The Twelve Noels of Christmas : 4

It’s the last Sunday in Advent, and here are the final three Noels of Christmas.

The 10^th Noel – NOËL GREIG (1944-2009)

Way back in November 2012 I wrote about a ground-breaking play called “As Time Goes By” which was the inspiration for “Bent”, the story of gay love in a Nazi concentration camp. “As Time Goes By” is regarded as the first play to deal with the historical persecution and suppression of gay men, and it was co-written by Noël Greig.

 

It was Noël’s interest in history that marks out his plays as more than just a modern-day concern for gay rights. His knowledge of previous issues was vital in informing audiences of the development of contemporary concerns. This went even further, into a future vision as depicted in his 1983 play “Poppies”, which dealt with a future world on the brink of nuclear destruction and the possible consequences of equal rights.

 

From his working-class background he went to study history at King’s College, London. An academic career was not for him, however, and when he graduated he found work in theatre. He also founded an arts commune called the Brighton Combination which displayed his vision of theatre and radical politics working together.

 

Unlike other radical, left-wing campaigners in theatre Noel didn’t seem to be a theatrical snob. He was involved in other radical theatre groups as well as the established theatre. He received commissions from, and worked with, several leading UK theatres, including the Crucible in Sheffield and the Aldgate in London. He also worked as assistant director on a West End production of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Noël’s driving passion was for the inclusion of all sections of society in theatre.

 

All though his career Noel worked with many community groups on theatre projects, ranging from homeless people’s groups in the UK to Islamic groups in Iran, from school groups in Derbyshire to elderly writers’ groups in Newark not far from me.

 

But it is work with the UK’s Gay Sweatshop for which he will be best remembered, most particularly for “As Time Goes By” which he wrote specially for them and was premiered in 1977 in the hotel I can see from my window right now. He worked with the Sweatshop for ten years, writing, producing, directing, and later administrating. Noel’s importance in the public realisation of the horrors of the Nazi persecution of gay men should not be ignored.

 

The 11^th Noel – NOEL CAVERNELIS (b.1973)

Noel Cavernelis appears to be a multi-talented man – a teacher, an artist, an athlete, and a singer. As a teacher he has worked at the International School at Vantaa in Finland for several years. He is an art teacher, and examples of his own artwork are displayed on his Facebook page, among other places.

 

Even though he now lives in Finland Noel is South African by birth and moved to Finland before 2002. He competed "for" Finland at the World Outgames in Copenhagen in 2009. He later competed at the Gay Games in 2010 in Cologne. He medalled in four events both times, ad won the same medals in the same events: gold in the long jump, and silver in the high jump, 100 metres and 200 metres. Noel also won a long jump gold medal at the 2012 EuroGames in Budapest, along with two silver medals in the high jump and triple jump.

 

As a singer Noel competes in karaoke competitions. Karaoke doesn’t have a very high reputation as a serious activity here in the UK, but there are people in Finland and other countries who enter international karaoke competitions, and Noel has managed to reach semi-finals.

 

The 12^th Noel – NOEL DAVIS (1927-2002)

The final Noel brings us full circle. When he began his acting career Edgar Davis decided to choose a more distinguished theatrical name, and so he named himself after the person who was my 1^st Noel of Christmas – Sir Noël Coward.

Liverpool-born Edgar was encouraged to take an interest in the theatre by his parents, and through his time serving in the Merchant Navy he determined on a career on the stage. And so Edgar became Noel (without the “ë”), and he earned a reputation as a good character actor, often playing rather camp characters.

Noel also found himself appearing in many popular UK television programmes, ranging from Shakespeare to science fiction. These included some of favourite childhood series – “Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)”, “The Dick Emery Show”, “UFO” and “The Avengers”.

In 1974 he worked at the Oxford Theatre Festival where he began casting parts for plays. It was a profession he spent the rest of his life pursuing. From theatre he moved to film, due to his life-long friendship with gay director John Schlesinger. The first film which credited Noel as casting director was Schlesinger’s “Yanks” (1979). Perhaps the most famous film he was casting director for is “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (1991).

 

And that completes my 12 Noels of Christmas.

 

I’m having a well-earned break for a few days and won’t be back until New Year’s Eve. To everyone I wish a Very Merry Christmas, and many thanks for your interest in my blog.

From the Far Side of the Globe : East

From the cold climates of Alaska and Iceland we head east and somewhere a bit warmer. My criteria for the most easterly of the Gay Games medallists is the point furthest from the Greenwich Meridian along, or near, 180°E in the Pacific Ocean.

Several Pacific nations have sent teams to the Gay Games, most of them attending their nearest games held in Sydney in 2002. One island nation which straddles the 180° meridian is Fiji. They sent a team to Sydney but didn’t return home with any medals.

New Zealand is the country with the nearest land to the 180° meridian. As with my previous articles it has been difficult to ascertain for certain where medallists called home at the time of their medal win. Many athletes don’t live in the cities or towns in which they have membership to a sports club, for instance members of Team Wellington (based on North Island) may live over 50 miles away on South Island but official results only record their team name. So once again I’m looking at birthplaces or previous residences.

The two main cities on North Island, Wellington and Auckland, have both sent many athletes to the Gay Games. As it happens they are on almost identical degrees of longitude (Auckland 174° 44’ E; Wellington 174° 46’ E), and they include such varied individuals as the partner of the Mayor of Kapiti, the grandson of an All Blacks rugby player, and the same-sex marriage campaigner who got arrested.

But I need to look further east than either city if I want to find the most easterly Gay Games medallist. I’ve chosen to name three of these briefly, all of whom have lived beyond 176°E.

First of all is Kerry Stevens. Kerry was born in Dannevirke (176°E), a town in the south of North Island. He married in 1963 and moved to Nelson on South Island where he began working in the music industry at the South Island Organ Company. In 1994 he attended the Gay Games in New York and won 2 gold medals as part of the 4x100m relay team (with Ross Baxter, Ron Judd and Berend Westera). He also won an individual silver in the 100m backstroke and a bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

More recently Kerry has been a broadcaster and executive producer at radio New Zealand where he presented mainly musical programmes and interviews. His interest in music is also reflected in his membership of Gay and Lesbian Singers in Auckland.

Just a little further east of Kerry’s home town of Dannevirke is the city of Hastings (176° 51’ E) on the eastern coast of North Island. This is the hometown of a medallist who competes in a sport that isn’t in the Olympics – tenpin bowling.

Dion Leslie has made tenpin bowling his career. He had been playing bowls since he was a teenager, and in 2002, at the age of 21, entered the bowling competition at the Sydney Gay Games. He came away with a bronze medal.

Dion moved to Wellington to study commerce and administration, something which he combined with his love of bowling by working in a bowling centre in Porirua. In 1999 he became general manager of the Strike Entertainment Centre in Lower Hutt, Wellington. This meant he was in the perfect place to host the bowling competition for the 2^nd Asia-Pacific Outgames held in Wellington in 2011. He even found time to enter the competition himself, winning a silver medal in the men’s doubles contest.

Dion’s Strike Entertainment bowling alley also hosted a World Record. In 2002 Dion organised a record attempt at the world’s longest continuous game of tenpin bowling. The bowler was Stuart Ripley, and he succeeded in breaking the record by bowling for 122 hours!

Now we come to the athlete who is the medallist to come from the most easterly point on the globe. Her name is Rae Torrie.

The most easterly town on North Island is Gisborne (178°E). This where Rae was born, and like many she went to Wellington to university. She studied history and went on to study Social Sector Evaluation Research at Massey University. Most of her work has involved evaluating employment and pay policies in local and national government, but her early work involved evaluation of equal employment policies and Maori affairs.

In 2002 Rae entered the dance competition at the Sydney Gay Games. Her dance partner was Ros Bignell and they won a silver medal in the Latin category.

Now that we have gone as far east as we can go we head west next time. Rather than keep going west and end up almost back where we started we go to the far side of the globe and look for our most westerly Gay Games medallist on the Greenwich Meridian.

From the Far Side of the Globe : North

From well below the Antarctic Circle a couple of days ago we travel to the far side of the globe and look for the most northerly Gay Games medallist. It would have been perfect if I could have found someone who lived north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’ N) but there is one person who came from very near it. This seems strange considering there are many more settlements north than there are south.

Perhaps the best place to look for the most northerly medallist would be places like Alaska, Scandinavia, Russia or Canada.

There have been a few Alaskan athletes at the Gay Games but they have been registered as being from the state capital Anchorage (61° 13’ N). Further research will reveal if any of them came from further north. The 5-member Team Alaska who entered the Cologne 2010 games came away with 12 medals between them. Among this medal-winning team was Darl Schaaff. He has a close connection with the current Gay Games in Cleveland. He was co-chair of the Site Selection Committee who chose both Cleveland as the 2014 host city and Cologne as the host of the previous games.

Erik Richards, one athlete I mentioned last time, was from Fairbanks in Alaska (64° 50’ N), also the home town for a while of new dad Jake Bartholomy. Jake won two marathon golds, one in Sydney 2002 and the other in Chicago 2006. On both occasions he had not lived in Fairbanks for several years. I’m sure there’s another Fairbanks athlete to discover but for now I’ll name Jake Batholomy as my joint most northerly Gay Games medallist (I’ll come to the other joint medallist in a minute).

Apart from Alaska the most northerly team to enter the Gay Games comes from Iceland. Most of them have been registered as residents of Reykjavik (64° 08’ N). Being based only a few miles further south than Fairbanks Team Iceland takes the place as the most northerly team of medallists. The largest group of Icelandic competitors attended the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne. They comprised of a soccer team and a team of swimmers from the Styrmir club in Reykjavik and between them the 8 swimmers won 28 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Mind you, they were all pleased to actually get to Cologne in the first place. When they competed in the Outgames in Copenhagen in 2009 the Icelandic banks had recently collapsed, there was upheaval in the government, and the world recession was hitting them hard. In fact, they had to sell vegetables, condoms and toilet paper just to raise enough funds for them to attend the Outgames. That’s dedication! Things has improved slightly by the time of the Cologne Gay Games, thankfully.

But one member of Team Iceland comes from further north than Reykjavik and is the other joint most northerly Gay Games medallist (also, as far as I can tell, the most northerly Outgames and EuroGames medallist) – Bjarni Snæbjörnsson. His home town is Sveinseyri, an old port in northern Iceland which, at over 65°N, is only around 69 miles (111 km) south of the Arctic Circle. As with Jake Bartholomy, Bjarni was resident further south when he competed in Cologne 2010. On that occasion Bjarni was a member of three 4x50m relay teams that each won gold medals.

The success of Team Iceland in the pool, not only at the Gay Games but also at the Outgames and EuroGames, was key to the decision made by the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics organisation to hold their championships in Reykjavik in 2012. Until 2012 Iceland never considered itself a major player in international sport, so these swimming championships was big news for Iceland, and undoubtedly the biggest sporting event that country had ever staged until then. So due credit should go to Bjarni and his fellow Strmir swimmers for creating this legacy.

Outside sport Bjarni is an actor and drama teacher. With Sigfridur Eyrín Fridriksdottir he formed a camp musical double act called Viggo and Violetta who have performed at many Icelandic and international Pride events.

Jake Bartholomy and Bjarni Snæbjörnsson, my joint most northerly Gay Games medallists, may not have been resident in the farthest north location when they competed but I present them as representatives of the two most northern teams, Team Alaska and Team Iceland.

Medal Quest Goes On The Job

(25 days to the start of the Gay Games) If you ask an Olympic medallist like Tom Daley or Andy Murray what their job is they’ll say “diver” or “tennis player”. But if you ask a medallist at the Gay Games, Outgames, or any other lgbt sporting event what their job is most of them won't say anything which is sports related. They train as hard as professionals but don’t do it for a living. They’ve very much in the mould of the original Olympians of the modern era.

In my researches into lgbt sports I have come across many athletes whose professions are far removed from the sport in which they compete. It’s worth looking at some of them. What they all prove is that you don’t need to be a professional athlete to succeed in sports, and the job you do shouldn’t dictate what sport you play. 

Quite a few Gay Games athletes work in the sports industry – as coaches or personals trainers, etc. – and some are professional or retired athletes. I won’t mention them today. In order to present this list I chose one letter of the alphabet at random and went through my Gay Games database to find 30 medallists whose professions are quite different from their sport. A large proportion of them have also competed in the Outgames and the EuroGames. Although it’s a varied list it doesn’t include other professions I could mention if I chose another letter, like US Ambassador, priest, gay porn actor, or Emmy-winning casting director. 

The athlete’s name is followed by their main profession and then the sport in which they won their medal/s. 

Walter Baardemans – journalist - badminton

Eduardo Luis Bahamon – cytogeneticist - diving

Cara Balboni - clinical social worker - in-line skating

Lenora Barot – ex-Prof. of Plastic Surgery, now writer of lesbian romances - martial arts

Orlando Barsallo – make-up artist - bodybuilding

Jarrett Basedow – international aid worker - tennis

Lynn (Allwyn) Baskin – actor - figure skating

Alec Bates – chemistry professor - cycling

Sybille Bauriedl – political and environmental ecologist - table tennis

Kevin Batungbacal – real estate agent – beach volleyball

Alexandra Bayliss – archaeologist – dancesport

Terry Bean – political fundraiser and lgbt rights pioneer – golf

Elizabeth Bellinger – school teacher – swimming

Steven Berveling – barrister - cycling

George Birimisa – playwright and actor – bodybuilding

Roger Blenman – poet and spoken-word artist - wrestling

Reggie Blennerhasset – university Pro Vice-Chancellor – sailing

Bruce Bornfleth – doctor – swimming

Keith Boykin – White House aide to President Clinton - wrestling

Kevin Brauer – registered nurse – ice hockey

Carter Bravmann – architect – cycling

Emma Jane Brennan – photographer - swimming

Rosina Bruno – journalist - tennis

Salvador Burgaleta – architect - swimming

Kristopher Burrell – Assistant Professor of History - wrestling

Jana Burton – maths teacher - athletics

Wolfgang Busch – film-maker – table tennis

Toby Butterfield – law lecturer – squash

Todd Buttery – lgbt festival organiser - swimming 

Finally, and with a note of congratulations to double gold-winning marathon runner – Jake Bartholomy, a physical therapist. He and his husband, Dr. Justin Goodman, became the proud fathers of a son, Park Bartholomy Goodman, on 30^th May.

Medal Quest : Another Ozzie Opening.

Tomorrow night the 3rd Asia-Pacific Outgames in Darwin, Australia, begins with a lavish opening ceremony. We've become used to such things in recent decades. As I write this I'm deprived of my research. Both my PC and laptop with back-up file died on my lest weekend Rather than leave a gap in the schedule I'll fall back on my print material and archives and look back at a previous Australian opening ceremony, Sydney 2000, and what were undoubtedly the campest and gayest of all Olympic ceremonies.

I've mentioned these ceremonies very briefly before (here and here), particularly the closing ceremony, so today we'll have a closer look at the opening ceremony in celebration of tomorro night's event.

First of all a word about the organisation of Olympic ceremonies. Each ceremony is made up of several segments - usually: a welcome, arrival of dignitaries, several cultural segments, athlete's parade, Olympic flag raising, official speeches, and finally the lighting of the cauldron. In overall charge is the Director of Ceremonies, and next in line is the person most often recognised in reference to ceremonies, the Artistic Director (e.g. Danny Boyle for London 2012). Each segment is allocated to a second director with the Artistic Director having the final say on what is included. The Artistic Director may often direct some segments personally.

Director of Ceremonies for Sydney 2000 was Ric Birch, with David Atkins as Artistic Director. Neither men are gay, but throughout the opening ceremony there were many lgbt people who helped to create the spectacle.

Acting as overall Choreographic Director was Doug Jack, one of the greatest figures in Olympic ceremonies. Doug had been involved in Olympic ceremonies since Barcelona 1992 when he was chosen by Ric Birch (the Barcelona consulting director) to create the marshal role at the athlete's parade, and to direct the welcoming segment. Like David Atkins, Doug had several other people under his supervision who worked on the choreography of specific segments for Sydney 2000. Once again Doug directed the athlete's parade and also choreographed parts of several other segments (including the segment pictured above).

Moving from overall responsibility to the separate segments the most significant lgbt contributor was Ignatius Jones. Philippine-born Ignatius had lived in Sydney since 1963 and was a singer and performer before becoming an events organiser. Ignatius got the ball rolling in Sydney 2000 by directing the welcoming segment featuring 120 horsemen, and the arrival of the dignitaries and the Australian national anthem.

Ignatius and David Atkins became a formidable creative team and they were responsible for the ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Ignatius also directed the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2002 Gay Games.

Later in the 2000 Olympic ceremony the Australian-based dance troupe the Tap Dogs provided a raucous and vibrant segment involving many sparks and industrial construction. Segment director was Tap Dogs co-founder Nigel Triffitt (1950-2012). Who would have thought when Tap Dogs was created in the 1990s that tap dancing could be so macho? Openly gay Nigel was the person who created the factory/industrial concept for the other co-founder Dien Perry, who acted as Nigel's Tap Choreographer for the Sydney 2000 segment.

The climax of the opening ceremony was the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. Most people will remember the event - Kathy Freeman standing in a pool of water with the torch in her hand as the cauldron rose above her and shuddered to a halt! This caused several moments of dread for David Atkins, but more so for the cauldron's segment director, Richard Wherrett (1940-2011).

The segment began with the entry of the torch into the stadium. The first torch bearers were two legendary Ozzie athletes, Betty Cuthbert being pushed in her wheelchair by Raelene Boyle (who came out in her 2008 autobiography). All went well until the cauldron was lit. Apparently, the computer which controlled the cauldron's movements decided to reboot itself and there was nothing anyone could do but wait. To Richard it must have seemd like hours. He and David Atkins probably gave a huge sigh of relief when the cauldron was finally in place. For David Atkins history was to repeat itself in Vancouver 2010 when one of the 4 supporting legs of the Winter Olympic cauldron refused to rise into position.

The Sydney opening ceremony was to be the pinnacle of Richard Wherrett's career. The hitch in the cauldron didn't really blight what was a magnificent opening ceremony, and was an appropriate final event for Richard to direct. Fifteen months later he died of an AIDS-related illness.

While it would be impractical to show footage of all the various contributors mentioned above, this video shows the contribution made to the opening (and closing) ceremony by another lgbt designer, Peter Morrissey.

And finally, good luck to everyone at the Asia-Pacific Outgames.

Medal Quest : Diving into History

The countdown to the Gay Games in Cleveland and Akron has now reached 100 days. This article takes a look at some lgbt athletes who have competed at the Olympics, Gay Games and/or Outgames and who make up an unusual record.
 
During the London 2012 Olympics I often recorded live coverage while I was at work and looked at it later. I’m glad I did, and especially glad that I decided to save my recording of the men’s 10m platform diving preliminaries - you never know which one of them would turn out to be a future out lgbt champion (see also Matthew Mitcham below), and little did I know at the time that Tom Daley would come out afterwards. During those preliminaries I noticed that several lgbt diving champions were involved in one way or another. I thought it was remarkable that in that one event on 10^th August 2012 there were at least 4 lgbt diving champions in the Aquatics Centre (3 openly gay, and a probable 4th, even without counting Tom Daley), and not one of them was there merely to watch, they each had a job to do. I don’t think there’s been that many occasions before, not where athletes are competing in a non-team event (though I’m still checking previous diving, figure skating and equestrian events). Of course, it is safe to say that most of the divers were their own national champions anyway.
 
1) Matthew Mitcham was the defending Olympic champion. He was the surprise gold medallist of Beijing 2008, where so much hope has been put in the Chinese diver Zhou Luxin. Winning the gold with a record-breaking Olympic score Matthew was turned into an instant international lgbt celebrity, having come out publicly before the Beijing games. I remember him from years back when he competed at the Commonwealth Games. In fact while I was planning this article I just had to dig out an old video tape of those games and remind myself of his performance. I would never have thought that the spotty, teenaged ugly duckling I watched would one day turn into such an international celebrity hunk! Although Matthew hasn’t actually competed at either the Gay Games or the Outgames he was appointed a Gay Games Ambassador and went to the Cologne games of 2010 and made appearances at many events.
 
2) Greg Louganis, a previous Olympic diving champion, is considered by many to be the greatest competitive diver of all time. He broke 2 records in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics by being the first man to win gold in both platform and springboard events at 2 consecutive games. However, it was what happened in the preliminary round which most people remember. Banging the back of his head on the springboard during his dive made a gasp of horror go around the pool. I needn’t go into the ins and outs of later developments in that particular incident and return to London 2012. Greg was appointed as Diving Mentor to Team USA, and was seen most days sitting in the team stand with his ipad, making notes and discussing the divers’ performances. Like Mitcham, Greg is a Gay Games Ambassador, and he chose the opening ceremony of the 1994 Gay Games in New York to come out publicly as gay.
 
3) Simon Latimer was one of the judges for the 2012 diving competition. You see the judges sitting in their high chairs beside the pool. If you get chance to see a recording of the 10m preliminary of 10^th August 2012 you’ll see Simon sitting at the extreme left of the 4 judges during rounds 4 to 6. A New Zealander by nationality Simon was also the youngest diving judge at the 2012 Olympics at the age of 30. He has been a judge since 2008 and judged Tom Daley at the Youth Olympics, and Tom and Mitcham at the Dehli Commonwealth Games, both events in 2010. As a competitive diver Simon attended the first World Outgames in Montréal in 2006. He won 3 gold medals. His experience at the Outgames is recounted in this article on Outsportscom.
 
4) Tom Daley wasn’t an out diver at London 2012 (though I was one of many who thought he was likely to be gay). Perhaps being the big hope and poster boy of Team GB at the home Olympics was pressure enough. Even though he was obviously happy to only win a bronze he was already a “veteran” champion of diving having been British Junior Champion in 2005 at the age of 10. He was also the youngest ever British or European senior diving champion. In fact this year is the only one since 2005 when Tom hasn’t won a championship or gold medal – but then it’s only the beginning of May and he’s got the Commonwealth Games in July (do we dare hope he’ll follow that with the Gay Games in Cleveland 2 weeks later?)
 
5) Scott Cranham acted as High Performance Director for the Canadian divers at London 2012. After a few years away from diving he returned to become head coach of Dive Calgary in 2001. A 3-time Olympian (if, as with Greg Louganis, you also count a place on a team that was forced to boycot the 1980 Moscow games) Scott didn’t win an Olympic medal, but he did win 4 at 2 Commonwealth Games – a silver and bronze at each. Scott has also competed at the Gay Games winning 3 gold medals in Vancouver in 1990. The coverage of the 2012 10m preliminaries doesn’t show clearly whether Scott was at the poolside with the other international coaches. He was certainly clearly seen during the final, when he was one of the first people to congratulate the new Olympic champion. It would be unusual if he wasn’t at the poolside on 10^th August.
 
So 4 out of 5 out lgbt diving champions isn’t a bad record for an Olympic event. In my own perfect little world I dream of meeting them all to chat about their diving achievements. It’s only a dream, but perhaps it's an idea for the organisers of the Gay Games in August to get them all on one stage.

Medal Quest - Out of Proportion?

The third Asia-Pacific Outgames begins in 20 days time in Darwin, Australia. It has always baffled me why Australia is such a major players in international sport. The country is one of the least densely populated areas in the world, yet people can name at least 2 famous Australian sportspeople. You can’t say that about the other areas of equal size and population density (Siberia and the Canadian Arctic).

The Pacific region has also produced quite a few of the world’s top lgbt athletes, some of whom have competed in the Outgames and Gay Games, and a lot of them are Olympians. There is a higher proportion of out professional lgbt athletes per capita from Australia than there is in any European country. Also a high proportion of them are gold medallists or champions.

Here is a list of the lgbt professional athletes of the Asia-Pacific region. I won’t include continental USA, though will include Hawai’i and other American Pacific islands. I had planned to list all the medals and championships each athlete has won, but the accumulated list runs into the hundreds and I don’t have room for them. This is testimony to the sheer excellence there is in the Asia-Pacific region in lgbt sport. Some athletes listed below were not Asia-Pacific-born but have become nationals of the countries.

Rather disappointingly, I’m restricted to just listing the name, country and sport of each athlete.

AUSTRALIA

Alyson Annan   -   field hockey

Mianne Bagger   -   golf

Jason Ball   -   Australian rules football

Hayley Bateup   -   ironwoman

Wade Bennett   -   water skiing, athletics

Raelene Boyle   -   athletics

Belle Brockhoff   -   snowboard

Natalie Cook   -   beach volleyball

Casey Dellacqua   -   tennis

Freda DuFaur   -   mountaineering

Michelle Ferris   -   cycling

Mathew Helm   -   diving

Gus Johnston   -   field hockey

Daniel Kowalski   -   swimming

Hana Mandlikova   -   tennis

Matthew Mitcham   -   diving

Michelle Reeves   -   athletics

Ian Roberts   -   rugby league

Craig Rogerson   -   diving

Rennae Stubbs   -   tennis

Lisa-Marie Vizaniari   -   discus

Ji Wallace   -   trampoline

Sarah Walsh   -   soccer

Peter Wherrett   -   motor racing

NEW ZEALAND

Simon Latimer   -   diving

Paul O’Brien   -   equestrianism

Blake Skjellerup   -   speed skating

Blyth Tait   -   equestrianism

Peter Tayler   -   equestrianism

Louisa Wall   -   rugby union

HAWAI’I AND SAMOA

Natasha Kai   -   soccer

Greg Louganis   -   diving (Samoan father)

Jaiyah Saelua   -   soccer

Esera Tualo   -   American football

TONGA

Amini Fonua   -   swimming

JAPAN

Hiromasa Ando   -   speedboat racing

THAILAND

Parinya Charoenphol   -   Thai boxing

Medal Quest - Ladies First, and Second, and Third

Things are starting to hot up in Australia as athletes from around the world are making final preparations to attend the 3^rd Asia-Pacific Outgames in Darwin in 50 days time. To celebrate Women’s History Month here is a selection of female medal winners from the previous Asia-Pacific games.

Among the athletes from the Asia Pacific region who have made a mark internationally is Kate Rowe from Sydney, Australia. Kate also illustrates the importance of sport over rivalry with the Gay Games as for a long time she has been involved with several committees of the Federation of Gay Games and competed at both Outgames and Gay Games.

Kate Rowe reminds me of what I could have achieved it I had the same determination. We both took up exercise seriously at the age of 32. I gave up in 2005 for personal reasons, but Kate has already won several marathons and cycling races. Kate’s passion for sport almost came to a halt when she hit a duck while cycling through a park and came off her bike. The accident damaged her hip and she needed hip replacement surgery.

After surgery in 2010 Kate jumped back into the saddle to begin training for more competitions, including several international triathlon and Ironman contests. And Kate is at an age when others are beginning to think about slowing down! At the Asia-Pacific Outgames Kate won a gold medal in the 5 km run.

 

Unlike the Olympics coaches and trainers don’t often, if ever, get the chance to compete as well. Events like international Masters competitions, the Outgames and Gay Games give them the opportunity to compete.  A popular competition at lgbt sports events is dance. One dance coach and teacher who has won many medals at the Outgames and Gay Games is Zoe Balfour. Originally from Wales Zoe teaches dance in San Francisco and has coached several same-sex couples to medals wins also. With her dance partner Citibria Phillips Zoe won the Women’s North America Ballroom Championships 5 years in a row.

Like the Gay Games, the Outgames has always been an inclusive event. It could be argued that more non-lgbt athletes compete at the Outgames than the Gay Games. One straight swimmer, Kirsten Cameron, jumped at the chance to compete at the 2^nd Asia-Pacific Outgames in New Zealand in 2011 and broke 3 world records and won 6 gold medals in one week. Kirsten didn’t start swimming competitively until 2003 and had represented New Zealand since 2006. It was the competition which attracted her to the Outgames, not the sexuality of her rival swimmers and, like many other straight athletes, found varying degrees of reaction from friends and colleagues to her participation.

Finally, and with a topical twist, there’s Jills Angus Burney and Deborah Hamby. Jills won a triathlon gold and Deborah won several swimming and diving medals at the 2^nd Asia-Pacific Outgames. Eleven months ago New Zealand passed a law legalising same-sex marriage, one of the hottest topics around the world. Both Jills and Deborah appeared at a select committee when the bill was running through parliament, speaking n favour of the bill. On 17^th April 2013 they watched parliament vote 77 to 44 in favour and Jills and Deborah announced their engagement (more about same-sex marriages around the world next week). Jills, a barrister by profession, is also a world record holder, but not in sport. In 1988 she set a world record by shearing 541 lambs in 9 hours! The record stood until 2007.

Medal Quest : A Vancouver Double

Eighty days to go before the Darwin Outgames, and Medal Quest returns to the subject of medal design with one lgbt artist who has designed medals for both the Winter Olympic-Paralympic Games and the Outgames that have been held in Vancouver, Corrine Hunt. I mentioned Corrine briefly in my article last year on the Vancouver Outgames. Here is a closer look at her Olympic-Paralympic medals.

A major factor in the decision to award the Vancouver Olympic medal design to Corrine was her work in traditional First Nation art of her native Vancouver Island and heritage. Her artistic background is as influential as is her cultural background. Four of Corrine’s uncles from both sides of her family are First Nation artists in their own right, and it was one of these uncles who gave Corrine her first interest in jewellery making in metal.

It was also this uncle who introduced Corrine to the history and use of art by the people of her First Nation ancestry, the Kwak-waka’-wakw nation. Through her grandmother Corrine also has ancestry from the Alaskan Tlingit nation which also has an influence on her work.

From her home on Vancouver Island Corrine went to study anthropology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver City. In 1985, inspired by her uncle, she began making her own engraved metal jewellery. Personally, I find Corrine’s style pleasing to the eye and gives an organic nature to the metalwork which makes it come alive.

So, how did Corrine come to design the Olympic medals? In 2008 the Vancouver Organising Committee (VANOC) asked for design proposals. Corrine was one of 48 artists who submitted ideas. This group was then short-listed to 8. No actual designs were submitted at this time. Corrine’s idea that each Olympic and Paralympic medal should have a unique design taken from a larger work appealed to VANOC, as was her idea of using the orca as symbolic of power and strength, and the raven as an expression of speed. Both the orca and the raven are major emblems in her First Nation heritage.

Another Vancouver artist was chosen to help bring Corrine’s designs to reality. Omer Arbel is an industrial designer who developed the process by which each of Corrine’s medals was cast with individual undulations, reflecting the individual design on the medal faces and reminiscent of the rolling Canadian landscape on the ski slopes. This made all the medals doubly(!) unique – no two medals had the same design or the same undulations.

The Paralympic medals were made in exactly the same way, each one individual and unique. They were more square in shape than the Olympic medals and went through the same 30-step process of manufacture. In total there were 615 Olympic and 399 Paralympic medals struck. Incidentally, all of them were made from recyclable materials. The metal came from old computer circuit boards and televisions which would otherwise have gone to land-fill sites. There is an excellent short video on this website which describes the creation process of the medals.

Shortly after the Paralympic Games ended Corrine received the Aboriginal Achievement Awards for the Arts.

Less than six months later she was asked to design more Vancouver medals – a Vancouver Double. This time the request came from the organising committee of the 2^nd North America Outgames. Once again the symbolic representation of the orca and raven, joined by the wolf’s tail, were used.

Turning Corrine’s artwork into the design to be struck onto the medals was a fellow lesbian artist from the Vancouver area, Carol Weaver. I hope to write more about Carol and her work later in the year, as she also fits in nicely with the overall theme for 2014 of music with her being a musician and music therapist.

Medal Quest - 100 Days to Darwin

The third Asia-Pacific Outgames in Darwin begin in 100 days time. The Outgames follow a different format to the Gay Games in that there are several continental Outgames as well as the World Outgames. Because of this it is difficult to produce a list of the overall Top Ten medal winners. It would be like comparing the continental EuroGames or Pan-American Games with the Olympics.

But then athletes wouldn’t have a medal quest to pursue if there weren’t any medals! So today I’m looking at some of the medals themselves. In an article last summer I mentioned Canadian artist Corrine Hunt designed both the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic medals and the 2011 North America (Vancouver) Outgames medals. I intend to post a more detailed article about these next month.

Until then, here is some information about the medals of some of the Outgames. For every medal there can be several designers. One person can design the actual medal, and another the medal ribbon. Yet another can be credited as designer of the official games logo which is always incorporated into the medal.

For the first World Outgames in Montréal in 2006 both the medal and the ribbon were designed by Jean-François Perrier. Jean-François was the Design Co-ordinator for the games with a place on the organising committee. He was also the designer and webmaster of the Montréal 2006 website. The medals he designed (pictured below) were of the traditional circular shape, though you may be able to see a cut-out section around the top rim of the medal through which the ribbon is threaded.

Jean-François was secretary of the Montréal bid to host the 2006 Gay Games. He bid, led by Olympian Mark Tewksbury, was accepted but later withdrawn and the Gay Games were awarded to Chicago instead. This led to the creation of the first World Outgames.

Jean-François knew Montréal well. He’s a qualified tourist guide for the city and former manager of the lgbt portfolio with Tourism Montréal. He was president of the Association Professionelle des Guides Touristique – Montréal, and is currently the administrator of the  association’s Facebook page.

The medals of the first Asia-Pacific Outgames in Melbourne in 2008 were designed by a local design company called Sabatini Belle Creative. This company was founded in 2004 by Belle Adziyovski and Ross Sabatini, who both have a B.A. in graphic design from Melbourne’s Monash University. They were appointed as the official designers for the first Asia-Pacific Outgames. Ross in particular had previous experience in the design and image of a big multi-sport festival. His first job was with the design company that worked on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and who designed the Sydney 2000 logo.

The Sabatini Belle medal for the Melbourne Outgames was, again, a circular design bearing the games logo. Medals were suspended on a green and black ribbon, the colours of the Melbourne games.

In 2009 the World Outgames were held in Copenhagen. The designer of the medals was a local fashionable goldsmith and jeweller called Mads Heindorf. Growing up as a gay teenager on the Danish island of Langeland Mads never thought he’d be designing jewellery for the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, let alone an Outgames medal. He was a relative newcomer to the goldsmith and jewellery industry, having only just finished his apprenticeship in 2006.

It was after a Danish magazine interviewed him about his royal jewellery that he was invited to design the Outgames medals. Mads, medals, the largest in size so far, incorporated smaller discs and circles which he said would give them “a modern, tasteful and innovative design with Nordic inspiration” (pictured above). The innovative side of the medal came with the circular hole in the centre though which a plain black cord was threaded. The following year Mads designed the winner’s medal for the Mr Gay Denmark contest.

Of all the medal designs, perhaps the most distinctive at the Outgames was that designed for the most recent World Outgames in 2013 (pictured below). These were square with rounded corners. A heart-shaped depression in the centre carried the motto of the games.

I have no definitive information about the medal designers of the remaining World and Continental Outgames, but am still researching and hope to produce a complete list in the future.

A Taste of the Antwerp Outgames

Two and a half weeks after the close of the 3^rd World Outgames in Antwerp here is my review of the games to conclude my chronicle of the Outgames. This provides just a little taste of the games and shouldn’t be seen as a comprehensive record.

The human rights conference kicked off events on 31^st July. It carried the title of “From Safe Harbours to Equality”. In it’s introduction to the conference programme it says : “Changes in the positioning of international LGBT rights in recent months, including marriage in France, the USA, Uruguay, New Zealand and Argentina; changes in African Commonwealth countries as well as in Eastern Europe – all of this has provided some breathing space for LGBT people. A conference in this new context cannot simply focus on the past: it must become a gathering which proposes solutions for people fighting and struggling everywhere in the world.”

The conference was less about educating the lgbt world about the various communities and their problems and more about working with them. Various exhibitions and meet-and-greet sessions provided informal networking opportunities. Present were several asylum seekers from Africa, and Amnesty International who highlighted the problems encountered in Russia since the recent introduction of anti-gay laws there. Speakers and panellists through the 3-day conference included several serving and past international MP’s, Olympic archer Karen Hultzer, and an impressive collection of other activists, politicians and speakers from more countries than ever before at an Outgames conference.

Running concurrent with the conference was the cultural festival. This included Mr Gay World 2013. The entrants, which included the newly-crowned Mr Gay Europe, Robbie Obara of Ireland, and the outgoing Mr Gay World, Andreas Derleth, attended the Outgames opening ceremony. The Mr Gay World finals were held the next day, with Chris Olwage of New Zealand being crowned winner.

The opening ceremony itself, in Antwerp’s historical docklands area, included the traditional entry of the athletes. The biggest and most enthusiastic welcome was for the Russian team. Performing at the ceremony were 2 of the Outgames Ambassadors, singer Kate Ryan who wrote the official games song, and junior world champion archer Ivan Denis (if shooting an arrow can be called a performance). In an echo of the Barcelona Olympic opening ceremony Ivan fired an arrow into a target to signal the opening of the games.

Other cultural events included poetry, film and music festivals, and boat trips and city tours. Exhibitions were mounted across Flanders and a Rainbow Village was set up in the shadow of Antwerp’s fairy-tale Het Steen castle with various information booths and performers.

Jumping ahead, the Outgames concluded with a closing ceremony where the Outgames flag was handed to the next hosts of the World Outgames to be held in 2017 in Miami Beach. Banners were also presented to the hosts of the 3^rd Asia Pacific Outgames to be held in Australia next year. Events were rounded off with Antwerp Pride.

As for the sports themselves there is so much to cover that I’ll have to be selective (sorry if I miss your favourite sport). The first medals to be awarded were in synchronised swimming, one of the sports where the International Olympic Committee still discriminates against men. Waving my metaphorical Union Jack, congratulations to Team UK who won the team event, and especially to team-member Derde Luis Exposito Gutierrez who also won gold in the solo contest (even though he’s Cuban he lives and works in London).

Archery attracted 3 competitors of note. One was Outgames Ambassador Ivan Denis, a hopeful for Rio 2016. He won a bronze in his category. Olympian Karen Hultzer won gold in her category. The list of entrants included Rev. Denver NaVaar. Longtime followers of this blog may remember him from my article on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Its always pleasing to see names recurring from games to games, whether Outgames, Gay Games or EuroGames, or all 3. There were lots of returning athletes from previous games. Here’s a couple of them.

The pool saw school teacher Elizabeth Bellinger win several medals and break the UK Masters record in the 50m butterfly. Elizabeth has been breaking records for several years. In 2003 she was the first woman to break British Olympian Sharon Davies’s 11-year record in the same distance. Lizzie won 7 gold medals at the 2010 Gay Games.

Respect goes out to Russell LaMar Jacquet-Acea who came 4^th in the decathlon. Just a few months ago his mother Elizabeth died at the age of 77 (I must write an article on his amazing ancestry). Linking with this year’s science theme I mention Russell also because he’s an amateur astronomer and taught astronomy in Seattle. He has now won over 25 gold medals in Gay and Outgames since 1990.

The only athlete present who has also taken part in the Olympic torch relay was Trevor Burchick. He is founder of Manchester’s Pride Games which is the UK’s largest lgbt sport festival. He was awarded the MBE by the Queen in 2007 for services to the community, and carried the Olympic torch in June last year. Trevor is also a UK representative on GLISA, the governing body of the Outgames.

The football contest was of particular interest to me because my local gay team, Nottingham Ball Bois, was playing. Having won bronze at the 2011 EuroGames I was hopeful of them medalling in Antwerp. But Scott and the lads still did Nottingham proud by finishing 6^th (out of 12) in their division.

Reading through this article I seem to have mentioned a lot of British athletes. Sorry about that, I’m probably still buzzing from last year’s UK Olympic successes. Space restricts me from saying more, so I’ll end expressing my congratulations to all the participants.