11/10: November 2010
EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
EuroGames 2011 Registration open Tolerance Although November 16 is the International Day of Tolerance, also recognised by the UN, it often seems that the world is still very intolerant, or that (just) tolerance is not enough, and we should strive for acceptance. The reasons for such situation may be fear or ignorance and the simplest way to make a difference is education and leading by example. EGLSF strives for both.
Contents EUROGAMES 2011 REGISTRATION OPEN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL EGLSF INFO NEWS SECTION SPORTS EVENTS COMING UP...
Registration for the 13th edition of the EuroGames is open! Rotterdam (ranked world’s best festival city of 2010 in the category mid-sized cities) will be hosting this event from July 20 to July 24 2011 and offers you a wide variety of exciting sports and cultural events. Participants can subscribe for at least 30 different sports, and for every sport there will be a minimum number of participants in order to organize a relevant competition. EGLSF-members early birds pay only € 70 for almost every sport for registration before March 1, 2011.
“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision.” Muhammad AlI, Boxer
Stay tuned to www.eurogames2011.eu for the latest sport updates. In addition to the sports, the EuroGames 2011 will also have a rich cultural program with unique opportunities to meet up with athletes and other interesting people. The magnificent Colour festival will be held during the EuroGames 2011. This cultural event will feature numerous short acts
and concerts in a relaxed atmosphere and will be dedicated to the acceptance and integration of gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
Women’s Football Lesbianism as the Last Taboo in Women’s Football It is indeed a shocking experience trying to get a picture of what it’s like to be a lesbian woman in the world. A quick survey of available news initially indicates that the South African post-apartheid constitution guarantees equal treatment for homosexuals – in writing. But in a country where nearly half of all – all! – women will be raped at some point in their lives, an out and proud lesbian woman can hardly expect to go untouched. The former star of the South African women’s football team Banyana Banyana, Eudy Simelanes’ fate bears horrific witness to this fact. In April 2008 she was gangraped and severely beaten before she was killed with 25 stabs to her body, from face to feet. The threat of “corrective rape”, rape in order to cure young women from the lesbian disease, holds black lesbians in an iron grip of terror, as in Western Cape where nine out of ten live in daily fear of abuse. The police are reluctant to investigate rape, violence and murder of lesbian women; only after more than thirty lesbian women were murdered
in one decade, the Simelanes case was the first in which the offenders were brought to justice. Many South African lesbians seek refuge from persecution and discrimination in football, but nowhere are they safe. Also in Nigeria, female football players are sometimes lesbians, so too in the national team, Super Falcons, which according to team managers has given rise to serious problems – “acts of lesbianism” – which in turn has led to a paucity of triumphs on the pitch. Nigeria Football Federation organized a seminar, “Women Football in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects”, with the national team and the U-20 and U-17 teams, and afterward announced that the players had vowed to stop such behavior as was detrimental to the game. And quickly we turn our attention to Gretna in the south of Scotland, where Barney Davidson after several successful seasons as the head of Gretna women’s football team, which at times topped the Scottish first division, one day, seven years ago, resigned. The reason given was that the team and its game was about to fall apart because the lesbians players, around half of the team, could not keep
their personal relationships away from the pitch – couples who broke up could, for example, refuse to pass to each other. The team is now completely outside the league system. – Tanja Walther-Ahrens is active in the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation, and her article on lesbianism as the final taboo of women’s football describes the web of prejudice and discrimination faced by the European LGBT athletes, especially in football. She points to the efforts being carried out in order to combat racism in football, and calls on clubs and associations in Europe to mobilize similar resources to fight the equally troubling and injurious forms of sexual discrimination in the beautiful game. You are just about to read about something that actually does not exist. The president of the French Football Association Jean Pierre Escalettes, recently said in a TV-documentary: “The French Charta against Homophobia in football draws the attention to something, which thankfully is not spread.” For the full article by Tanja WaltherAhrens, please see www.eglsf.info.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
EGLSF Info Croatian Football Chief Bans ‘Homosexuals’ from National Team The European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) today condemned comments made by Vlatko Markovic, President of the Croatian Football Federation in an interview with Croatian national daily Vecernji List. Mr Markovic remarked that there was no place for gay players on the national side, stating “While I’m a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team.” Mr Pepe Garcia Vazquez, Co-president of the EGLSF, an organisation representing over 17,000 lesbian gay bisexual and trans (LGBT) athletes across Europe says of the comment: “We are appalled by Mr Markovic’s statement, which is not only highly offensive, but is also clearly at odds with Croatian anti-discrimination legislation. These kinds of comments not only have a negative effect on individual players, but ultimately harm the game. We are expecting the Croatian FA to make a full apology and will be calling on UEFA, through our representation within the FARE Network to challenge Mr Markovic.” qSport, EGLSF member club, has also posted an open letter, with a statement regarding the comments by Mr Markovic and his subsequent reaction/apology. The open letter is available online at http://int.qsport.info/APOLOGY-NOTENOUGH
‘Football against discrimination’ toolkit It remains certain that the fight against racism and discrimination must be accompanied by educational work with young people. Therefore, as part of its Football for Equality project, FARE is creating an educational internet toolkit on the topic of ‘Football against Discrimination’. Over the last decade, anti-racism and anti-discrimination in the field of sport has made substantial progress. All over Europe, a wide range of awarenessraising initiatives, school projects, campaigns and educational activities have developed. However, relatively few young people and educators use them or know where to access them. The project proposes to identify some of the best educational tools and materials across Europe such as short video films, brochures, hand-outs for teachers, reports, comics or interactive web-sites and make them available in a structured and accessible way. All resources will be offered free to download. A special section of the FARE website will be set up to bring together this tool-kit, along with a database listing local initiatives across Europe which can be contacted for practical advice for teachers, youth workers, NGOs, journalists, students and other interested young people. The tool-kit will have a pan-European outlook: the working language will be English but there will be the option of including resources in other languages. No printed material will be produced. The tool-kit is being developed for FARE by FARE partner Football Unites, Racism Divides in the UK, which already runs an anti-racist Resources and Information Centre and a range of educational initiatives with young people. However, we need your help with the following:
1. Have you produced, or can you recommend, any educational resources tackling any form of discrimination through football, which are either available online or that you’re prepared to make freely available online through the tool-kit? If so, please email the details to me, ruth@furd. org, including a summary of the content, website address if it’s already online, and target audience including age group and language. 2. If you would like to be included in the database of local initiatives, please email ruth@furd.org with the name, address and nature of your organisation, phone number, email address, website address, names of contacts and how they can help. This action is carried out by FURD and part of the programme “Football for Equality. Challenging racism and homophobia across Europe” and is partly funded by the European Commission (DG Justice) under the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme. The Football for Equality project is coordinated by the FARE partner organisation FairPlay-vidc in partnership with the FARE network and various other European project partners. More information: www.furd.org
EGLSF Exhibition awarded EGLSF Exhibition Against the Rules Lesbians and Gays in Sport (Gegen die Regeln) was recognised by the German alliance for democracy and tolerance (Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz) as the best project in the 2010 call for actions on democrycy and tolerance. The exhibition was selected as a model so it will be additionally promoted, and EGLSF is also to receive an award at a reception in the first quarter of 2011. You may hire the exhibition; for more information please see www.eglsf.info/exhibition/.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
EGLSF Board meeting The EGLSF skype meeting scheduled to take place end of November was pushed to December for practical reasons. The board will meet next between January 7-9, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland.
Join EGLSF on Facebook We would like to invite you to join the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) on Facebook. On EGLSF Facebook page you will be able to be in touch with EGLSF and other member clubs, read the latest news and we also invite you to post to our wall and share your news and information! http://www.facebook.com/eglsf
made from the sidelines, but it is still a long way to greater acceptance of gays and lesbians on German football fields. http://www.vimeo.com/16614782
Players United brochure 30 November 2010 Kick It Out and the PFA have launched the 2010/11 edition of Players United, highlighting the wide array of activities undertaken by current and former players to support the campaign. Kick It Out is constantly on the lookout for players who would like to play a more active role in promoting the aims of the organisation, and Players United underlines the importance of player support. The magazine features a roundup of the events held during the 2010 One Game One Community weeks of action, alongside an article on the issue of homophobia in the game.
News Section
The publication also includes a feature on charity foundations and an interview with former Manchester United winger Danny Wallace on dealing with Multiple Sclerosis. http://www.kickitout.org
Sports Events Coming up... Events submitted by our members Multisports
XMAS-Tournament Frankfurt, Germany 3 Dec – 5 Dec 2010 For the 11th time the Frankfurt associations Artemis and FVV are inviting you to participate in the traditional XMASTournament. Enjoy this big come-together in winter time for sports competitions, Frankfurts most exciting LGBT-Party and a walk through the romantic Christmas market in the old town. All we want for XMAS is YOU!! www.fvv.org fvv-presse@fvv.org
News submitted by our members Film on amateur football & homophobia 20 November 2010 Niko Schleicher and Dino Bernabeo, students of the University of Bremen, made as short film on homosexuality in amateur football as their final thesis. For the time being, the film is available in German only. The film shows that the first steps are
XMAS F R A N K F U R T
EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
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11/10: November 2010
EGLSF Newsletter If you would like to have your events listed in our Newsletter, or would like to share the news from your club, please visit www.EGLSF.info and submit your content. Member clubs are welcome to submit reports of their events and club’s descriptions as well. Content should be submitted by 20th of the month to be included in the next edition.
All submissions are subject to approval and may be edited for length or content. To subscribe, go to www.eglsf.info.
Fotos: Page 1: EuroGames Rotterdam 2011 Page 2: Tanja Walther-Ahrens Others: Public, non-copyrighted
Contact Us European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) c/o NCS Meeuwenlaan 41 NL-1021 HS Amsterdam The Netherlands eglsf@eglsf.info www.eglsf.info EGLSF Newsletter (ISSN: 1876-1763) is published by the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation. EGLSF is registered as a nonprofit sports organisation with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague and enjoys participatory status with the Council of Europe.