed when he tried to address the crowd at the Opening Ceremony. The conservative government has come under fire by LGBT rights groups for vowing to allow a ‘free vote’ in Parliament aimed at overturning the same-sex marriage legislation, which was introduced by the left-leaning Liberal government last year.
“This international conference is be the largest of its kind ever held,” said Mr. Laurent McCutcheon, president of Fondation Émergence and member of the International Scientific Committee for the Conference.
Québec Justice Minister Yvon Marcoux, underscored the importance of these events. “The 1st World Outgames and the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights will allow us to share our experience with other countries, and to be enriched by theirs. The participation of the Government of Québec demonstrates our commitment to a society that is always open to and welcoming of diversity,” said the minister.
The world’s inaugural Out Games officially closed with organisers thanking participants for contributing to a successful eight days of sport and cultural activities. More than 12,000 athletes from 111 countries participated, and organisers report around 500,000 spectators witnessed the event. Liza Minnelli performed the Broadway classic ‘New York, New York.’
“It was a gigantic effort,” said Out Games co-president and Canadian Olympic swimmer Mark Tewksbury. “The feedback we’re receiving from our participants, which is really our first concern, has been overwhelmingly positive.”
“’We Play For Real’ is the slogan of these games and it really came to life with the athletes of the world coming here and really raising the bar. Not just in terms of how the competitions were delivered, but in terms of how they competed.”
“For us to have the visibility with human rights and the sports, it seemed to raise the level of discussion about our issues, which are very serious,” said Tewksbury.
Tewksbury noted the broader theme of the drive for the universal recognition of the fundamental human rights of LGBT people worldwide, as expressed by delegates at the LGBT Rights Conference, staged just prior to, and in conjunction with, the games.
“Maybe the Olympics asks us to be better athletes, but the Out Games asks us to be better human beings.”
The 2nd Out Games will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009.
Some photos from the albums of Dr. Erick Ducut, Mary Jane and Glenn. To see larger pictures in another window, press Shift and left click on photo.
LIGA Pilipinas made a memorable splash into the Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival in the friendly city of Chicago on 15-22 July 2006. Twenty-two gay and lesbian Pinoys, including yours truly, joined over 12,000 athletes and artists from more than 100 countries competed in 30 sports ranging from softball to dancesport, swimming to tennis. The weeklong event included band, cheerleading and colour guard performances, chorus, an ancillary arts festival, and a series of community-organised social events and parties.
The Filipino participants signed up for the Gay Games in Chicago when announcements for participants were sent out last year. Most raised money to travel, but five of us applied for generous scholarships from the Gay Games host committee led by the adorable duo Miss Aimee Pine and Summer Tillman.
For many Sundays between January and July, the participants met to unify plans on increasing the chances of success for Liga Pilipinas. As each Sunday came to pass, teams for volleyball and badminton were formed, sponsorship deals were announced and the design of the Liga Pilipinas banner was finalized.
The support we got from the corporate world was precious and few - our official T-shirt were provided by Bench, while the volleyball team uniforms were provided by the Library Bar.
Finally, on July 14, we arrived in the warm and humid summer of Chicago where Filipino migrants and their American families warmly received us into their homes. I stayed with the gay couple Robert Alfajora and Carter Martin. We were treated to three nights of wonderful cozy private parties hosted by Fil-Americans during our week-long stay there. For Liga Pilipinas, the high point was joining all the other country delegations during the opening ceremony at Soldier Field, the lakefront home stadium of American-style football’s Chicago Bears. As one of the early birds of the Pinoy team, I had the grand time attracting about two dozens of Filipino gays and lesbians from all over the United States who learned about the existence of Liga Pilipinas only during that time. About ten of them decided to join the Pinoy team instead of their state teams. With about 10,000 athletes lining up to be introduced country by country, we all felt tense in great anticipation.
With the lovely Dee Mendoza of the Society of Transexual Women of the Philippines in an exquisite butterfly sleeve terno leading the pack, the Liga Pilipinas finally entered the turf of Soldier Field to the rousing cheers and thunderous music. A rush of exhiliration went through my body like never before. The sight of thousands of gays and lesbians and our supporters was a truly rewarding experience of joy that validated all the hardships of doing years of thankless activist work in my country.
The day after, we hunkered down to our individual events. I signed up for marathon scheduled for the closing day on July 22, which was quite awesome for a non-athlete to do. During the actual marathon itself, I failed to finish even half of it but gained a lot of Fil-Am friends. About 75 ardent fans surrounded the court at the cheesy Navy Pier for a heated volleyball match Tuesday between teams from the Philippines and Oakland, California, a match that had the intensity of a gold-medal game. The Philippines fans roared with every point and waved the country's red, white, blue and yellow flags.
And about 250 people turned out for figure-skating competition at the McFetridge Sports Center, where even a slow-moving,heavyweight skater provoked hearty applause. Another 200 fans cheered and belted out catcalls for the mostly male bodybuilders preening and flexing their muscles during preliminary rounds of the physique contest at Northwestern University in Evanston.
Many bodybuilders flexed big muscles to Madonna's "Hung Up." Lightweight bodybuilder Yoni Vallecillo led screamed for competitors hairdresser Alexis Fernandez and makeup artist Orlando Barsallo.
"It's awesome. You get to show everybody else that we have strength in sports. They say the best bodybuilders are gay, so we have to show everybody else we are the best.'' The sports events was also supported by a human rights conference hosted by Amnesty International and the annual Reeling Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
The city and surrounding suburbs pulled in $50 million to $80 million through the Gay Games. The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau made a more modest economic impact estimate of $33.4 million based on the lodging, meals and transportation costs of the 11,500 registered athletes.
Mayor Daley helped Chicago say goodbye to Gay Games VII on Saturday during a colorful closing ceremony at Wrigley Field. Daley escorted the Gay Games flag during its ceremonial transfer to Elfi Scho-Antwerpes, deputy mayor of Cologne, Germany, where the next Gay Games will be held in 2010. . "As mayor, I want you to know how much we enjoyed having you here this past week," said Daley, who also spoke at the Gay Games' opening ceremony a week earlier at Soldier Field.
"I'm sure you found Chicago is a very welcoming place for members of the gay and lesbian community."
The sole somber moment came when a gay rights activist asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence for many gays who are killed or tortured because of their sexual orientation. Moments later, the crowd got rowdy again and screamed when two men in western gear passionately kissed to the musical theme of "Brokeback Mountain" before the DC Cowboys dancers kicked up their heels. But Lauper, who hit the pop scene with her raucous "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" two decades ago, got the men and women moving. Lauper took the stage with a rainbow-colored gown and gold crown. She held a shiny torch as she sang "True Colors" while standing next to her violinist, dressed as Abraham Lincoln. She ended the set by telling the crowd to "stand tall and together pass the flame on."
Skokie native and "L Word" star Marlee Matlin joined her co-stars, including Pam Grier, to show her support, and Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo and musician Dylan Rice debuted their song "The Faces of Victory."
"I feel like this is becoming sort of a tradition for me since I performed last time the Gay Games were in the States, in New York City in 1994," Lauper said in a statement on the Gay Games Web site.
Performers also included Chicago's Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps, also known as ROTC, who twirled white ceremonial rifles to the disco hit, "Don't Leave Me This Way." The crowd also tossed around hundreds of rainbow-colored beach balls handed out for a promotion by the Illinois Lottery.
Events included traditional sports like tennis, soccer, track and power lifting. Same-sex pairs figure skating and ballroom dancing drew crowds of cheering spectators.
The Gay Games are open to anyone with no qualifying events, no minimum or maximum requirements, and no mandatory affiliations. The Games are built on the founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and promote a supportive environment, free from bigotry, where participants achieve success by their own measure. More than a tournament or cultural program, the Gay Games is a gathering of the international sports and arts community that changes lives, attitudes, and the very nature of competition.
In 1982, Dr. Tom Waddell, a 1968 Olympic decathlete, founded the Games primarily to showcase LGBT sports, describing it as "an experiment in global unity; an experiment in education; a vehicle for change." Since that time nearly 50,000 individuals of different races, genders, sexual orientations, national origin, physical and athletic abilities, health statuses, ages, religious and socio-economic backgrounds have come together from around the world in the spirit of Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best.
For 25 years, these values have helped to foster an international LGBT sports movement that builds bridges across borders, eradicates stereotypes, and truly changes the world.
The day after the closing ceremonies, I bundled up toasty warm memories of this unforgetable gay coming home party as I boarded the plane to yet another gay and lesbian conference and more LGBT advocacy work. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
