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Chicago 2006 Gay Games Announces "Sports Equality Day" – 14 July 2006

2005-10-19

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Photo: Tina Turner at Gay Games I, 1982. Photo by Sara Waddell-Lewinstein

Chicago Games, Inc the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), and the Gay and Lesbian Athletic Foundation (GLAF) have announced a partnership to organize a series of workshops and educational seminars on issues of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in sports. The workshops will be held in conjunction with the 2006 Gay Games that takes place in Chicago from 15-22 July.

With an overall title "Sports Equality Day," the workshops will focus primarily on aspects of sports for younger and collegiate LGBT athletes, and the state of the LGBT sports movement in areas of the world with relatively large potential for development.

"GLAF is honored to be selected as a preferred partner organization of the FGG and the upcoming Chicago Gay Games 2006," said O. Mac Chinsomboon, Executive Director of GLAF. "From our inception, the FGG has supported GLAF in our mission to create equality on the playing field. The FGG has been a sponsor of past GLAF forums, where intellectual discussion, debate and education have provided valuable networking opportunities among athletes in Olympic, professional, amateur, recreational, collegiate, and high school athletics communities."

In 2003 and 2004, GLAF organized two very successful conferences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about the issues of gays and lesbians in sports, and FGG officials said working with GLAF representatives again for 2006 will advance these issues further.

"This kind of partnership between a Gay Games host and another organization like GLAF is precisely what the FGG advocates in our position paper 'The Image of the Gay Games' that we published in 2003," said Roberto Mantaci, co-president of the FGG. "There are a lot of existing groups like GLAF that can play a valuable role in the success of the Gay Games and this is an effective way for them to do so in Chicago."

"With thousands of LGBT athletes as well as other individuals interested in the LGBT sports movement converging in Chicago during the week of the Gay Games, CGI is pleased to provide the opportunity for such a forum," said Suzi Arnold, co-chair of CGI. "We will also add new features to the Gay Games VII on-line registration system to include registration for the workshops."

CGI is in close partnership with several area universities offering logistical support through use of their facilities and assistance tapping into the many local youth and collegiate LGBT programs. These universities are expected to play a key support role for the "Sports Equality Day" workshops.

"The Gay Games started the LGBT sports movement, which is now a topic of research of many scholars working in the fields of sociology, philosophy and other human sciences," said Philippe Liotard, associate professor at the University of Lyon, France. Mr. Liotard is one of several researchers and academicians who will participate on the steering committee for the workshops. He said, "I look forward to being in Chicago during the week of the Gay Games to deepen my research and have the opportunity to meet with other colleagues to discuss our work in similar areas."




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