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Ex-tennis pro Brian Vahaly becomes LGBTQ-rights advocate
Brian Vahaly didn't need to be on the May 11, 2017, edition of Sports Illustrated's Beyond the Baseline podcast. Neither publicity or the money that tend to come with it were a concern: he'd made the ...
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'Out at Wrigley'set for Aug. 25
The 19th annual "Out at Wrigley" will take place Sunday, Aug. 25, at Wrigley Field. This year, the Cubs take on the Washington Nationals at 1:20 p.m. after the campaign's winning national anthem singer sings the ...
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Matt Herek on the state of CMSA
Matt Herek was in his first season playing in the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ). He was on a flag football team sponsored by Hydrate Nightclub back in September 2005 and, well, he had ...
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Illinois Gay Rodeo Association presents Rodeo Round Town
The Illinois Gay Rodeo Association presents Rodeo Round Town, a three-day series of events throughout Chicago, continuing the tradition of the annual Windy City Rodeo, which drew rodeo fans from all across the nation. The rootin'-tootin' ...
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PASSAGES CMSA Hall of Famer/former North End co-owner Bobby Nicholson
Games were played Aug. 4, but with heavy hearts—and tribute ribbons attached to players' and umpires' uniforms. The balls and strikes, safe and out calls were, in large part, secondary to the memories that ran throughout ...
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Women's national soccer team in Chicago on Oct. 6
U.S. Soccer announced the women's national team will play South Korea on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 1 p.m. at Soldier Field in the final match of the victory tour celebrating the Americans' World Cup title, The ...
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Women's soccer coach Ellis to retire
On July 30, U.S. Soccer announced that Jill Ellis—who won her second Women's World Cup as head coach of the U.S. women's national team for the second consecutive tournament—is stepping down from her post. Ellis has ...
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Lesbian tennis player: More athletes should 'come forward'
Professional tennis player Alison Van Uytvanck told The Guardian that more of her fellow athletes should come out of the closet, according to CNN.com. "We [would like to] see more people coming forward and saying 'It's ...
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WOMEN'S WORLD CUP U.S. wins championship
On July 7 in Lyon, France, the United States claimed a fourth Women's World Cup triumph with a 2-0 victory over European champions Netherlands in the final. Megan Rapinoe, an out lesbian, and Rose Lavelle scored ...
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Cubs affiliate calls out Kaepernick, draws flag
The Tennessee Smokies—a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs based in the town of Kodak—deleted and apologized for a tweet in which the team showed a "Betsy Ross flag" design on their infield dirt and ...
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WOMEN'S WORLD CUP U.S. beats England, advances to final
The United States is returning to the World Cup final, thanks to a 2-1 victory over England on July 2 in Lyon, France. Christen Press, starting for an injured Megan Rapinoe, and Alex Morgan, on her ...
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PRIDE WEEKEND 2019 Proud to Run marks 38 years with first-ever half-marathon race
Proud To Run, presented by Frontrunners Chicago, celebrated 38 years with its annual 5K run/walk, 10K run and, for the first time ever, a half-marathon on June 29 at The Grove, just north of Montrose Harbor. ...
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WOMEN'S WORLD CUP U.S. beats host France, advances to semis
Scoring two goals for the second consecutive game, Megan Rapinoe led the U.S. women's national team to a 2-1 quarterfinal win over host France in Paris on June 28. Rapinoe is the first player to score ...
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Softball player reflects on sexuality in sports, teamwork
By MACKENZIE MURTAUGH
From morning to night, Chicago Bandits pitcher Aleshia Ocasio commits herself to two things: softball and benevolence. During the season for the National Pro Fastpitch team, she bustles away during training, practice and under the ballpark's ...
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U.S. advances in World Cup on Rapinoe kicks
Megan Rapinoe scored on penalty kicks to give the United States a 2-1 win on June 24 over Spain to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup, ESPN.com noted. Rapinoe made news ...
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Writers weigh in on 'Disco Demolition Night'
Billboard published an article on the damaging aspects of "Disco Demolition Night"—which took place 40 years ago in what was then Chicago's Comiskey Park on June 12, 1979. As one of the masterminds behind the infamous ...
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Thirty-six sports confirmed for Gay Games 11 in Hong Kong 2022
HONG KONG/SAN FRANCISCO, 31 May 2019 - The Federation of Gay Games ( FGG ) together with the Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2022's management team announced today the 36 sports which will be offered at ...
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WORLD Hong Kong decision, Pride flags, out Indian athlete
In a victory for the LGBT community, Hong Kong's top court has ruled in favor of a gay civil servant applying for spousal and tax benefits for his husband, BBC.com reported. Angus Leung, a local immigration ...
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Semenya now able to compete
Mid-distance runner Caster Semenya will be allowed to compete without having to take testosterone-reducing medication after the Swiss Federal Tribunal ordered the International Association of Athletics Federations to suspend implementation of new regulations while Semenya's appeal ...
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Semenya appeals testosterone decision
South African mid-distance runner Caster Semenya filed an appeal May 29 against the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to uphold testosterone regulations for some female athletes in track and field, ESPN.com reported. Her lawyers said ...
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Players named to third Women's World Cup Team
CHICAGO ( May 2, 2019 ) - With 40 days until the USA's opening match of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named the 23 players who ...
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International Sports Court upholds proposed rule on testosterone suppressants
( New York, N.Y. )— Today, in a divided 2-1 opinion, the international Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a proposed rule by the International Association of Athletics Federation ( IAAF ) forcing women with high ...
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Proud to Run set for June 29
Proud to Run 2019—which includes a half-marathon, 10K run and 5k run/walk—will take place Saturday, June 29, at Montrose Harbor, 600 W. Montrose Harbor Blvd. The half-marathon will start at 7 a.m.; the 5K and 10K ...
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Lynn Sage Cancer sports event June 17
The Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation ( LSCRF ) will host the annual Play for the Cure Game Day, featuring a women's round-robin tennis competition, 18-hole golf experience and card games including canasta, mahjong and bridge. ...
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THE SPORTING LIFE Barrett A. Solorio
Barrett A. Solorio has been playing gay sports for almost five years, first starting in the Stonewall Kickball League, and has since also competed in dodgeball, flag football, soccer, volleyball and bowling. "At first, I was ...
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SPORTS Written policy bans transgender athletes from USA powerlifting
USA Powerlifting ( USAPL ), the national affiliate of the International Powerlifting Federation ( IPF ), recently barred transgender Minnesotan powerlifter JayCee Cooper from competing at a state championship due to her gender identity. Known for ...
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Chicago Polar Plunge at March 3
Registration for the 19th annual Chicago Polar Plunge is now open to all. The Chicago Polar Plunge will take place at North Avenue Beach on Sunday, March 3, and helps to support the activities and events ...
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Sporting Life, Kayla Cormier
Kayla Cormier is part of the reigning, three-time Spirit Champions kickball team through the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ). Her Bagel Bumpers team started with a few friends and, over time, has grown—some who ...
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Roller-derby teams vie for cup Feb. 9
Sports fans are invited to join the Windy City Rollers at Vertiport Chicago, 1339 S. Wood St., on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 6 p.m. At this event, the Double Crossers, Manic Attackers, The Fury, and the ...
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Chicago Polar Plunge March 3
Registration for the 19th annual Chicago Polar Plunge is now open to all. The Chicago Polar Plunge will take place at North Avenue Beach on Sunday, March 3, and helps to support the activities and events ...
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Chicago Dogs release schedule
The Chicago Dogs—the newest team in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball—announced their 2019 season schedule. The team will play 50 home games at Rosemont's Impact Field, including its season opener against the Gary SouthShore ...
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Windy City Rollers tryouts Jan. 27
Windy City Rollers roller-derby tryouts are being held the morning of Sunday, Jan. 27, at a private location. Skaters do not have to own their own equipment for tryouts; the Windy City Rollers rents skates and ...
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Chicago Sky players wed
Chicago Sky teammates Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley got married in Seattle Dec. 27, according to the women's basketball website SwishAppeal.com. Seattle is just north of Vandersloot's hometown of Kent, Washington. This past season, the WNBA's ...
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PASSAGES Al Petras, former Gay Games organizer, dies in Boston
A J Petras, better known as Al, died in Boston Jan. 1, 2019 of a massive heart attack. Petras served two years as co-chair of the original organizing committee that brought Gay Games VII to Chicago ...
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THE SPORTING LIFE Doug King
Sports is certainly a family affair for Doug King—well, except with his partner of 39 years, Bob, who is not sports-minded at all. However, over the past 26 years, they have raised four foster sons: Juan, ...
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The year in LGBT national news
This year is bound to be big, with events like the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots happening. However, 2018 had its major and unique events as well: —Skate expectations: Figure skater Adam ...
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Polar Plunge at Oak Street Beach Jan. 26
The non-profit Chicago Polar Bear Club ( CPBC ) will host the 18th Annual Polar Plunge fundraiser Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, at Oak Street Beach. The CPBC hosts an annual Polar Plunge event to raise funds ...
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WORLD Tanzania turmoil, Greek activist, golf player comes out
Tanzania's government says it's facing a difficult financial time after donors pulled funding over its treatment of the gay community—but it says it won't back down, NBC News reported. Finance Minister Philip Mpango told officials that ...
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Lesbian couple talk relationship, softball, bone-marrow search
During the summer of 1989, Betty Kollar and Julie Iverson met through a mutual friend and began hanging out at the now-defunct lesbian club, Paris Dance, after their 16-inch softball games. Soon after, on May 5, ...
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THE SPORTING LIFE Kenny Johnson
Kenny Johnson has played almost every gay sport over the past four years, after moving to Chicago five years ago from Elkhart, Indiana. Johnson has scored many basketball memories. "My most memorable gay sports highlight was ...
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THE SPORTING LIFE Drew Ladochi
Win or lose, Drew Ladochi always has fun playing gay sports—always. Take, for instance, the registration parties for gay softball tournaments. Ladochi's teams are the ones wearing blue wigs. "I wanted something we could do that ...
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10 Questions by Vic: Greg Louganis
Greg Louganis is the greatest diver in history. In the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Louganis achieved gold medals in both the men's three-meter springboard and 10-meter platform events. At the 1988 Olympic Summer Games ...
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WORLD Chile's pro-trans bill, gay wrestler, Russian courts
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera signed into law a bill that allows transgender people over 14 to legally change their name and gender without surgery, The Washington Blade reported. The bill received final approval in Chile's congress ...
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Pro-LGBTQ sports group looks to increase membership
Just more than four years ago, Chicago's Jake Lenz was searching for other LGBTQ individuals who worked in sports and entertainment as connections. When he did not find who, or what, he was looking for, he ...
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SPORTS Steve Kasperski, knocking it out of the park
Steve Kasperski had a memorable summer on the softball fields, claiming championship medals in two of the most prestigious international events. The 56 year-old Kasperski—who lives in Hyde Park and Melrose Park, and has been playing ...
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WORLD Taiwan marriage, Tanzania's loss, queer rap group, rugby player
In the lead-up to Nov. 24 referendums in Taiwan in which marriage equality and inclusion of LGBTQ issues in school curricula are on the ballot, 27 Taiwanese and multinational companies operating in Taiwan released a statement ...
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NATIONAL Anti-Trump actions, suicide hotline, Jeff Bezos/Amazon
Groups and individuals filed 13 friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the plaintiffs in Doe v. Trump in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, an NCLR/GLAD press release noted. The case was filed by ...
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Rugby to return to Chicago Nov. 3
USA Rugby and TLA Worldwide ( TLA ), along with host city partners Chicago Sports Commission ( CSC ) and Soldier Field, announced that world-class international rugby will again return to Soldier Field in Chicago for ...
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Proud to Run taking beneficiary applications
Proud to Run 2019 is now accepting applications from Chicago-area LGBTQ organizations seeking to be a beneficiary of the Proud to Run 10k run and 5k run/walk next June. The deadline for submitting an application is ...
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Former Chicago Force star gets taste of NFL
Darcy Leslie spent eight years playing for the now-defunct Chicago Force, establishing herself as one of the best women to ever put on the pads. She was a national champion, and was decorated with many individual ...
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Father, 12-year-old son take part in Ride for AIDS Chicago
John Schneider lives on the North Side, yet has been working on the South Side of Chicago around HIV prevention since 2001. He is a fierce advocate for ensuring resources are available in neighborhoods most impacted ...
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Pro-LGBTQ group HomeField forms
Looking to fill a gap in networking, knowledge and training for LGBTQ employees and their allies in the sports and entertainment field, a group of industry professionals has launched a new nonprofit organization called HomeField Alliance. ...
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AIDS Run & Walk unveils 'Live True. Be You' at annual event
Amidst perfect weather conditions, approximately 2,500 participants gathered for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's ( AFC ) 17th annual AIDS Run & Walk Sept. 23 at Soldier Field. This year's theme was "Live True. Be You." ...
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NUNN ON ONE Adam Rippon skates into success
Figure skater Adam Rippon won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, making history by becoming the first openly gay U.S. athlete to do so. He followed that by being the first openly gay celebrity ...
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THE SPORTING LIFE Linda Bache
The one-year anniversary of the last game in Chicago Force history on July 8 brought mixed emotions—and certainly a tear or two. After 15 seasons, the highly successful women's football team ended its run with a ...
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WORLD Cuban president, trans athlete, Trinidad and Tobago, Dua Lipa
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has backed same-sex marriage, BBC.com reported. The Cuban leader, who took over from Raul Castro in April, said he was in favor of recognizing "marriage between people without any restrictions." In an ...
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Sykes, Rippon speak at Chicago House event
Being one's "authentic self" was the theme as comedian Wanda Sykes and athlete Adam Rippon headlined Chicago House's 2018 Speaker Series and Luncheon entry on Sept. 14 at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan ...
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Chicagoan raises money and pride walking to fight HIV/AIDS
Christopher Pazdernik was filled with fear and shame that day in 2009 when he learned he is HIV-positive. "I was so embarrassed and terrified; I had no idea what was going to happen next," he said. ...
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Amateur, a trans memoir of masculinity, boxing and being a man
Thomas Page McBee is many people: a husband, an uncle, a brother, a son. He's also the first trans man to fight in Madison Square Garden. Amateur: A True Story of What Makes a Man ( ...
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Chicago Smelts, three decades of swimming
Thirty years ago, a group of gay men ( Mark Schoofs, Mike McGuire and Damon Mackert ) formed a swimming club called the Chicago Smelts ( Smelts ). This was at the height of the AIDS ...
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Fujikawa first male golfer to come out
Tadd Fujikawa, 27, is the first professional male golfer to come out as gay. According to Outsports, Fujikawa said he came out because the stories of so many other LGBTQ athletes coming out before him helped ...
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Chicago pro-tennis tourney names winners
While players such as Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams grabbed headlines at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York, Chicago held its own pro competition—the Oracle Challenger Series—at the XS Tennis ...
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Former Chicagoan Oostenbrug snags gold at Gay Games
Paul Oostenbrug was honored during the opening ceremony of Gay Games 10 in Paris with the highest honor from the Federation of Gay Games ( FGG ): the Tom Waddell Award. Days later, he won another ...
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Hundreds take part in Ride for AIDS 2018
The 15th Annual Ride for AIDS Chicago—the signature fundraising event of Test Positive Aware Network ( TPAN ), and which had a new route this year—took place Sept. 8-9, drawing nearly 200 riders, according to the ...
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Chicagoan honored by wrestlers group
Wrestlers WithOut Borders has selected the 2018 winners of its two highest honors: the Dermody Citizenship Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award. The winners and five new inductees to the WWB Hall of Merit were celebrated ...
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Memories, medals bring joy to Chicagoans at Gay Games in Paris
As the traditional flag moved from Paris 2018 to Hong Kong 2022, thus ending the 10th version of the Gay Games on Sunday, Aug. 12, there were plenty of tears—of pride and joy, not just sadness ...
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Organist taunts Cubs player with gay-friendly songs
Atlanta Braves organist Matthew Kaminski's playlist for recent Chicago Cubs acquisition Daniel Murphy included "Born This Way," "What the World Needs Now is Love" and "Lola," in what was presumably a reference to the Murphy's past ...
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Olympic champion track and field athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee at NEIU Sept. 11
Olympic champion track-and-field athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee will participate in a talk titled "An Evening With Jackie Joyner-Kersee" as Northeastern Illinois University presents the fourth installment of the Daniel L. Goodwin Distinguished Lecture Series on Tuesday, Sept. ...
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Pro tennis returns to Chicago Sept. 2-9
The Oracle Challenger Series—a combined ATP Challenger Tour and WTA $125K tennis tournament—will be held Sept. 2-9 at Chicago's XS Tennis Village, 5336 S. State St. Among the entrants are 2016 Olympic singles gold medalist Monica ...
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2018 AIDS Run & Walk Chicago Encourages Community to "Live True. Be You."
CHICAGO — On Sunday, Sept. 23, HIV advocates from across Chicago will live true at the 2018 AIDS Run & Walk Chicago. Held at Soldier Field, the 17th annual event will raise awareness and funds for ...
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White Sox's 'Pride Night' on Aug. 31
The Chicago White Sox will hold their first ballpark-wide Pride Night in association with the club's "BasebALL: One Game for All" diversity and inclusion initiative at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday, Aug. 31, when the team ...
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Multi-sport athlete Kamden Romano transitions, excited to compete again
Kamden Romano has quite the sporting resume: football, soccer, marathons, triathlons and more, yet Romano's future sporting ventures are, perhaps, most exciting for him. Romano, 32, who lives in suburban Huntley and works as a paraprofessional, ...
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THE SPORTING LIFE Cameron Turner
It was Cameron Turner and his teammates battling a very talented Atlanta team years ago at the annual Gay Softball World Series. "They had power and speed, were rowdy and intimidating," Turner said. "A lot of ...
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SHOWBIZ Lena Waithe, Adam Rippon, Tim Cook, Lady Gaga, 'Bears'
Out Master of None co-writer/actress Lena Waithe is gearing up to expand her entertainment empire by collaborating with comedian Kid Fury on a new ( and inclusive ) HBO series, The Huffington Post noted. The pair ...
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Gay Games 10 right around the corner with 10,000 competing
The final tally for Gay Games 10, which runs Aug. 4-12 in Paris, is impressive: 10,317 participants from 91 countries, with 36 sports, 14 cultural events, and an academic conference. About 170 from Chicago are participating. ...
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