Featured events


7-9 September 2012
Brussels Games
Brussels

Brussels Gay Sports will offer a weekend of fun and fairplay in the capital of Europe, with volleyball, swimming, badminton, and tennis, as well as fitness and hiking.

Learn more HERE.
26-28 October 2012
QueergamesBern
Bern, Switzerland

The success of the first edition of the QueergamesBern proved the need for an LGBT multisport event in Switzerland. This year will be even bigger, with badminton, bowling, running, walking, floorball.

Learn more HERE.
17-20 January 2013
Sin City Shootout
Las Vegas
The 7th Sin City Shootout will feature softball, ice hockey, tennis, wrestling, basketball, dodgeball, bodybuilding and basketball.

Learn more HERE.

13-16 June 2013
IGLFA Euro Cup
Dublin
After this year's edition in Budapest at the EuroGames, the IGLFA Euro Cup heads to Dublin for 2013, hosted by the Dublin Devils and the Dublin Phoenix Tigers.

Learn more HERE.

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Tour de France, Sydney Spokes, and Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris

Michelle Ferris at Gay Games VII in CologneI
The Tour de France is a great excuse to write about Sydney Spokes and Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris in the Sydney Star Observer:


It was a good week for sport in this country with the Great French Bike Ride forcing sunburnt English people in Wimbledon stands off the front page.

My late night prowling watching spokes go round on SBS has been curtailed by work, so I have had to learn the next morning how poor Spanish doctor Jesus Losa has provided another drug-filled exit strategy to a Russian rider in France.

This takes our eye off the goal — can Cadel Evans ultimately be triumphant in France to gain the dubious honour of wearing Lycra in one of the world’s fashion capitals, and will it be yellow this year?

Cycling’s affinity with the Gay Games movement includes Sydney’s own Michelle Ferris’ appointment as a Federation Ambassador. No small feat if you take a moment to peruse the international sporting stars she stands alongside.

At the height of her career, Ferris was not without controversy, but it never prevented her from producing the goods at medal time. As an international star, it would have been easy to stand on a pedestal and ignore the grassroots sportspeople in our community. Instead, Australia is well represented internationally and in local media by her profile, achievement and as a down-to-earth lesbian mum.

Cycling is a great sport. The development of Clover Moore’s ultra-green bike pathways throughout the gay Mecca has altered the journey to the point where I feel my two wheels have rights of their own. For the past decade, my bike and I have developed an affinity with the rabbit at the greyhound racing track. My greyhounds have been the taxi industry, non-observant drivers and Sydney Transit buses.

Sydney Spokes is a gay and lesbian cycling group which rides in and around Sydney on a weekly basis. It is not for purists, Lycra lovers, or former world champion triathletes, even though they’re all welcome. It is a friendly group which provides social interaction while exercising. Just another way to get out to play: www.teamsydney.org.au

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