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Competing in the Gay

Games

ow comes that depress-
A ing season when the day-
light becomes dim and

short, after the last of the colored
leaves and before the first real
snow. November is my least
favorite month, giving us the rit-
ualized conflict of Election Day
at one end and the family food
fight of Thanksgiving at the
other. Therefore Ijumped at the
chance when lane, a congenial
traveling companion on other
trips, suggested we go to the Gay
Games in Sydney. Though still
called November in Australia, the
month behaves like May. With
10,000 queer folk of all nationali-
ties in attendance, it sounded like
the perfect antidote to the end-of-
the-year blues.

The Gay Games has lots
of cultural and artistic events, as
well as sports such as billiards
and bodybuilding that never get
invited to the Olympics. lane and
I, however, compete in the more
traditional track and field events,
albeit at the master’s (elder age

group) level. She is a middle dis— -

tance runner and longjumper; I
do shot and discus. Last spring
we registered for the games
online, paid our entry fees,
reserved, accommodations,
bought our plane tickets, and
committed ourselves to the
adventure.

Jane used to live in Los
Angeles, and through her connec-
tions there we were invited to
become honorary members of
Team Los Angeles so we could
march in the opening ceremonies.
We then had to order ourselves
uniforms, which managed to run
into so many management prob-
lems on the other end that I have
paid twice over and still not seen
what I hope to wear. Delivery is
promised for tomorrow [6 days
before departure]; I will believe
it when I see it. Meanwhile,
when Sydney sent me the list of
teams participating in the open-
ing ceremonies, I discovered that
there is a Team Vermont, a group
I more logically belong to. Who
are these people, and how can I
get in touch with them? I asked
Frontrunners and all my gay ath-
lete friends, and no one seems to
know, though all are curious. I
will look out for them marching
in the stadium, ifl don’t see
them before then, and will reveal
their identities in my next install-
ment.

Since I have been com-
peting locally for a couple of

 

years and have a coach, training
partners, and a workout program
for that, I did not plan any spe-
cial training for the games, and I
kind of sidestepped telling the
straight folks in the group why I
was going to Australia. However,
a real problem emerged as to
how, in this post 9-ll world, I
was to get on a series of air-
planes with my shot, an iron ball
weighing 3 kilograms (over six
and a half pounds) and opaque to
airport x-rays. How bomb-like

I am looking
forward to the
moment
when I can
stand
in the
Australian
sun,
and know
that everyone
watching
is saying
“Right on!”

can you get? If I should choose
to use whatever implement they
provide in Sydney, they may well
have only the 4-kilogram (almost
nine pounds) size used by
women under 50 years old.

The leader of my exer-
cise group was going to Sydney a
month before me, in order to
compete in a major master’s
track and field competition, so I
asked her to inquire how others
managed to get their shots in, and
if they had trouble. Of course,
she then asked what competition

I was to enter. When I replied,
“The Gay Games,” she gave me
one of the blankest looks I have
ever received. However, some-
thing must have registered. Over
the refreshments at the memorial
service for my mother, she not
only reported that shots traveled
okay in the checked luggage, but
she also asked me, “Gay as in
happy, or gay as in homosexual?”

I replied, “Gay as in
homosexual.”

She continued, “Can
straight people compete?”

“I guess so, but why
would they want to?”

Given the setting, I
resisted her quizzical expression
and did not explicitly announce
to her and all there assembled
that I was a lesbian. This was not
the first time that I have noticed
that straight female athletes can
steadfastly pursue the heterosex-
ist position that all women com-
petitors are straight until they
have said otherwise to the media.
Perhaps they are defending their
own image in opposition to those
snide couch potatoes who call
every fit woman a lesbian.

I must admit I find it
pleasant to compete in the throws
where I blend in with these most-
ly straight women who are built
like myself, namely like an ox,
and who are totally unselfcon-
scious about it. Like me they
chose these events because it
suits the bodies they were born
with. This helps soothe psychic
scars I still have from my teen
years, when I got the message
that there was something wrong
with a muscular woman.
Knowing my lesbian tendencies
even then, I could interpret the
subtext well enough. For many
uncomfortable years I tried to
adjust my appearance to gain
acceptance and only managed to
undermine my own self confi-
dence.

Although I have trav-
eled quite a ways since then, I
am looking forward to the
moment when I can stand in the
Australian sun, be as powerful as
I can be, and know that everyone
watching is saying, in their hearts
as well as in words, “Right
on!” V

Fran Moravcsik lives and trains
in Burlington.

Thankful

cont’d from page ‘g 3

our best family holidays have
been those not burdened with the
presence ofa single blood rela-
tion.

And this Thanksgiving,

Brian and I will be very thankful:
thankful for friends, thankful for
good health, and thankful for
another year of being together
and in love.

And most of all, we will
be thankful that maybe —just
maybe — we’,re beginning a new

and more satisfying holiday fami-
ly tradition. v

Philip Bender lives in an ancient I

farmhouse in Bakersfield with his

_ partner, three dogs, and four cats,

none of whom will get turkey left-
overs this year.

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