IGLYO on
SPORTS
ISSUE 19
Summer 2012
WWW.IGLYO.COM
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INTRODUCTION Jordan T. Long
Members and Friends, 2012 is a veritable year of sport. Over this calendar year, Europe hosts the EuroGames in Budapest, the UEFA Euro tournament in Poland and Ukraine, and the Olympics in London. In Antwerp, activists and organizers are gearing up for the worldOutgames in 2013. Almost everyone in Europe is coming into contact with sport in one way or another, either as a participant or as an observer—or in some cases, as a willful ignorer!
the regional focus on sports this year is one reason IGLYO decided to focus this issue on the topic. Welcome to IGLYO On Sports! But the reason for this issue is more than the number of sporting events going on throughout Europe. More and more, LGBTQ activists are looking toward sport of all kinds to bolster activism.
sport has long been a way that society deals with its social relations in a public forum. Conscientious activists across the continent are taking on the gendered field of all types of sports, attempting to dismantle the homophobic and transphobic structures that reinforce and recreate social hierarchies throughout Europe.
contents
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MARINO ČAJDO
Conquering Heights with Rainbow Flags
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ORLAITH HENDRON
Introducing the Belfast Whiptails
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JENELLE DEVITS Our Group: Redefining Athletic Champion
IGLYO ON Sports sport does so much more than deliver societal messages, though. For participants, sport increases wellbeing in many ways. Team sports provide opportunity for personal development and leadership. The physical activity involved has obvious positive impacts on health. And out athletes who promote inclusiveness in sports activities have a multiplying effect: teammates, competitors, and spectators gain exposure to diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity.
the articles in this issue explore these themes. In the first two articles, Marino from Croatia and Orlaith from Northern Ireland delve into the positive effects of sporting activities on their communities, looking into the ways that mainstreaming LGBTQ sports groups impacts society. Then Janelle from the United States and Greg from Poland delve into the political aspects of coming out in sport. Jerko from Belgium discusses the worldOutgames, a celebration of sport and culture regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The issue ends with another short story from me, about football in my local park in the European capital of Brussels.
So, let the games begin! Jordan T. Long Programmes & Policy Officer IGLYO
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GREG CZARNECKI A Kick Can Be Political
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JERKO BOZIKOVIC WorldOutgames calls for youth participation
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JORDAN T. LONG A Game in the Park
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MARINO ČAJDO
qSPORT
Conquering heights with rainbow flags it all started back in 2010,
MARINO ČAJDO qSPORT croatia
when a couple of sport enthusiasts discussed the topic of engaging in recreational hiking on Croatian LGBTIQ portal – an online forum. This online initiative soon came true, and August 28th 2010 is remembered as their first field trip among the members of hiking squad qSPORT association, when they hiked the mountains of Lipa and Gorščica in the east part of Medvednica. Seeing their forum discussion, the leader from this newly formed group was contacted from qSPORT which marked the official start of the story: Queer Sport Outdoors was founded as a section of qSPORT to focus not only on hiking but also on other recreational activities in open air, such as biking or rafting. ”Basically, qSPORT Outdoors is oriented towards everyone who is considered to be hikers, mountain and nature lovers, as well towards
support of LGBTIQ individuals since it builds and develops the conscience of LGBTIQ people in and between them and their friends,” said Vedran, the spokesman of the group. A couple of months ago, this section formed the first known Croatian queer hiking society. The fact that they are now members of Croatian hiking society will allow these enthusiasts cheaper accommodation in mountain hostels in Slovenia, Croatia as well in parts of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and discounts on hiking and outdoors equipment for their members, which will be of crucial use for their members in planning the future trips and activities with limited funds.
rainbow colors on mountain peaks ”There is a constant number of six participants in each of our
IGLYO ON Sports trips,” says Vedran who can’t hide his happiness when it comes to interest of LGBTIQ individuals in their activities, as well with the understanding that exists among members; especially when they need to decide where to go next. There are approximately 15 – 20 people who always go to the trips as well as occasional ‘intruders’. With the growth of the members their conscience about the queer activism has also grown. ”We always carry rainbow flag in our backpacks and take pictures with it on each of the peaks we conquer, as well as in front of mountain hostels we stay in.” Unfortunately, not everything is as colourful the rainbow flag they carry. Like most other newly formed sport associations, they face problems when it comes to animating interested naturelovers to join their activities. Most of the members became part through personal contacts and friendships with organizers. “It’s great, but we’re missing that crucial gasp of new members, who might be interested, but are introverted and closeted. Also, we would like to attract more female members of LGBTIQ community,” says Vedran. However, the team is being contacted by numerous friends, colleagues, pals and online friends from all over Croatia. They’re currently negotiating with
several citizens of other, smaller cities in forming their own initiatives.
first queer hiking association in croatia The above mentioned newlyformed hiking association is made out of three sub-sections: alpine, social trips and high mountain squads. “In the following months we plan to educate four of our members as licensed mountain guides and after that we plan to initiate a queer hiking school. The names of the squads speak for themselves: alpine squad is made out of people who have certain knowledge and part of the necessary equipment, while in the social squad we see most of the members. Those are the people who have the will to go on easier trips, five hours walks tops, since it requires basic equipment such as sport shoes, light clothes,
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MARINO ČAJDO
qSPORT
sun and rain protection, food and drinks. A high mountain squad requires endurance and strength, since it involves harder mountain trips above 1500 m,” says Vedran. This year the group has three important goals when it comes to their Croatian activities: first is the conquest of 1831 m tall peak of Dinara, but also preparation for an attractive summer field trip on Velebit which would last a few days; as well to participate in traditional the Day of Croatian hikers where they’ll represent our queer club to the hiking community.
“we would like to climb Slovenian Alps, maybe even the Austrian and Italian parts. It’s all in our agenda which aims to gain
enough support in the following years, including financial, so we could carry the rainbow flag to one of the symbolic but not hard to climb peak in the name of the Croatian LGBTIQ community. We have a lot on our minds, spanning from the Caucasus to Kilimanjaro,” they say, full of ambition. Their whole engagement is purely volunteer-based and Vedran hopes that, now that they have a strong base in Zagreb and soon in Rijeka, he’ll be able to say they’ve found the true recipe for queer hiking in Croatia. “Hiking is a lifestyle. One that overwhelms you and doesn’t let you go until you die. Active hiking requires lots of sacrifices, strength, endurance, being prepared for dangerous situations. It brings loss, blister and bruises, snow, rain and wind, fog on the peaks which usually give wonderful views from above. But it also brings lots of sun, lots of laughs, and unique sense of freedom. It’s not unusual that the first hikers in Europe were indeed liberals. For a good field trip you don’t need good or bad weather, you don’t need winder of summer, or small and big mountain peaks. We enjoy trips in which our members feel free and good, with anything that he or she, as individual with multiple identities, is.”
ORLAITH HENDRON
Lesbian Advocacy Services Initiative
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Introducing
s l i a t p i h W t s a f the Bel
my name is Orlaith Hendron, I am the development worker for Lesbian Advocacy Services Initiative. The main remit of my work is to set up peer support groups for lesbian and bisexual women across Northern Ireland. It’s a difficult and slow process setting up groups but one of the most successful groups I have is a basketball team I recently started. Having played on sports teams my whole life, I know and understand the benefit of being on a team. I knew that this would be a great way to achieve the aims of my job role, which is to build capacity and develop the lesbian and bisexual women’s community.
here in north ireland, as with much of the global gay community, lesbian and bisexual women face discrimination, isolation and invisibility, and as such face considerable health inequalities. These inequalities can result in low self worth and low self esteem, self harm, suicidal thoughts, internalized homophobia, obesity and internalized homophobia. Much of what I do within my work aims to tackle this.
I feel that the value of being part of a sports team is underestimated. I believe that those women who come along to training leave feeling better than before they came. The game itself is fun to play, but the women tell me that being part of a team and being valued and being able to contribute to it, whilst also finding a safe space to meet new people and have fun, has increased their self confidence and self worth and has made them feel less isolated.
although the team is still in very early stages, the plan behind it is to form a real basketball team that allows everyone to participate. We are currently seeking funding so that we can employ a coach and provide various workshops on team building, confidence building, health and diet, nutrition as well as arranging competitive games, social activities and of course, some fun! The team is for any lesbian or bisexual woman who wants to join. There is no upper age limit, and the team is run in a fair way whereby those who come to training will play in games. Rather than basing the team ethos on competitive ability, we
ORLAITH HENDRON Lesbian Advocacy Services Initiative
northern ireland
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ORLAITH HENDRON base the ethos on enthusiasm and effort. Being part of a team and feeling like you’re part of a community is something LGBT people lack as we often experience isolation and invisibility. Being able to provide a genuine opportunity for lesbian and bisexual women to thrive is something that is as simple as starting a basketball team. The value of the experiences participants have is immeasurable, and I feel this really is a great model of best practice. Our team meets to train for an hour once a week. We meet both indoors and outdoors – weather depending! As we are just getting our team off the ground, much of what we do is simple ball work, games, challenges, and a lot of running around. It’s fun, energetic and healthy. It provides a social outlet that’s away from the alcohol/drug fuelled bar and club scene, and it provides opportunity for meaningful relationships. It is hoped that the team will continue to grow and that we will eventually get funding for coaches etc. However, even without the funding we can still get a real benefit from this group as it can be run for free also and all the same benefits.
in setting up peer support groups for lesbian and bisexual women, I feel it’s not enough to get a group of women together based on their sexual orientation—it’s
Lesbian Advocacy Services Initiative not enough to have only this in common. Sports teams are of very specific interest, and whilst there are many football teams around many women are not interested in the sport. Basketball provides an alternative sport for women to enjoy. All of the women – there are twenty of us now – who participate enjoy the sessions. When we meet up there is a real sense of camaraderie amongst the team. I feel LGBTQ people aren’t given enough of an opportunity to experience sport be-
“LGBTQ people aren’t given enough of an opportunity to experience sport.” cause of the homophobic society we live in. Although I don’t think it’s useful to create a world where there are gay teams and straight teams, I feel that this first step builds the confidence and resilience of lesbian and bisexual women so that they might move on to participate in mainstream teams and leagues, outside of a deliberately created safe space.
i’m looking forward to seeing how the team develops. I know that we’re using sport to meet the goals of the support group, and I’m looking forward to the day that we use our team to go head-to-head on the court in competitive matches!
JENELLE DEVITS
Our Group
Our Group: Redefining Athletic Champion in 2008, I was introduced
we have witnessed
to a strong woman who inquired into my life as an out LGBT student-athlete at a Division 1 university (the top university league in the US). She engaged me with history of LGBT athletes and the necessity of continuing a movement to further the inclusion of future generations of LGBT student-athletes. Pat Griffin then put me in contact with two gay male swimmers. Sean Smith was an out swimmer at Rutgers in New Jersey and Andrew Langenfeld was out at Purdue in Indiana, each working tirelessly to further inclusion of LGBT athletes in their athletic departments. That fall, Our Group was born to move our work towards the national level. Over the short years that followed, Our Group has been a part of momentous progress in the sports world regarding LGBT inclusion and equality.
several professional sport teams and leagues take part in visibility initiatives such as the “It Gets Better” and the “You Can Play” projects. We have witnessed many more collegiate and high school athletic departments and teams publicly express their acceptance and support of fellow LGBT studentathletes and allies.
allies like Hudson Taylor, Ben Cohen, Patrick Burke, and Sean Avery have given younger student-athletes role models on how to be straight, but not narrow. More importantly, current LGBT student-athletes are coming out and making their voices heard. For instance, Kye Allums became the first openly transgender man to play on a Division 1 women’s basketball team. Some even suggest that the sports world may soon
JENNELE DEVITS Our Group usa
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Our Group Event co-founders: (left to right) Pat Griffin, Helen Carroll and Cyd Zeigler
witness the first professional LGBT athlete come out before retirement.
closeted. Nike’s message to LGBT student-athletes was #BETRUE.
most notably though,
however, even with such
almost 4 years after Our Group began its mission to find, support, and empower fellow LGBT student-athletes, Nike hosted the first ever LGBT Sports Summit on June 14, 2012. Over 30 different organizations joined together at the Nike Headquarters to coordinate their efforts, refuel their engines, and continue their quest to eliminate homophobia and transphobia from the sports world.
momentous gains for the LGBT rights movement, pervasive homophobia and transphobia in sports still keeps many athletes (and potential athletes) on the sidelines or in the closet. If you are not convinced that this is an issue worth talking about, ask yourself this: how many professional LGBT athletes can you name?
our group is honored
to that question will some day be easy to find. Our Group believes that day will come sooner rather than later. This is because younger generations are finding their voice to advocate for justice and equality. Fortunately,
and humbled to have participated in such a groundbreaking event. Our Executive Director, Anna Aagenes, represented Our Group and the thousands of current and former LGBT student-athletes, both out and
hopefully, the answer
IGLYO ON Sports sport is an area where young people come together day in and day out. It is a space where friends are made and relationships are built. It is an area where Our Group believes true teamwork and respect can be taught and nourished. In order to do teach this, we, as an athletic community, need to redefine athletic champion. Athletes must be taught from an early age what exactly an athletic champion means: doing your best, learning to respect others, to play fairly, and to treat others as equals.
athletes at all levels must remember that an athletic champion not only means scoring the winning basket, but also standing up against a teammate, opposing player, or fan that is using offensive language or trying to exclude someone because of their
gender identity or sexual orientation. It means setting a tone amongst your teammates and coaches that respect is mandatory and inclusion necessary. It means holding professional athletes accountable as role models: This means reminding these athletes that they are role models and can not use offensive language toward referees or fans because they disagree with their opinion.
as athletes, coaches, and sports fans, we have a responsibility to teach one another to become “champions of change.” Together, OUR GROUP and our team of partners and allies from Nike’s Sports Summit can end homophobia, transphobia, and bullying in sports. Winning is much sweeter and more fun, when we do it together as a team. Join us!
line: Our Group on tes.com ourgroupathle 809471905 0 3 / p u ro G ru /pages/O facebook.com te urgroupathle o / m o c r. e itt tw
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12 GREG CZARNECKI
Campaign Against Homophobia
A KICK CAN be political! kick, smash, spike, jab and dunk. Are these political
GREG CZARNECKI Campaign Against Homophobia
poland
actions? Can fencing, playing soccer or being part of a swim team make a social difference, or is it just a game? When I started my LGBT activism in Poland about 12 years ago I didn’t consider playing sports the most crucial form of activism. It was a time in the country where the movement was just building momentum however, and we were focusing on the “traditional” forms of creating support groups or actions such as Prides and pickets. As time went by, LGBT sports groups began to form in country. As political activists, we wanted and “expected” the members of those clubs to automatically come out and also consider themselves part of the political movement. That wasn’t something the members of the group were ready nor willing to do at the time. With the passing of time, many of the members of these LGBT sports clubs have indeed become much more public. They entered into the mainstream media and have expanded their activities beyond simply
organizing matches or sporting activities. And similarly, many “non-sporty” LGBT activists have come to understand the sporting world through a longterm conversation with LGBT athletes. Expecting members of LGBT sports teams to be front-line activists might be too much, however my conclusion is that in fact the private is political, and the social power of sports does mean that in fact mainstream and LGBT sports are very powerful in changing the political and real-life situation of LGBT people.
sports in general are a reflection of society, especially the very popular sports such as football in most European countries. In many ways, what happens on the pitch is often reflected in society. If that pitch is full of aggression and homo/transphobia, chances are it’s going to make its way back into society (where it probably also came from!). Marko Jurcic, a queer activist from Croatia, often has to deal with cases of homo/transphobic violence coming from aggressive football hooligans.
IGLYO ON Sports Such dangerous messages sent out by the sporting world naturally become more dangerous when they are left unchallenged. This is especially true in countries where homo/ transphobia is rife. For example, about 2 years ago Arkadiusz Onyszko, a Pole, was the first choice goalkeeper on a Danish football club. After he was fired from the team for, amongst other thing, homophobic remarks he made in a book he wrote, he returned to Poland. Upon his return he breathed a sigh of relief and made statements in the press that he is “happy to be back in a country where he can just play football and not be discriminated for his views on gays.” There was no official reaction to his statements in Poland. In fact he was, for the most part, warmly received back into the country. The contrast between how he was treated in Denmark for his actions as opposed to Poland also speaks volumes as to the level of acceptance those societies have. And the power a famous athlete such as Onyszko has to shape public opinion is also not small. (As a follow-up to this story however, it must be noted that Onyszko’s career as a professional player was abruptly halted when he was diagnosed with an illness.
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A year later in an interview he was asked if he would have changed anything in the controversial book he wrote. He said only his homophobic statements. Evidently he had some sort of enlightenment.)
“Mainstream an d LGBT sports are very powerf ul in changing the political an d real-life situa tion of LGBT people .” we can see in these cases, however, that sports are political at some level, whether we like it or not. Sports can unite or divide. Not only what is said and done during the game can influence the rest of society, but athletes themselves are role models which set the tone. Allies in the sporting world who speak up for LGBT rights, such as UK rugby player Ben Cohen, are invaluable in showing that there is nothing intrinsically homophobic about being an athlete. Similarly, LGBT sports do a lot to increase visibility and help others understand that we are in fact a part of society just like anyone else. And all in all, a game of ping pong or water polo is a pretty fun way to fight homo- and transphobia!
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worldOutgames
worldOutgames calls for youth participation the 3rd edition of the JERKO worldOutgames will be orgaBOZIKOVIC nized in Antwerp, Belgium worldOutgames
belgium
from July 31st – August 11th 2013. After Montreal (2006) and Copenhagen (2009) we’re excited to have the opportunity to organize an event as successful as the previous ones. The worldOutgames are a global event organised by the LGBTQ community, and where everyone is welcome to attend. It rests on three equally important pillars: sports, culture and human rights.
1. sports The worldOutgames are a 4-yearly global sports championship for 35 different events. Competition is for both amateur and semi-professional athletes. Participants are divided according to age and/ or level of experience. There is
special attention for homo- and transphobia in sport.
2. culture The worldOutgames also offer an international cultural platform. There will be an opening and closing ceremony, a Rainbow and Women’s Village, exhibitions, theatre, parties, etc. Plenty of educational creativity will assure that there is something for everyone.
3. human rights The unique character of the worldOutgames undoubtedly lies in the largest global human rights conference with specific attention to LGBTQ rights. An international group of experts is being assembled, and keynote speakers are invited for the various themes. The conference will culminate in the “Declaration of Antwerp”, a roadmap to
IGLYO ON Sports strategic alliances necessary for progress for the period 2013-2018.
all this makes for a large scale professional event, in which tolerance, diversity, hospitality, social innovation, sport, culture and fun are central.
for us it is important to aim for an as diverse group of participants as possible. This includes organizing and creating events for the youth. Together with other organizations we want to be sure that the youth find their way during the worldOutgames. Here are some examples of our program, specifically dedicated to the youngsters:
sports Different youngster sports competitions are being researched to organize like roller-skating and skate boarding. Several of the other 35 sports that will be organized, will have age categories, so you compete with people your age (e.g. swimming). We’re also looking to organize some other urban sports and dance events.
culture We’ll have a family day. We’ll look into urban dance events, youngsters workshops and a youngsters party. We’ll also organize the Mr. Gay World competition, with many participants coming from all over the world being younger than 25 years old. If you want to take part of this competition, contact your local Mr. Gay World committee and take part in the national elections before coming to the Grand Finale in Antwerp in 2013.
worldOutg ames onlin e: facebook.co m/outgame s2013 twitter.com /outgames world.outga mes.org human rights One of the pillars in the human rights conference will be on education. How can education be used to create LGBTQ awareness in schools, stop bullying, create more acceptance. Some of our keynote speakers and workshops will be specifically dedicated to these topics.
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JERKO BOZIKOVIC
ivan denis, 21 years old, openly gay archery junior world champion, and potential Olympic participant for Rio 2016, athlete and soldier is also the ambassador for the 2013 Antwerp worldOutgames. He is very excited of taking this role upon his shoulders, and gets involved in many actions, including being the patron of a competition that the worldOutgames are organizing to find models for their new worldwide promotion campaign.
from a tour of Europe point of view: Antwerp is a perfect place to start your European travel. It is easily accessible and less than 2 hours by train from Paris, Amsterdam, London and Cologne. In Antwerp everything can be done by foot, including the many different LGBTQ bars and clubs. We’re working together with youth hostels to get great deals for your stay, and will have also hosted housing offered on a first come first serve base. Food is cheap, and Antwerp is like heaven for all fashionistas with all major brands being represented, as
worldOutgames well as for all those chocolate, beer and diamond lovers. If you register, you’ll get for 99 € access to the opening and closing ceremonies, ticket for the closing party, free bus and museum pass and a goodie bag with many reductions and interesting deals. For participation in your sport you’ll pay a small amount extra. And the
Want to know more about how to volunteer? Send an e-mail to volunteer@woga2013.org best way to get to know the city, and help out the organization, is to volunteer now! Send a mail for more info to volunteer@woga2013.org Social media is the way for youngsters to stay connected with the world, so the worldOutgames are constantly updating and renewing their Facebook page and sending out messages via Twitter. You want to stay connected? Go to www.facebook.com/outgames2013 or www.twitter. com/outgames or www.world. outgames.org Hope to see you in Antwerp in August 2013!
JORDAN T. LONG
IGLYO
k r a P e h t n i e m a G A i’ve lived next to the largest park in central Brussels for the past three years. Every day, at least three times a day, either me or my partner walk our two dogs past the Royal Military Academy, into the northern gate, past three football pitches and into the grassy areas where the dogs run free. I can almost always see the minaret from the Great Mosque of Brussels, situated at the corner of Parc Cinquantenaire. My partner and I don’t hide the fact that we’re not straight when we’re in the park – we hold hands, we kiss, we refer to each other when talking to strangers about our two Hungarian Vizslas. Rarely, someone will think that one of us is the hired dog walker when they are more familiar with the other – but we’ve never received a bad reaction. However, I feel my armor become thicker when I pass the football pitches. They are the only part of the public park
which are segregated by gender. Though I am a 30-year old qualified lawyer who works for an international nonprofit organization, my anxiety rises when I pass a group of young men playing football on a sunny day.
i grew up playing football (where I come from, called soccer), though at some point I switched from the contact sport to cross country and track. I’m not sure exactly why I made the switch, which happened when I was 14 or 15 years old – right around the time I knew I didn’t have the same attractions as most teenage boys. The soccer team was known for its strong, young, virile men who won league championships and were very popular. I became captain of the cross-country team, where there was little to no banter about girls – and where I was an out student leader with a boyfriend. I continued running through university, and I’ve since finished three marathons.
JORDAN T.LONG IGLYO
europe
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IGLYO
when i first moved to Brussels, I did loops around Parc Cinquantenaire, continuing my solitary sport of running long distances (now with the company of dogs). When a stray football came my way, I would self-consciously kick it back towards the group of guys that I had excluded myself from a decade and a half earlier. However, the competition didn’t look that intense, and I was looking for a way to change up my sport, so I began to wonder how to join these games.
“I would self-consciously kick it back towards the group of guys that I had excluded myself from a decade and a half earlier.” My chance came a couple of weeks later. A spark of summer had come to the lowlands of Europe for a week in March, and I was sitting in the grass with the dogs, having a beer and enjoying a book, when a friend walked by on his way to a pickup game of football. I’ve known him as a slightly overweight, fumbly – if charming –Frenchman, not a footballer. He and the Danish guys he played with
joined me for a beer an hour later, and when I mentioned that I was thinking of playing football, they instantly invited to join for their next pickup game. As usual, I mentioned my partner in conversation, and as they asked more questions about an American in Brussels (it’s because I came to be with my partner) and the work I do (I am a Programmes & Policy Officer for an LGBTQ youth and student organization), it was clear that I’m not straight. And there was no reaction – exactly the type of reaction I work for in my daily activism for social change.
i’ve played football a handful of times with this group of Danes, but I’ve yet to just walk up and join a random team group for a pickup game on a sunny day. It might be because the self-exclusion from this gender-dominated sport persists within me, and that I need more of an open-handed invitation – ideally on a blanket and listening to my music and complimenting my dogs. For now, I’m happy to play with the group of Danes that has become a group of friends, and continue my running. I really enjoy my games in the park, and have decided to join the games with random
IGLYO ON sports people – I’m not always there to discuss homophobia or my love life, necessarily. Interestingly, the homophobia that we’ve encountered in the park didn’t occur on the football pitch, or come from the military cadets who cover the paths during their physical education training. Luckily the worst incident was reported to me, and wasn’t direct homophobia against a person. My friend told me about a conversation she had when I wasn’t around. A woman who I’ve met several times – with her black Labrador – remarked in passing that homosexuality was a disease. My friend, greatly offended, tried to explain the woman’s incorrect perspective. My friend got nowhere. Just that incident made me start to be more critical of the people who think I’m merely dog sitting because they’ve only met our Vizslas with my partner. It sometimes takes several moments of comprehension before the person puts it together – that two men are a couple, and own two dogs together. After three years in this park, such assumptions get tiresome. Yet we will be there, discussing our life together, discussing our dogs together. And sometimes, on a sunny day, you can find me on the football pitch.
© 2012 IGLYO. Reproduction permitted, provided that appropriate reference is made to the source.
IGLYO 17 Rue de la Charité 1210, Brussels Belgium WWW.IGLYO.COM CONTRIBUTORS Marino Čajdo, Orlaith Hendron, Jenelle DeVits, Greg Czarnecki, Jerko Bozikovic, Jordan T. Long. DESIGN Hilda Forss http://hildaforss.tumblr.com
This publication is published with support of the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity PROGRESS (2007-2013), the Council of Europe European Youth Foundation and the Government of the Netherlands. The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission, Council of Europe or the Government of the Netherlands.
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