2 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
August 8 2014
www.GayPeoples Chronicle.com
Let the Games begin!
by Anthony Glassman
Sporting events have never been the province of the LGBT community, ignoring outliers like tennis player Martina Navratilova or diver Tom Daley, or stereotypes like women's golf and men's figure skating.
In the interest of an LGBT-inclusive sports and cultural festival, Tom Waddell and others organized the Gay Olympics in 1982. Weeks before the event, however, the United States Olympic Committee got an injunction less than three weeks before that first event barring the use of the world "Olympic," leading to the birth of the Gay Games.
The first two quadriennial Gay Games were held in San Francisco, then headed north to Vancouver, B.C. in 1990. In 1994 they were held in New York before heading to Europe for the games in Amsterdam in 1998.
The first antipodean Gay Games were held in Sydney, Australia in 2002. The 2006 games saw some controversy, however, as the games were first awarded to Montréal, only for their license to be rescinded and awarded to Chicago instead. Four years ago, Cologne, Germany hosted the Gay Games.
This year, the ninth Gay Games comes to Ohio, being hosted by Cleveland and Akron with a week of sporting, social and cultural events. People from across the globe will enjoy the finest Northeast Ohio has to offer, from the museums and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cedar Point, cruises along the Lake Erie shore and some of the finest restaurants in the country.
Dozens of events will fill the week of the Gay Games, from the opening ceremony featuring Olympic diver Greg Louganis and singer Lance Bass, to
Court strikes Uganda anti-gay law
by Anthony Glassman
Kampala, Uganda-A five-judge panel of Uganda's Constitutional Court struck down the law banning homosexuality on August 1, albeit on a technicality.
The judges ruled that the law was invalid because Parliament did not have a quorum when it voted to approve the legislation, which carried sentences of up to life in prison for gay offenses.
While the government of President Yoweri Museveni did not give an immediate indication of whether it would appeal the decision to the country's high court, some legislators have expressed a desire to reintroduce the legislation and pass it again, this time with a proper quorum in the parlia-
ment.
The push for anti-gay legislation in
Africa began in earnest in 2009, when a contingent of American religious conservatives, including Scott Lively and other clergy, held an anti-gay conference in Uganda. Those westerners have continued working with Ugandan clergy and legislators to draft the AntiHomosexuality Act, which passed last December.
An earlier version, which included the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," was shelved after international outcry. The current version, signed into law in February, lowered the maximum penalty, but has still drawn condemnation from Europe and the Americas, from whom Uganda receives large amounts of financial and humanitarian aid.
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Aid from the World Bank and Scandinavian countries was quickly cut or postponed, as was some U.S. aid. It is not clear what would happen to those cuts and delays in light of the court ruling.
On August 5, a group of MPs announced during a press conference that they would reintroduce the bill so that it could be properly passed by the Parliament. MP Nabilah Naggayi Sempala wants to go even further with it this time, though, hoping to add a provision criminalizing anal sex between opposite-sex couples.
Uganda still has its colonial-era "sodomy" law intact, an ironic fact in a part of the world where homosexuality is often publicly condemned as antiAfrican and colonial.
"A ruling at this level represents an
Let our
medical conferences, from Star Trek's George Takei appearing in Akron to Boy George spinning at the White Party. There will be tours of area attractions, church services, plays, not to mention, of course, hundreds of sporting events.
A full listing of events is available under the "Plan My Visit" link on the Gay Games 9 website at www.gg9cle.com. To all the visitors traveling to Cleveland and Akron from near and far, welcome! And to all the athletes, it's not whether you win or lose, what is important is to enjoy the Gay Games!
historic moment in the fight for the rights of LGBT people in Uganda, and we hope it will serve as an example for other countries in Africa and worldwide," said Shawn Gaylor with Human Rights First. "We are deeply impressed with the hard work and dedication of our Ugandan colleagues who put their own lives at risk to seek justice for all."
"The Constitutional Court's judgment invalidating Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act is tremendous vindication for Ugandan human rights defenders who have always maintained that this unjust law was passed illegally," said Andre Banks, executive director of All Out. "These inspirational activists are working tirelessly against the most difficult odds to demand their rightful place in Uganda today they got one step closer."
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