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42 december 9, 2011 Portland’s Best Salad Rolls Open Open Daily! Daily! Fast Take-Out! 730 NW 21st Ave. 503.223.2182 JOHN STREET CAFE 8338 N. LOMBARD 503.247.1066 THE YEAR IN sports bY RYAN j. pRAdo The sports world as a whole felt bureaucratic and boorish all year long. The NFL lockout that almost was; the NBA’s truncated season due to labor disputes; the NBA’s playoffs marred by audible, and televised, anti-gay slurs; the Atlanta Braves’ Roger McDowell motioning as if he were going to use a bat to assault a pair of San Francisco Giants fans whom he questioned about being gay. On and on it went… It was enough to make you loony. But as with all valleys, a peak shouldn’t be far away. Whether the biggest LGBTQ sports story of the year was a peak or valley is up for debate, though. A settlement was finally reached in a high-profile lawsuit filed against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) by three softball players whose sexual orientation was questioned in the wake of the 2008 Gay Softball World Series in Seattle. The debacle followed the players’ team’s second-place finish. NAGAAA’s rules stipulate that any team competing in a NA- GAAA-sanctioned tournament is allowed “Any message of the good that NAGAAA may achieve, its primary purpose, plays second fiddle to [this] controversy. The only way to change that is to truly embrace everyone that wants to support the LGbTQ community and gay softball, regardless of their sexual identity.” -Jake Packer, foRmER opEN CommIssIoNER, RosE CITY sofTbALL AssoCIATIoN only two heterosexuals per team. Following a protest, a hearing was held wherein the three players were reportedly questioned whether or not they desired predominately women or men. Following the closed-door hearing, the plaintiffs’ team, D2 from San Francisco, was disqualified, and the team’s second-place finish was stripped. The lawsuit brought into the limelight rules about the straight-player limits in gay sports. Earlier this year NAGAAA changed its policy to include an unlimited number of LGBT players on any team, with the two- BREAKFAST ALL DAY + NIGHT LUNCH & DINNER SERVED FULL BAR! ESPRESSO! Between North Gay & Gay. 2201 N. Killingsworth, Portland, OR 97217 503.735.4652 www.justout.com player limit applying strictly to self-identified straight players. The players insisted they were bisexual, and the settlement reportedly awarded them reinstatement to the league, and their second-place finish fully recognized. NA- GAAA commissioner Roy Melani argued that the players never answered questions about their orientation during the hearing. Nevertheless, the commish was pleased with the settlement. “This settlement and [the] judge’s rulings have shown that NAGAAA has the right to define their membership requirements,” said Melani. “It’s the Gay Softball World Series. It’s important we defend our right to maintain that identity.” Others weren’t as convinced of NA- GAAA’s infallibility. “NAGAAA has a serious image problem,” said Jake Packer, former open commissioner for the Rose City Softball Association from 2008-11. “Any message of the good that NAGAAA may achieve, its primary purpose, plays second fiddle to [this] controversy. The only way to change that is to truly embrace everyone that wants to support the LGBTQ community and gay softball, regardless of their sexual identity.” Anti-gay bullying once again emerged as a cornerstone movement to rally against in 2011, most notably in sports and schools. Scattered headlines declaring more and more professional athletes coming out ran parallel to news of an increased number of schools adopting new bullying policies designed to protect students. Leading the charge, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) announced a new program in March aimed at providing a safer and more inclusive environment for K-12 sports and physical education departments in America’s schools. Dubbed “Changing the Game: The GLSEN Sports Project,” the initiative was designed to bring together a diverse MiNGO Patio Dining, Private Dining, Fun Dining, Fine Dining M i N G O in Beaverton 503 646 6464 WWW.MiNGOWEST.COM
oregon’s lgbTQ newsmagazine Rugby sensation Ben Cohen came to town to represent the standUp Foundation. coalition of athletes, journalists and sports figures to address and educate on the implementation of measures designed to combat bullying in sports. Among the facets of the project was the Team Respect Challenge, which encourages sports teams and clubs to make a strong, public commitment to live the values of respect and inclusion for all team members, spanning differences such as race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and religion. In tandem with that effort this year was the much-ballyhooed work of Ben Cohen, and the establishment of his new anti-bullying project the StandUp Foundation. Cohen—known to Americans as either one of the finest rugby players ever to take a pitch, or a shirtless calendar model, depending on your devotion to international sports—retired from the Sale Sharks of the England Rugby Union International in May, rededicating his life to combating homophobia and bullying. The foundation supports the development of its own anti-bullying work, as well as those of groups like the Human Rights Campaign and GLSEN. “It’s been very fast moving, and we’re learning a lot,” Cohen told Just Out in November. The foundation has given away $50,000 in the first five-and-a-half months of its existence. “The support has been overwhelming. We know that we’re really creat- THE YEAR IN sports ing awareness and creating a movement and a following that’s helping us drive that cultural change.” Portland LGBTQ sports continued its ascent with the establishment of the Portland Gay Basketball Association, as well as the reemergence in popularity of sporting orgs like Portland’s Adventure Group, whose outdoor expeditions defy the whims of the weather. In 2011, PAG celebrated 25 years of hiking, kayaking, backpacking, bicycling, car camping, huckleberry-picking trips and much more. Standards like Team Portland Tennis, RCSA, Portland Gay Volleyball and the NetRippers Football Club—that’s soccer to us yankees—all reported increases in membership. The latter almost certainly received an enormous push by way of the inaugural season of the Portland Timbers, Major League Soccer’s newest expansion team. Although they didn’t make the playoffs—ultimately posting a respectable 11- 14-9 record—the Timbers managed to ignite a previously hibernating Portland pro sports contingent. The lines around the Bagdad Theater, coupled with the sight of post-home game, swaying, green-and-yellow garbed über-fans downtown spoke volumes of that. In 2012, our wish is for active sportsmanship, vibrant competition and a bye year for petty business speed bumps. mARTY dAvIs december 9, 2011 43
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