There are many reasons to boycott China, not least of which is its treatment of the Uyghurs; an unofficial U.K. tribunal this week said Chinese President Xi Jinping is responsible for “genocide, crimes against humanity and torture” of minorities in Xinjiang.
Add to the list the mysterious and alarming case of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who disappeared for two weeks after publicly accusing Zhang Gaoli, a member of China’s ruling committee, of sexual assault. Within 20 minutes of her post on China’s equivalent of Twitter, government censors scrambled to scrub any mention of it from the Internet, as the New York Times reported Friday. China’s efforts to deny anything was amiss by posting photos and videos of Peng were clumsy and ineffective and quickly ridiculed by the twitterverse.
Earlier this month, the Women’s Tennis Association took the brave step of suspending all tournaments in China in protest of her obvious detention and censoring.
“While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation,” Steve Simon, chief executive of the Women’s Tennis Association, said in a statement as reported by the New York Times. “If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded — equality for women — would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.”
So far, the WTA is the only major sports organization to announce a boycott of China, but the organizers of Gay Games 11, scheduled for 2023 in Hong Kong, should be next.
Gay Games organizers excitedly announced a new logo for the 2023 Games two weeks ago, adding the colors of the Progress Pride flag to recognize communities of color. But so far those same organizers are silent on the plight of Peng, a woman of color herself, and a fellow athlete who was targeted by China for making an accusation of assault.
When asked by the Blade if the Federation of Gay Games would consider a boycott of China, it issued a cowardly statement that ignored the central question of Peng’s plight and well being.
“The Federation of Gay Games continues to monitor the situation in Hong Kong regarding COVID-19, the National Security Law and all other aspects that affect the safety and security of our event,” Sean Fitzgerald, co-president of the Federation of Gay Games, told the Blade in a statement. “We are committed to hosting Gay Games 11 in Hong Kong in November 2023.”
The Federation of Gay Games’s claims of supporting people of color and athletes of color ring hollow when its leaders won’t even mention Peng’s name in response to a direct question about her plight.
The Federation should reconsider its posture, denounce China’s treatment and censorship of Peng, and move Gay Games 11 to another locale in protest.
Boycotts are divisive tactics and one Hong Kong LGBTQ activist this week told the Blade she doesn’t support the idea. “In Hong Kong, the team behind Gay Games has really worked tirelessly to bring it to Hong Kong and it will be a very good opportunity to showcase diversity and people working together and the human spirit at its best,” Gigi Chao told the Blade.
But what does it say about the queer community if we fail to take a stand even after the WTA has acted so boldly and decisively in its own boycott? The Biden administration on Monday announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics that are slated to take place in Beijing in February. A Gay Games boycott would be consistent with our own government’s efforts to hold China accountable for Peng, the Uyghurs, and other human rights abuses.
The Federation of Gay Games has an opportunity to stand in solidarity with the WTA and Peng and send a powerful message that the LGBTQ community will not reward a regime that engages in overt censorship while covering up allegations of sexual assault by sending hundreds of athletes and millions of dollars to Hong Kong in 2023.
As Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the government has assured prospective visitors it will welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) tourists and that fans will be free to fly the rainbow flag at the games. But for LGBT Qataris like Mohammed, openly expressing his sexuality as a gay man is not an option. Doing so, he fears, would land him backin jail.
Mohammed was arrested in 2014 for alleged same-sex conduct, punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment under article 285 of Qatar’s penal code. While in detention, officers searched his phone, identified a man he’d been messaging, and attempted to contact this person to target him as well. Mohammed was detained for weeks, enduring verbal abuse and sexual harassment by police. Officers even shaved his head.
Seven years later, Mohammed has resigned himself to a life of discretion: he dresses in a masculine style, refrains from posting about his sexuality online, and no longer meets men from dating apps.
“There is zero freedom [to post anything related to sexuality online],” Mohammed said.
As Qatar advances its surveillance capabilities, including inside football stadiums, the possibility of LGBT Qataris being persecuted for publicly supporting LGBT rights will remain long after the international fans have gone.
Physical and virtual spaces free from surveillance are vanishing in Qatar as data protection law allows broad exemptions that undermine the right to privacy. When digital surveillance is combined with laws that target individuals based on consensual sexual conduct outside of marriage, there is nowhere left to hide.
The Qatari government should repeal article 285 and all other laws that criminalize consensual sexual relations outside of marriage and leave people like Mohammed living in fear in the shadows. Freedom of expression and nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity should be guaranteed for all Qataris, not just spectators and tourists flocking to Qatar for the World Cup.
LGBT+ football fans “will be welcome” at next year’s World Cup in Qatar, England’s Football Association chief has insisted.
Qatar, chief executive Mark Bullingham said, has made “strong progress” in addressing a raft of human rights issues that have battered FIFA.
The 2022 World Cup will be the first one held in the Arab world and has been a hot-button issue since Qatar won the hosting rights in 2010.
Among them in the last decade of controversy and scandal: accusations of corruption, the cost, the emirate’s treatment of migrant workers, women and LGBT+ people.
Bullingham visited Qatar to better understand the issue, he said at a press conference Monday (22 November), and claimed to have “been given those assurances that people from the LGBT+ communities will be allowed to go to Qatar and support the [England] team”.
The 2022 World Cup, Bullingham hopes, will be a catalyst for change in Qatar.
“We have asked the question as to whether all of our fans will be able to come, particularly those from LGBTQ community,” he said, “and we received the unequivocal answer that absolutely everybody is welcome to come to Qatar.”
Football boss feels Qatar has made ‘strong progress’ ahead of World Cup
In June, UEFA organised a working group to examine Qatar’s human rights track record.
European football’s top governing body met with various bodies, including the International Labour Organisation, the National Human Rights Committee, the Qatar Football Association, before visiting the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium.
Bullingham was a member of the group, meeting with migrant workers and charities to capture what is happening on the ground.
“We believe the legislation the Qataris have brought in over the last few years has been strong progress from a fair low base,” he said.
The Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, the host venue for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha. (Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
In Qatar, labour laws are based on the “kafala” system. Described by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as exploitative and abusive, it sees employers sponsor foreign workers.
As unskilled workers often pay fees worth a year’s salary to labour recruiters in their homelands to score jobs in Qatar.
Many land in debt only to be hired in jobs that pay far less than advertised. They cannot simply leave the jobs, however, as their employers under the scheme must give them permission to do so.
At least 6,500 migrant workers have died since the World Cup was awarded in 2010 to Qatar, TheGuardianreported in February.
The tiny oil-rich Persian Gulf nation rejigged the labour system amid an international outcry and rolled out worker safeguards and a minimum wage.
Yet, as much as Qatar has taken some steps to change, Bullingham said that the pace remained slow.
“What is very clear, though,” he said, “is that the legislation isn’t being applied universally, and that has to be the next step, and that’s where we see the real progress will come through.”
Overall, Qatar has scrambled to rewrite its image with publicity-boosting sports events and even signing up footballer David Beckham to become the “face of Qatar” for the next decade.
Nevertheless, under Sharia law, gay Muslims in Qatar can face three years imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Although, activists say there are no known cases that the death penalty was enforced for homosexuality.
“What it doesn’t do is help the LGBTQ+ community,” Chris Paouros, a member of the English Football Association’s inclusion advisory board, said at the time.
“It’s great for us to be able to go and put our flags up in the stadium, and that’s wonderful during a World Cup. You want it to be the festival of football.
“But ultimately we do the work because we want to make sure that everybody can be free to be who they are and if you’re a Qatari and you’re not able to, then it just feels like window dressing.”
Two years after 16 hockey players joined forces in Boston to become the first entirely transgender sports team in the United States, Team Trans — a growing group of novice to advanced players — reunited this past weekend at Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton, Wisconsin, to take on the Madison Gay Hockey Association in a weekend friendship series.
Following the success of its first friendship series against Boston Pride Hockey, an LGBTQ hockey team that was founded in 1989, Team Trans began to draw the interest of other trans and nonbinary hockey players from around the world. And while the Covid-19 pandemic foiled earlier plans for a reunion, players and organizers alike were keen to bring the event to the Madison area, where there is already an abundance of LGBTQ hockey players. In a spirited two-day tournament, Team Trans, which was split into three teams based on skill level, went undefeated in six games against the Madison team.
When the inaugural Team Trans first stepped off the ice and into the locker room two years ago, the players said they could tell that something was different. While many of them had played in LGBTQ leagues, they were often the only trans player on their team and struggled to find a community of trans athletes to talk to. But for one weekend, these players were all able to bond over a shared love for the sport and a mutual understanding of their personal struggles with gender identity.
“I keep meeting people that I’ve barely spoken to or haven’t spoken to directly, and I feel like I already know them in a way, just because of the shared experiences that we’ve had in hockey spaces,” Mason LeFebvre, a Team Trans goaltender and out trans man, told NBC News. “It’s just casual and comfortable from the start. We’re not going to ask each other a bunch of awkward questions that other people might ask if they know we’re trans. Then, we talk about other things that would be completely off the table for conversations with mostly cis[gender] people.”
Team Trans plays at Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton, Wis.Ian DeGraff of Ian Steven Photo
Avery Cordingley, who plays center and uses gender-neutral pronouns, shared a similar sentiment.
“It’s feeling like you don’t have to get over a bunch of awkward hurdles before you can just exist together in a space,” they said. “Last night, I picked up a player at the airport at 11 o’clock, and we’re instantly chatting. We both have the experience of, like, ‘Are we going to be able to keep playing hockey if we choose to transition?’ And we didn’t even have to go into that. We’re just like, ‘Yeah, I’ve played hockey here and here and here.’”
For LeFebvre and Cordingley, who both played girls’ hockey growing up before beginning their transition and now compete as teammates on Team Trans, there was always an inherent need to consistently prove themselves in a male-dominated sport.
“But there’s an extra layer to it when you’re also trans, especially if you know it at that age,” LeFebvre said. “It’s extra uncomfortable because you belong in the boys’ locker room, but they don’t see that.”
Cordingley said it’s even more uncomfortable if you “don’t have the language” to articulate what you’re going through.
“Because you don’t know why you’re hurt, you don’t know why it hurts that you’re not allowed in there,” they explained. “For me, it’s like you get off the ice, and your teammates go one way, and you’re just alone in a room by yourself the other way. It’s alienating, it’s othering, it makes you feel like you don’t belong there, even if you love the sport and just want to play.”
According to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank, 10 states have recently passed laws to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity, with proponents claiming that this legislation is designed to keep all athletes on a level playing field. Having weighed the consequences that transitioning would have on their own futures in hockey, LeFebvre and Cordingley both said that getting to know a trans or nonbinary athlete is the first step to understanding the harm that these policies have caused.
“We should look at them as a human being with the same wants and needs as their own kids and their own friends,” Cordingley said. “It doesn’t matter what your gender identity is. Everyone wants that team, everyone wants to feel like they belong, everyone wants to play the game that brings them joy. We’re not blowing the competition away; we’re very average. They should just understand that trans athletes are regular athletes, and trans athletes can be very good at their sports, but so can cisgender athletes.”
LeFebvre said proponents of trans sports bans “just need to watch trans athletes complete and realize they are just athletes who happen to be trans.”
“It really doesn’t have anything to do with being trans — it has to do with dedication. Some of it is natural talent, but a lot of it is hard work and dedication, just like it is for anyone else,” he said.
Last month, the Premier Hockey Federation, formerly known as the National Women’s Hockey League, released a new inclusion policythat was developed in consultation with Athlete Ally, a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group, and Chris Mosier, a transgender triathlete. The policy itself provides a pathway for the participation of both trans and nonbinary athletes in the federation.
While they both think that the federation has taken a step in the right direction, LeFebvre and Cordingley agreed that, until it is put into practice and updated with less ambiguous language, it will be hard to gauge the policy’s effectiveness.
“You could get a hormone exemption, so that someone like me or Avery theoretically could play in the league, but what does the exemption require?” LeFebvre said. “Maybe it’s completely reasonable stuff, maybe it’s not. We don’t know, because it’s not specific, and it might just be partially because you can’t be super specific on an individual basis. But also, if they just use the vagueness of it to not write any exemptions ever, then that’s not great, obviously.”
But for now, LeFebvre and Cordingley have turned their attention to the future of Team Trans, which has attracted hockey players from all over the United States, Canada and Japan. As a team, they hope to host a friendship series every year and travel to some LGBTQ tournaments, showing transgender athletes of all ages — but especially younger generations — that their dreams are not only valid but possible.
“We’re not going anywhere, and we just love the game like everyone else,” Cordingley said. “We all have a place in the game, and the game is stronger” because of our differences.
British Olympic diver Tom Daley said that he will make it his “mission” to stop countries where homosexuality is punishable by death from competing in the Olympics.
“I think it’s really important to try and create change, rather than just highlighting or shining a light on those things,” Daley, who is gay, said Wednesday while accepting the Sport Award at the 2021 Attitude Awards. “So I want to make it my mission over the next, well, hopefully before the Paris Olympics in 2024, to make it so that the countries [where it’s] punishable by death for LGBT people are not allowed to compete at the Olympic Games.”https://iframe.nbcnews.com/zgXuflE
There are 11 countries where homosexuality is punishable by death — including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran — and approximately 60 other nations where same-sex relations are criminalized in some capacity, according to Human Dignity Trust, a global advocacy group for LGBTQ rights. Many, if not all, of these countries competed at the Tokyo Olympics.
Daley also criticized the organizers of the FIFA World Cup for hosting the 2022 competition in Qatar, where the death penalty is a legal possibility, according to Human Dignity Trust.
“I think it should not be allowed for a sporting event to host in a country that criminalizes against basic human rights,” Daley said. “So, that is going to be my mission now to change that.”
International sporting organizations have previously banned countries from competing on grounds of discriminatory policies. From 1964 to 1988, the International Olympic Committee, the governing body of the Olympics, banned South Africa from competing because of apartheid, a brutal system of racial discrimination against nonwhite citizens.
The Olympic Committee has also taken measures to prevent anti-LGBTQ cities from hosting competitions since the 2014 Sochi Winter Games were criticized for Russia’s “gay propaganda law.” Tokyo passed anti-LGBTQ discrimination laws in 2018 in accordance with the committee’s policy for hosting cities, but efforts to implement similar policies throughout all of Japan have stalled.
“We fully respect Tom Daley and his view,” the Olympic Committee said to NBC News in an email.
“At the same time, the IOC has neither the mandate nor the capability to change the laws or the political system of a sovereign country,” it said. “This must rightfully remain the legitimate role of governments and respective intergovernmental organizations.”
Daley noted Wednesday that the Tokyo Games had a historic number of openly LGBTQ athletes compete. At least 186 openly LGBTQ athletes took part, according to Outsports, nearly triple the 56 who participated in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
After winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Games, his first out of his four Olympic competitions, Daley took to the podium and dedicated his win to LGBTQ people.
“I hope that any young LGBT person out there can see that no matter how alone you feel right now, you are not alone,” he said, crying tears of joy. “That you can achieve anything and that there is a whole lot of your chosen family out here, ready to support you.”
The 2022 Winter Games will be held in Beijing, where LGBTQ people are not protected by anti-discrimination laws.
A-League midfielder Josh Cavallo says he knows there are other players “living in silence” after becoming the only known current male top-flight professional footballer in the world to come out as gay.
Cavallo on Wednesday became a rarity in men’s professional sport, announcing on social media he was “ready to speak about something personal that I’m finally comfortable to talk about in my life”.
The Twitter post and emotive personal video, shared by his club Adelaide United, has since made international headlines and elicited support from all corners of the game.
The 21-year-old said growing up he “always felt the need to hide myself because I was ashamed.” “Ashamed I would never be able to do what I loved and be gay,” he wrote.
“Being a closeted gay footballer, I’ve had to learn to mask my feelings in order to fit the mould of a professional footballer. “Growing up being gay and playing football were just two worlds that hadn’t crossed paths before. “I’ve lived my life assuming that this was a topic never to be spoken about.”
Adelaide United coach Carl Veart said Cavallo, who has played 19 games for the Reds after playing nine matches for Western United, has “shown incredible courage to be one of very few professional sportsmen to be this brave.”
An Adelaide United statement said: “Today, Josh Cavallo speaks his truth to the world and demonstrates profound courage. Adelaide United, not only as a football club, but as the embodiment of an inclusive community, supports a remarkable and brave person.
“We stand alongside Josh for proudly being true to himself and will continue to love and support him as a member of our beautifully diverse family.”
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said: “Football Australia wishes to commend Josh’s bravery to come out as the only openly gay player in the A-League Men competition. His courage to be open with himself and share that part with others is inspiring and will hopefully inspire more footballers to do the same in the future.”
Two boys were arrested on suspicion of making homophobic comments during the Manchester City v Burnley football game on Saturday (16 October).
As well as the two teenagers, a third man in his 20s was apprehended by police at Etihad Stadium during the Premier League match. Greater Manchester Police said this arrest was a ‘separate incident’, on suspicion of a breach of the peace and police assault.
No further details were given about the precise ages of each boy or which team they support.
All three were held in custody for questioning over Saturday night and could now face possible football banning orders as well as criminal charges.
Match commander for the event, chief inspector Jamie Collins, emphasised that “the majority of fans attending [last Saturday’s] match behaved in an exemplary manner,” adding that he “thanked” those people.
He continued: “We work closely with Manchester City Football Club to promote good behaviour at matches and to identify anyone who commits a criminal offence.
“GMP officers will take positive action against those using homophobic or racist language and that is what my officers have done at today’s fixture.”
He emphasised that the “strongest action” will be taken towards anyone who engages in this kind of abusive or discriminatory behaviour at games, “including banning those fans from attending future football matches”.
“Our top priority is the safety and well-being of the fans, staff and players,” Collins continued. “We want fans to be able to enjoy matches without the experience being ruined by a small number of people.”
City won the game 2-0, with goals from Bernado Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.
Homophobic and racist abuse is a recurring issue within football, with London’s Met Police forced to increase their numbers at Wembley City last Tuesday (12 October) due to concerns over possible racist abuse during the England v Hungary game.
More recently a gay Premier League footballer revealed he is in therapy over crippling fears that football fans on opposing teams will “crucify” him for being gay should he come out.
Two weeks ago, The Athletic published an incredibly harrowing story that rocked the world of women’s soccer. Multiple National Women’s Soccer League players accused a prominent coach, Paul Riley of the North Carolina Courage, of sexual coercion. (Riley has denied the allegations.) In the wake of the story, league Commissioner Lisa Baird resigned, Riley was fired and Steve Baldwin, the controlling owner and CEO of the Washington Spirit women’s soccer team, stepped down (more on that later).
The players banded together and forced the cancellation of a weekend’s worth of games, and, when they returned to the pitch, brought with them public protest and a list of demands.
The players banded together and forced the cancellation of a weekend’s worth of games, and, when they returned to the pitch, brought with them publicprotest and a list of demands. Their bravery inspired other players from the women’s soccer world to speak out, and Alético Madrid player Deyna Castellanos released a statement accusing the coach of the Venezuelan national team of sexual abuse, as well. (That coach has also denied all allegations against him.) These events are part of a larger reckoning across the world of sports, as we saw in fencing over the last few months and in gymnastics when athletes came forward about Larry Nassar.
But there is one element to the abuse described by the women’s soccer players that has been under-discussed: the homophobic elements of it. This is an important point, because the world of women’s sports is thought to be generally queer-friendly, with many openly gay players and a large queer fan base. While it’s true that it’s much more acceptable to be openly queer in women’s sports, there are plenty of examples that show it’s still not entirely safe.
Portland Thorns and Houston Dash players, along with referees, gather at midfield, in demonstration of solidarity with two former NWSL players who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against a prominent coach, during the first half of an NWSL soccer match in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 6, 2021.Steve Dipaola / AP
In The Athletic’s report, players alleged that Riley, while he was coaching the Portland Thorns, was hyperfocused on their sexual orientation. Former Thorns players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim said Riley brought them back to his apartment one night and pressured them to kiss each other while he watched, incentivizing them with decreased team conditioning if they complied. Farrelly claimed that when she began dating one of her teammates, Riley became focused on their relationship, saying Farrelly couldn’t be gay because she was “too hot to be a lesbian” and that she wasn’t a “real lesbian” because she had previously been involved with men.
Shim said when she arrived in Portland in 2014, she was instructed not to talk publicly about being gay. In 2018, Riley defended Courage player Jaelene Daniels after she blamed her homophobia on her Christian faith, saying she had “a good heart.” (Riley was fired from the Thorns in 2015 after Shim reported his behavior and an investigation found he had violated team policy; he was hired by the Courage just months later.)
But it goes beyond Riley and the Portland organization’s behavior nearly a decade ago. The Washington Post in August reported that Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke was verbally abusive toward his players, including using homophobic slurs, something also alleged by youth players he had coached previously. (Burke was fired in September after an investigation into his conduct.) On Sept. 1, it was also announced that Andy Carroll, the chief business officer for the Real Salt Lake organization, which oversees the NWSL’s Utah Royals FC, was taking a leave of absence. Among other things, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Carroll would comment often on players’ sexual orientation, saying things like, “They’re all just a bunch of lesbians.”
But going back further to 2016, leaders in the Spirit organization have been accused of homophobia. That year, OL Reign (which was then called Seattle Reign) player Megan Rapinoe accused Bill Lynch, the Spirit’s owner, of anti-gay behavior. “I have had conversations with Spirit players current and past, the fact that [the organization doesn’t] have a Pride Night,” Rapinoe said at the time. “They’ve made it pretty clear, at least internally, that that’s not a game they are interested in, which is homophobic to me. … Yeah I do think that Bill Lynch is homophobic.”
Married NWSL players Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris, who currently play for the Orlando Pride, corroborated Rapinoe’s accusations in 2019. The pair reported that they clashed frequently with Lynch during their time in Washington. (In 2018, Lynch sold his majority ownership stake to Steve Baldwin, who stepped down in the wake of the recent allegations against coach Richie Burke.)
To be clear, this is not just a problem in women’s soccer. NCAA women’s basketball has long grappled with a homophobic culturethat has encouraged players to stay closeted or pressured them to make their appearance more feminine. The WNBA also has a number of openly gay players, and a strong LGBTQ fan base. But it has really only openly embraced its inherent queerness in recent years.
The reality is that even leagues known to be queer-friendly are often run by white, cishet men. As a result, they replicate — and enforce — existing systems of power and oppression. “Women’s sports, traditionally, have been built by men and are also trying to use the structures of men’s sports,” Meg Linehan, one of The Athletic reporters who broke the NWSL story, said on MSNBC. “That leads to problems in a major way.”
The reality is that even leagues known to be queer-friendly are often run by white, cishet men.
It’s always been this way. Throughout the history of professionalized women’s sports, players have been forced to wear feminized clothing (like the skirts and makeup worn by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II) or told to keep quiet about their personal life if they didn’t have a male partner. They have been sexualized in ways that would make them appeal to the straight male gaze. And while the world has changed over the last century, female athletes still deal with stereotypes about being gay or masculine and, therefore, unappealing.
There are signs of hope. New data from Outsports, the University of Winchester and the Sports Equality Foundation shows that LGBTQ athletes who are out to their teams receive widespread, deep support from their teammates. The bravery of players like Farrelly, Shim and others who have come forward will also, hopefully, highlight how and why cultures of sexism, abuse and homophobia must be eradicated.
But in order to root these problems out completely, sports must recognize the ways that homophobia is deeply related to sexism and be committed to dismantling all of it. The recent spate of revelations out of the world of women’s soccer shows how far we still have to go.
Last summer, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the nation, the players of the Atlanta Dream stood united against an off-the-court opponent: Kelly Loeffler, then a U.S. senator from Georgia and a co-owner of the team.
Renee Montgomery with Suzanne Abair and Larry Gottesdiener. Courtesy of Atlanta Dream
After opting out of the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues, Montgomery, who said she was inspired by LeBron James’ role in the “More Than a Vote” campaign, recognized the rare and unique opportunity to have a stake in an ownership group that aligned with her own values, which prompted her to announce her retirement after 11 seasons.
“You can’t be a player and an owner at the same time, and for me it was a pretty quick decision, because I understood that this was a big moment that I basically wanted to capitalize on,” Montgomery told NBC News. “I felt like women’s basketball was changing.”
While there was no official announcement that the Atlanta Dream was looking for new ownership, Montgomery had “heard the rumblings” from different sources and reached out to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who introduced her to Abair and Gottesdiener, who had been in talks with the league about acquiring a team.
“At Northland, we basically focus our philanthropic initiatives around three items: eliminating racism, empowering women and ending homelessness,” Abair said. “If you look at those three issues, I think it’s very easy to see that there’s a clear alignment in both the progressive nature of the Northland organization and the core values of the WNBA.”
With a set of similar core values, the trio bonded over a shared desire to invest in women’s professional and collegiate sports — which, they say, continues to be undervalued and underappreciated — and in the minority communities across the Greater Atlanta area.
“We really believe that there’s a need for investors like us to do a number of things: to elevate the league, to essentially bring deep-pocketed investors to the league, to build model franchises, to respect our players as athletes and people,” Abair said, adding that there’s a “need to change that narrative” that women’s sports aren’t worth investing in.
“I would say that having Renee as the third member of the ownership team has just been really incredibly valuable to both Larry and I — just to have that former player’s perspective,” Abair continued. “Renee knows the market from a different perspective than we do, and I think having the three of us each focused on different aspects, as we start to build the organization, has been a really nice blend.”
Montgomery echoed those sentiments, adding that she understands the “inner workings of the league” and can, therefore, “do things that are more player-friendly” during periods of travel and free agency. She also credited Abair and Gottesdiener for bringing the best practices from their work at Northland to their business dealings with the team.
“And then, to take it a step further, I don’t have to hold them kicking and screaming to talk about social justice or to lean into the community of Atlanta, because they’re so in on minority-owned business, small-owned businesses,” Montgomery said. “‘How can we be a part of the community? How can we be a part of the culture?’ They’re locked in, so any ideas that we all come up with together are always going to be for community first. Obviously, we want to be great on the court — and that will come, but we want to make sure we’re doing our part from the front office.”
By virtue of their acquisition of the Atlanta Dream, Abair and Montgomery also became among the first openly LGBTQ people to own and operate a major professional sports franchise in the U.S., helping to pave the way in an industry that has historically lacked queer representation on and off the court (though the WNBA boasts a long list of out players). It’s a responsibility that both women, who know what it feels like to not be seen or represented, don’t take lightly.
“I think it’s important that members of the community, particularly younger members, see that and know that if you are a member of the LGBTQ community, you can do great things,” Abair said. “There is a tremendous opportunity for you everywhere, and I think if you see it, you can be it, or you can believe it. I think just being visible to members of the community is really important, whether it’d be as a female business leader in the real estate sector or as an owner of a professional women’s sports team.”
For Montgomery, “representation is the foundation I stand on in everything that I do,” she said with a natural fervor. “So when I’m in a room and it’s a project that I’m creating, I want to make sure that there’s representation all around — Black women, Latin women, LGBTQ [people]. I want to make sure that, all the things that I do, there are voices there that can add to it. Because, for me, when you have different people from different walks of life, you have diverse input, and that’s how you build a great brand, a great company.”
When they officially acquired the team in early March, Gottesdiener, Abair and Montgomery were less than six weeks away from the start of training camp. Describing the next month-and-a-half of preparation as “an all-out sprint,” Abair said that the group faced a steep learning curve as they worked diligently to get up to speed about the inner workings of the team and the strict, league-mandated Covid-19 protocols.
But while the leadership of the front office has changed, the new co-owners wanted to reiterate that they are committed to honoring the same spirit that brought women’s basketball into sharp focus last year — and recently earned the Atlanta Dream ESPN’s “Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award.”
“It’s not like this was a one-and-done sort of goal for the players, and we will continue to honor that spirit and that commitment around causes that the players and other individuals in the organization care deeply about,” Abair said. “We need to live up to our name. We are the Atlanta Dream, named after Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Our goal is to build an organization that honors the legacy of our name by rising to meet the urgency of now, whatever that may be in the political landscape.”
“With the civil unrest that happened in 2020, I think a lot of people’s eyes were opened to not even just social justice but women’s sports,” Montgomery added. “A lot of people were introduced to the WNBA in 2020 in the sense of they didn’t know about the culture of the league, the players in the league, what we stood for. I was really happy to see that people started to dive deeper into the players and the storylines of the WNBA, and now we have new fans.”
Despite the change in leadership in the United States Senate, Montgomery said the current sociopolitical situation in the country continues to be top of mind for the entire organization, particularly as state and federal governments pass legislation on increasingly fraught issues like voting rights and abortion.
With no intention of rehashing the past, the co-owners have signaled that, with their acquisition of the Dream, they are committed to creating a “flagship franchise in the WNBA,” partnering with other organizations in the community, and winning both on and off the court.
“That means building an organization both on the business side and the basketball side with a winning culture,” Abair explained. “When we talk about winning off the court, we mean [something] that honors our name … that our players are visible in the community and that we’re essentially a valued member of the Atlanta and Greater Atlanta marketplace like the other professional sports teams in the market. [We mean] occupying our own space and having our own brand and really elevating women’s professional sports in a relatively crowded sports market.”
At the end of the day, it comes down to “not being afraid to take a stand on issues, even when it might not be the most popular thing, but you’re doing it because you think it’s right,” Abair said.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to create a dynasty here, where every year we’re in the running, and it’s a surprise if we aren’t … And then, in the same breath, our goal is to be that North Star in the WNBA,” Montgomery added. “Suzanne sent an email out to all of the players at the beginning of the season, asking them, ‘What issues are you passionate about? What do you want us to be leaning into?’ We want to be able to adapt to which players we have. … But we just really want to be that organization that leans into social justice, that leans into women empowerment. Those are the pillars that we stand on.”
Amanda Kammes was offered a position earlier this month as the head girls lacrosse coach at Benet Academy, a private Catholic high school in suburban Chicago.
A day later, after Kammes submitted paperwork listing her wife as her emergency contact, the offer of employment was rescinded, according to Kammes’ supporters.
“Benet Academy respects the dignity of all human beings to follow their conscience and to live lives of their choosing,” spokeswoman Jamie Moss said. “Likewise, as a Catholic school, we employ individuals whose lives manifest the essential teachings of the church in order to provide the education and faith formation of the young people entrusted to our care.”https://iframe.nbcnews.com/lJOVdr1?app=1
However, after a groundswell of support for Kammes, including a rally outside the school and a letter signed by more than 3,000 alumni and members of the community, Benet reversed its decision Monday.
“The Board of Directors of Benet Academy today announced that the Academy has extended an offer to Amanda Kammes to be the school’s next girls lacrosse head coach and she has accepted the offer,” Benet Academy’s board said in a statement emailed to NBC News. “The Board has heard from members of the Benet community on all sides of this issue over the past several days. We had an honest and heartfelt discussion on this very complex issue at our meeting. Going forward we will look for opportunities for dialogue in our community about how we remain true to our Catholic mission while meeting people where they are in their personal journey through life. For now, we hope that this is the first step in healing the Benet community.”
Amanda Kammes.via LinkedIn
Kammes, who is also an alumna of the school, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Colleen Savell, the assistant varsity lacrosse coach at Benet Academy, said she’s “overjoyed” by the school’s decision to reverse course.
“I am so proud of the girls on the team and of their parents,” Savell said, referring to the girls lacrosse team. “They have really rallied around Amanda, and it’s been unbelievable. They have blown my mind.”
Savell added that she hopes school officials take steps to support LGBTQ students at Benet whose mental health and sense of well-being were affected by the school’s treatment of Kammes.
Members of the Benet Academy lacrosse team wear rainbow Pride masks in support of new coach Amanda Kammes.Courtesy Colleen Savell
While this particular story has a happy ending for Kammes and her supporters, legal uncertainties continue to surround how much leeway religious institutions have when it comes to hiring and terminating LGBTQ employees — and experts say these disputes are unlikely to disappear soon.
“I think it’s going to percolate for a while,” Jenny Pizer, law and policy director for Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, said.
In a landmark decision last year, the Supreme Court ruled thatLGBTQ employees are protected from discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, there are important carve-outs for religious organizations like Catholic schools.
Lynn Starkey, a guidance counselor of nearly 40 years at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, was fired after school officials discovered she is married to a woman. She sued the city’s archdiocese, but last month a federal judge sided with the Catholic school, saying Starkey could be considered a “minister of faith” and is therefore subject to the “ministerial exception” in employment law that allows religious institutions tremendous discretion when it comes to hiring and firing.
Not all the news is bad for LGBTQ employees, as some courts have found the ministerial exception is limited in scope.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in favor of gay substitute teacher Lonnie Billard, who announced on social media that he was marrying his partner. The judge found the school was not protected under Title VII exemptions because Billard did not give religious instruction.
The Supreme Court, which has the legal final word on questions regarding the ministerial exception, has demonstrated what Pizer called an “enthusiastic embrace” of religious liberty. The court has issued decisions about the ministerial exception in recent years, finding in favor of the religious schools.
Changing social attitudes, however, may send a clearer message than case law, according to Pizer.
“I think that there is a growing recognition among some of the faith-based institutions that they are increasingly out of step with the young people that they are inviting to be students and to get their education,” Pizer said. “Parents have a greater sense of confidence and urgency to push the institution to be consistent.”
“It’s lovely that in this situation the school decided to value the needs of the students,” she added.
