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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
11/09: November 2009
Get Ready for Manchester! Speak Up!
The next Annual General Assembly of the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation - EGLSF AGA - will take place in Manchester, UK, 5-7 March 2010.
Europe, unfortunately, witnesses an increase of discrimination and violence in the last few months. Regardless of the economic situation or any other cirstumstance, this Council of Europe campaign cannot and should not be tolerated, so we call upon you to report discrimination and attacks or threats to the authorities (your local police) and inquire about violence prevention programmes in your city! www.coe.int/antidiscrimination
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Whilst the business of the AGA will take place as usual on Saturday and Sunday, the EGLSF Board will be hosting a Strategic Planning Day on Friday 5 March. Facilitated by Pride Sports, the day will consist of four workshops which will focus on the following areas: - Communication & Membership - Sponsorship - Sports/tournament regulation & good practice - Diversity
Also be sure to check out the campaign by CoE.
Four 90 minute sessions throughout the day will enable delegates to contribute to each of the themes or focus on an area of particular interest. Key points from each
Contents GET READY FOR MANCHESTER! EGLSF INFO NEWS SECTION SPORTS EVENTS COMING UP...
Council of Europe campaign www.coe.int/antidiscrimination
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“We are all different from the color of our skins to the pitch of our voices, from our religions and ethnicities to our sexual orientations and to the sizes, shapes and abilities of our bodies: A welcoming sport environment is one which embraces this diversity.� Billie Jean King, American tennis player & activist
of the workshops will be summarised and made available for all delegates to view over the weekend.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
This is a unique opportunity for you to become involved in EGLSF and contribute to the development of the Federation. Online Registration for the AGA will open mid December at the EGLSF website www.eglsf.info. You are advised to make your travel arrangements as soon as possible, as booking your flight early usually results in better flight deals.
Outline of Events Thursday 4 March Welcome drinks Friday 5 March Strategic Planning Day Welcome Buffet Euro It’s A Gay Knock Out (fun street games) Saturday 6 March AGA Mayor of Manchester Reception Dinner Party Sunday 7 March AGA ‘A sporting postcard of Manchester’ Tour
Outreach Outreach is available for the AGA for up to 20 delegates. This will include £150 towards flights, hosted accommodation for the weekend and all meals paid over the weekend. If you are interested in applying for outreach, please email lou@pridesports.org.
EGLSF Info EGLSF Board resignations The Board received the messages of resignation of Anne Jensen, female Co-president, and Gisela Weil, Board member. Both have drafted to your attention the messages you can find below. All the others Board members feel sad about these decisions, but fully support Anne and Gisela in their current difficult moment and thank them warmly for all the job done. We wish them all the best. We are sure as well that these are the feelings of the whole EGLSF community. During their two terms, many of their contribution could be highlighted. Anne started her term in a very complicated situation when the Co-president at that time, Beppo Brem, felt severely ill and Anne had to assume all the presidential tasks. Then, her energy has been a vital contribution for the working of the presidential tandem after Pepe’s election. She has made also a strong contribution in the fields of outreach, communication and strategy. Gisela’s crucial contribution has been to put really in EGLSF map the fundamental issue of Gender Equality, a continuous work that found full expression with her workshop at Madrid 2008 AGA as well as the conference-workshop held in before Rome 2008 AGA. We are sure Anne’s and Gisela’s example will guide the future EGLSF work at members and board levels and we look forward to have them again active providing advise and support to all of us, mostly to those future Board members that, in our next AGA in Manchester, could be elected to the places left vacant by them.
Dear members, I want to inform you that I have resigned from EGLSF board. The combination of increasingly higher requirements in my professional life and obligations in my private life has made it impossible for me to carry out volunteer work on the level that EGLSF board work requires, in a way that is satisfying for you, the members, for the remaining board members, and for myself. Important for me is to emphasize that the last 2-3 years of board work has been carried out in an extraordinary cooperative and open atmosphere, i.e. our discussions have been characterized by the fact, that none of us had any hidden agendas or wanted to promote individual/ national/sportive agendas, and that all of us wanted to be open for the others points of view, in order to find the best solutions for EGLSF (even if some of you may disagree in the latter). Some of you may find the board work slow, the association as such slow. However, democracy is not a fast process, has never been, and striving for a certain degree of democracy (taken in the most literal sense/signification of the word) involves patience and frankness. I have learnt an awful lot from the board work, from you, EGLSF. And I hope that the more locker and open atmosphere at AGA will continue, leading EGLSF further on its way in the fight for LGBT sport, for diversity, for the right to being your self in sport, as on all societal levels in all parts of Europe. Kind regards, Anne Jensen
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
Dear members, I would like to inform you, that I have resigned from my board position recently, suspending, at least temporarily, all of my volunteer engagement. It was a very hard decision for me to be taken, for I still feel passionate about the cause of lesbiangay sports movement, seeing the first seeds of my work for EGLSF flowering. But a series of personal strokes, the too early death of my mother, have turned my life upside down. For the time being, I need all my strength and attention to make best use of the inevitable changes, every crisis involves. I will attend the Manchester AGA, where you can address me, if you wish. If some of you consider running for election as female board member, I want to assure you of my full support, introducing you to the tasks, particularly, if you want to work in ‘Gender Parity/Diversity’. Gisela Weil
Statutes & Bylaws One on the issues discussed in the past AGA at The Hague was the updating of EGLSf Statutes and Bylaws. A more detailed proposal will be communicated by the Boardshortly. For the time being, here are the main lines for that updating: - General harmonisation of concepts and terms. - EuroGames (Bylaws: article 4) During the X-mas tournament (December 4-6, 2009 in Frankfurt), a meeting about this issue will be held, hosted by EGLSF member club FVV. For details, please see the post on Future Dynamics of EuroGames further on.
- Membership (Statutes: articles 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Bylaws: articles 5, 9). This issue was discussed at The Hague. It is clear that the development of EGLSF demands some refurbishment and adaptations. Also, there are groups, associations etc. related to sport or to LGBT issues, but not strictly sport practitioners, willing to become EGLSF members. Their acceptance would demand changes in Statutes and Bylaws. These are the main issues proposed for updating, but there are perhaps others. Therefore we invite all EGLSF members to send their proposals in order to present motions to the upcoming AGA.
Future Dynamics of EuroGames At the AGA 2009, the issue whether we should have Eurogames every year or not was discussed. It was agreed that before making any decisions, the topic will be further discussed. Zeljko Blace (qSport) and Jan Frolich (FVV) prepared an online-forum where you can post your comments a) expressing your general opinion b) discussing the relevant articles of our bylaws c) making suggestions on how those articles should be changed You can access the forum at http://int. qsport.info/New_EGLSF_policy_on_ dynamics_of_sport_events_in_Europe If you prefer to discuss the topic in person, come to Frankfurt for the XMAStournament! The discussion sessions take place Friday Dec. 4th at 12:00h and Sunday Dec. 6th at 13:00h both at Friedberger Anlage 24 (FVV office).
EGLSF server changes announcement We are informing you that that the EGLSF server saga is about to get a happy end.
We just leased the new server, and will be starting to gradually move stuff in December. Service WILL be interrupted, but we’ll try to minimize the downtime to a minimum. If you are using our server for hosting your club’s email address, especially if you are using the service either via webmail only, or IMAP (so if your emails are stored on our server), you will be asked to make a personal backup. If you are using our server for hosting your website, you are also advised to make full backups (files and database). Please note that this is the initial announcement only. More specific instructions are to follow. Users of our services will also be contacted individually. We will offer some support, but please do not contact us regarding the move at this time, to allow us to focus on the move itself.
New Iberian Group: ADI In October 2009, representatives of Iberian LGBT sport groups met in Valencia. There was their second meeting. The first on had taken place in May in Zaragoza. As outcome of this Valencia meeting was the creation of ADI (Agrupación Deportiva Ibérica, i.e. Iberian Sport Group). Representatives of clubs from Valencia, Zaragoza, Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao took part in the meeting. Representatives from Lisbon and Malaga were not able to attend.
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EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
ADI is a provisional working name for this group, whose main aim is to coordinate actions and plans at Iberian level. The group will meet again next May in Bilbao with the purpose of establishing a concrete action plan.
human rights organisation Stonewall clearly shows that the majority of fans find anti-gay abuse in the game unacceptable. Its good to see a professional club in Europe get behind the needs of its supporters and in such a public way.”
News Section
The EGLSF works as part of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network to challenge homophobia in football and to improve the experience of LGBT players and fans. Recent initiatives have included input to the Deutscher Fussball Bund’s (DFB) campaign to tackle homophobia amongst football supporters. This initiative saw flyers handed out to fans at a German national game in Hamburg last month and further copies of the flyer distributed to all professional football clubs in the Country.
News submitted by our members Football player sacked due to homophobic statements 4 November 2009 The European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) made clear its support today for FC Midtjylland, the Danish Superliga Club, which earlier this week sacked goalkeeper Arek Onyszko following homophobic comments made in his autobiography. These comments include the statement “I hate gays, I really do. I think it’s f****** disgusting to hear them talk to each other as if they are girls. I can’t be in the same room as someone who’s gay. Look at them kissing each other – it’s sickening.” Co-President of the EGLSF Pepe GarciaVazquez says: “We welcome this move by FC Midtjylland to make a stand against such a public display of hatred for gay people by one of its players. The decision to sack Mr Onyszko sends out a powerful message by one of Denmark’s leading football clubs that homophobia in the game is totally unacceptable” Mr Garcia-Vazquez continues: “Recent research in the UK published by the
http://www.fcm.dk
NSA Survey in cooperation with EGLSF 15 November 2009 AThe Dutch government aims for a tolerant sport climate, based on respect, equality and sporting together. In this sport environment there should be a place for everybody, also for homosexuals athletes. With the programme “Simply being gay” The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS) stimulates the emancipation of homosexuals. One of the topics within this programme of VWS is aimed at sport. The programme Sport & Tolerance pays attention to several elements within the social acceptance of homosexual sportsmen and sportswomen and to the social inclusion and exclusion mechanisms experienced by homosexual sportsmen and -women. The NSA is responsible for the implementation of the program Sport & Tolerance. The NSA is a national value-oriented sports organisation that aims for developing and modernizing a sustainable culture of recreational sports and
exercise. Everyone is able to participate in recreational sport regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, religion and physical abilities. Sportsmen can decide themselves where, with whom and how they want to experience and practice sport. The context in which sport and exercise takes place is variously shaped and dynamic. Individuals and groups organise themselves in communities of a permanent nature and derive their identity from shared standards and values. We respect these communities and their identities and we would like to support these groups of sportsmen make the right choices for a livelong and active lifestyle. The NSA would like to contribute to a better sports environment: * In which homosexuals are allowed to freely express themselves without hiding their sexual preferences * In which homosexuals are able to practice the sport they prefer * In which policymakers and sports technical staff make a positive contribution to the social acceptance of homosexuals * In which diversity are socially accepted * In which discrimination and a sense of insecurity are fought against The NSA would like to achieve the above by participating actively within the alliance and by executing different projects. One of the projects is: “Sport & Tolerance across the borders”. The objective of the project is: learning by exchanging of homosexual emancipation policies on a European level. Through learning, sharing knowledge and experience, the NSA aims to contribute to an increase of the social acceptance of gays in sports and other settings in The Netherlands and Europe. As a part of “Sport & Tolerance across the borders’ the NSA is now starting an inventory of the organizations, partners and best practices in Europe. Inventory Results are: - An understanding of the European field in terms of social acceptance of
EGLSF Newsletter: News & Information from European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
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11/09: November 2009
homosexuality in sports - An inventory of international best practices sport in European countries - An inventory of European countries, training programs
Events submitted by our members
EGLSF is asked to support the NSA in contacting foreign sport organizations operating on the theme of social acceptance of homosexuals in sport. Organizations active in agenda setting and awareness projects.
Multisport
The NSA and EGLSF would like you to fill in and return the organizational profile in the annex. Please return your profile before December 1, 2009 to lou@ eglsf.info. It will help us to create an overview of activities in the field of social acceptance of gays in sport in Europe and will to further deepening of this learning trajectory in 2010.
Sports Events Coming up...
Badminton
Auricula Open Ghent, Belgium 4 Dec – 6 Dec 2009
XMAS-Tournament Frankfurt, Germany 4 Dec – 6 Dec 2009
We invite you to our 16th badminton tournament, the first week-end of December in Ghent. We hope to see you all. info@auricula.be http://www.auricula.be
For the 21st time Frankfurt is organising its popular multisports tournament in the winterly atmosphere of the snowcovered city. Besides an expanded sports programm, the legendary XMAS-Party at Unionhalle with over 2.000 partycipants and a warm come together for the farewell-brunch complement the weekend. Board members of EGLSFmember clubs are invited to participate in the conference on the future frequency of Eurogames Friday and Sunday afternoon. Participants from Eastern Europe can apply for our generous Outreach Programm!
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.gaysport.info and submit your content. All submissions are subject to approval.
FOTOS: Page 3: Hegoak Others: Public, non-copyrighted
http://www.fvv.org registration@fvv-xmas.org
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.