Boston Conference First to Address Homophobia in Sports

On March 28-30, 2003, the newly formed National Gay & Lesbian Athletics Foundation (NGLAF) will present the first ever national conference on homophobia in sports. The National Gay & Lesbian Athletics Conference will converge on the campuses of MIT and Harvard for three days to discuss ways to champion the acceptance and visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes; foster the development of inclusive and supportive athletics environments; dispel myths about LGBT athletes; and provide LGBT athletes with a forum to build networks and foster mentoring relationships.

"To most people, sports and gay people don't mix," said Mac Chinsomboon, the executive director of NGLAF. "It is vital that we dispel that myth and come up with ways to foster understanding between people who share a passion for the game that transcends sexual orientation. The conference will provide professional athletes, educators and spectators alike the opportunity to explore how we can achieve this effectively."

Conference organizers have planned a full weekend of keynote addresses, multiple panel discussions, interactive workshops, entertainment and sports exhibitions. They expect 500 athletes, coaches, fans, academics, and supporters from around the world to attend.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will partner with Web site Outsports.com to provide content for a discussion panel examining the medias relationship to gays & lesbians and athletics.

Panelists scheduled to appear include: ESPN: The Magazine editor at-large Luke Cyphers; Craig Lazarus, Senior Coordinating Producer for ESPN; Mitchell Wherley, the partner of former NFL lineman Esera Tualo and Alissa Wykes, a fullback with the Philadelphia Liberty Belles professional womens football team. Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports.com, will moderate the groups discussion.

"Amateur and professional athletics programs remain, for the most part, the last bastion of homophobia today," said Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of Outsports. "Outsports started as a gathering place for the community to talk sports, particularly when a story broke in the media. Now we have the media themselves contacting us. They see Outsports as a resource for their stories because the gay athletes come here too. There just aren't many places where they can be themselves: gay and athletes at the same time."

"The journalists discussing gay men and lesbians in sports are primarily sports writers who have rarely covered gay and lesbian issues," said Cathy Renna, News Media Director for GLAAD. "Their unfamiliarity with gay issues can result in superficial coverage that lacks analysis or context beyond the immediate controversy. Too often, they don't delve into larger issues like the homophobic climate of the locker room or the differences in the ways homophobia plays out in men's sports versus women's sports," Renna continued. "GLAAD increasingly finds itself serving as a resource to media covering issues of homophobia in sports, so we hope that this panel prompts more discussion about a topic that continues to grow in scope," Renna concluded.

Other panel discussions scheduled for the conference include: "Legal Protection & Action for LGBT Persons in Sport" presented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR); "LGBT Athletes in Collegiate Sports" presented by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and Sexual Minorities in Athletics (SMIA); "HIV and Athletics" presented by the AIDS Action Committee; and "LGBT Athletes in High School Sports" presented by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). To register for the conference and obtain and more information about the events scheduled, please visit www.gayconference.org.

2 PA Universities to Offer Domestic Partner Benefits

The American Civil Liberties Union praised Temple and Drexel Universities in Philadelphia on Feb. 14 for deciding to provide domestic partnership benefits to their lesbian and gay employees and urged other employers to follow their leadership.

"Thanks to Temple and Drexel Universities, this will truly be a happy Valentine’s Day for many same sex couples," said Larry Frankel, Legislative Director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. "The ACLU congratulates these schools for deciding to treat their gay and lesbian employees equally. We hope that everyone will respect this move to do what is fair for workers and what is critical for attracting and retaining many highly skilled and motivated workers. The ACLU expects that business and community leaders as well as fair-minded legislators and Governor Rendell will support these schools for doing the right thing."

In Pennsylvania, the ACLU has been extensively involved in efforts to obtain domestic partnership benefits for lesbians and gay men. The ACLU participated in the effort that led to the enactment of domestic partnership laws in Philadelphia. The ACLU is helping to defend those laws in a case that is currently before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The ACLU is also battling the University of Pittsburgh in an ongoing lawsuit aimed at securing domestic partnership benefits for that school’s employees. Reacting to the news regarding Temple and Drexel Universities, Witold "Vic" Walczak, the Legal Director for the ACLU’s Greater Pittsburgh Chapter said: "The ACLU hopes the decision by these fine universities will motivate the University of Pittsburgh and other schools in the state to follow suit. Temple and Drexel have joined more than a hundred prestigious schools across the country in recognizing that in order to attract the top professors and remain competitive in the academic world, they must treat all employees equally."

HRC Applauds Congress for Increased HIV/AIDS Funding

The Human Rights Campaign praised Congress for passing the fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations bill, which increases funds for crucial life-saving programs that help people living with HIV/AIDS.

"We are thankful that Congress and the Bush administration have made funding critical HIV/AIDS programs a priority," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "We look forward to working further with Congress and the administration to continue to effectively address this crisis at home and abroad." The bill, which funds federal programs from Oct. 1, 2002, to Sept. 30, 2003, is expected to be signed by President Bush this week.

HRC called its congressional passage a relief because its delay of several months was threatening much-needed HIV/AIDS funding. In comparison to fiscal year 2002 appropriations, the fiscal year 2003 bill will provide the following increases: Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, $96 million; the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, $80 million; and Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS, $14 million. Prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will receive a $34.7 million boost. The National Institutes of Health another $3.83 billion, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency will receive an increase of $98 million.

HRC applauds these increases for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research. HRC will work with Congress and the Bush administration to maintain the president’s recently announced increases for the fiscal year 2004 budget.

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention there are now as many as 950,000 people in the United States who are HIV-positive, with 40,000 Americans being infected each year. In 2001,15,603 Americans died from AIDS, and the disease is now the leading cause of death for African-Americans in the ages 25-44.

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.

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