Big Ten award named after anti-gay former gopher Tony Dungy

The Big Ten conference has named its humanitarian award after former Gopher football player and NFL coach Tony Dungy. Dungy has courted controversy for his support of vehemently anti-gay organizations such as the Indiana Family Institue (akin to the Minnesota Family Council).

Dungy has raised nearly $70,000 for the IFI.

Cyd Zeigler, gay sports writer said of the announcement, “If it was written into a Hollywood script it wouldn’t be believable. A man raises tens of thousands of dollars to fight against civil rights, he says he embraces the fight against civil rights… and he has a humanitarian award named after him.”

Dungy’s history with Minnesota brought him here in 2007 to be honored at the McNamara Alumni Center where the LGBT community protested his appeareance.

Here’s what I wrote in 2007:

Protest organizers from the Queer Student Cultural Center said the silent demonstration at the U was not a protest against Dungy himself. Becky Saltzman, co-chairwoman of the center, said the demonstration was “a statement about the silencing effects groups like the Indiana Family Council and statements like Dungy’s have on our community.” The center presented a petition of nearly 300 signatures to alumni association CEO Margaret Carlson, stating that her group “should honor those who exemplify what it means to be a true ‘Golden Gopher’: one who affirms the dignity of everyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, race, ethnicity, ability, age, class, or religious belief.”

Carlson herself was in front of Mariucci Arena across from the protesters. “The University of Minnesota has 380,000 living alumni of the Twin Cities campus and they have a very diverse set of values and beliefs and we’re inclusive of all of them,” Carlson said. “The alumni association is very inclusive. We have a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender special interest group, but we really do believe diversity at its best is totally inclusive.”

When asked if the association supported the student protest, Carlson said, “Yep, we told them to come on out.”

Cultural center co-chairwoman Elysa Hays said the point was more to spotlight the university’s inconsistencies. “Diversity of opinion is one thing, but the university’s stance on these issues is that they affirm GLBT identities and that we are welcome at the university. To honor someone who believes the opposite just seems inconsistent.”

Ride, Drink, Pee

They’re back from the ride.  Yesterday the tired but safe Red Ribbon Riders returned from their 4 day, 300 mile journey.  The Red Ribbon Ride (RRR) is now in it’s 8th year and going strong.  Created in 2002 by numerous Minnesota AIDS service organizations who joined together to form the Minnesota Fighting AIDS on Bikes (MN-FAB) non-profit organization which produces the RRR. The RRR was designed to continue what was begun by the Minneapolis to Chicago ride.  MN-FAB includes eight HIV/AIDS service organizations:  African American AIDS Task Force, The Aliveness Project, Clare Housing, Hope House of St. Croix Valley, Minnesota AIDS Project, One Heartland, Park House, and Rural AIDS Action Network.

This year’s ride concluded yesterday on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol.  At times, the tearful remembrances of those friends and family we’ve lost to HIV and AIDS became palpable.  The weather cooperated and allowed riders, crew and supporters alike an opportunity to be thankful for another successful year of raising funds and awareness about the ongoing fight against HIV.  With numbers continuing to rise and on the heels of the announcement last week from the White House about the release of the National HIV Prevention Strategy – the ride occurred at a very opportune moment.

TheColu.mn has been following Minnesota’s HIV situation virtually since our beginning and yesterday was a reminder that we need to continue.  The attendance and ridership were both down from previous years, suggesting that there may be truth to the assumption that the average US citizen does not perceive HIV and AIDS to be the critical health threat it continues to be.  Despite the lower number of participating riders the goal of $400,000.00 was nearly met.  Theresa Fetsch, Executive Director for the RRR announced at the closing that nearly $350,000.00 had already come in.  In past years money has continued to come in even after the ride concludes so the final count is not yet available.  The eight benefiting agencies will no doubt put the funds raised to good use and the ride will be back again next year.  Thanks in part to the riders mantra of Ride, Drink (referring to plenty of Gatorade and water), Pee – all riders made it through the entire trek safely.  There was one minor health concern on Saturday with a rider being pulled for dehydration but they were later able to resume the course.  For more pictures of the opening and closing ceremonies click on the image above.  Congratulations to all of the riders, crew and supporters for a ride well done!

Minneapolis gay soccer team headed to Germany

The Twin Cities Jacks, aka Lumberjacks, head to Cologne, Germany next August to compete in the men’s division at the 2010 Gay Games. The Jacks are the only LGBT soccer team from Minnesota that compete in national or international play. A fundraiser on Saturday at the Minneapolis Eagle will help the team raise funds for the trip.

The Twin Cities Jacks are a newly formed team, borne from the former Minneapolis-St. Paul Crush which competed at the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association Tournament last June in Washington, D.C. The Crush teamed up with the Dublin, Ireland Devils, and the “MinneDubs” racked up a winning record by beating the Philadelphia Falcons and tying the Toronto Titans and London Titans. The MinneDubs would go on to lose on the last day of play.

This year, the Jacks are fielding a full team and we are selling calendars to help raise funds for the trip to Germany. Full disclosure: I have a financial stake in the fundraiser, as I’m in the calendar and on the team!

Saturday, 23 January 2010 at 8 pm
Minneapolis Eagle / Bolt
515 Washington Ave S
Minneapolis, MN

From the invite:

Come help support your local GLBT soccer club. We will be having a silent auction with products and gift certificates supplied by local GLBT businesses including The Minneapolis Eagle, Wilde Roast Cafe, Smitten Kitten, Cockpit Project, Rainbow Road, Tickles Bar, Barbers on Bryant, UV Vodka and round trip air line tickets supplied by Sun Country and TerryTrippler.com.

With every sale of a calendar, you will automatically be entered for second chance drawing for a pair of round trip airline tickets.

Sales from the Beer Bust, Silent Auction and the Calendars will help theTC Jacks with expenses associated the the 2010 Gay Olympics in Cologne, Germany. Come Help support a great cause.

To see a preview or to purchase a calendar visit www.tcjacks.com

New/Old TC LGBT Basketball League Starts November 1st!

From: Unity Basketball

An old Twin Cities queer sports league is getting a shot in the arm this year, with two new commissioners who’ve got plans to rebuild it to its heyday.

Unity Basketball, a Minneapolis-based LGBTQA basketball league, has been around since the early 1990s, says Commissioner Erik Borg. “The league has gone through ups and downs over the years,” Borg told TheColu.mn. “We had eight to ten teams a few years ago, I believe, making us one of the bigger leagues in the country.”

Both he and fellow commissioner Dan Wick are new on the job, but want to see the league grow beyond the expected 50 or 60 players this year. “It’s the first of a couple rebuilding seasons,” Borg said.

He and Wick are very confident, and say Unity has a lot going for it. “It’s a great way to continue playing or get back into basketball, and we’ve got a great group of guys and girls this year!”

“For the first time in a while, there’s a lot more enthusiasm,” he added

If all pans out, Borg expects the league to field 6 teams this year, up from 4 last year. With that many players, Borg said, they would be able to send two teams to the Coady Roundball Classic, a major LGBTQ basketball tournament held in Chicago.

“We’re definitely an all-skills league,” Borg told us, saying they had players with relatively little experience playing alongside strong players. Borg stressed the league was open to everyone regardless of gender identity, although he said the league was mostly cisgendered, and currently had more men signed up to play than women.

Practice dates are not set, Borg said, but all games will take place on Sunday afternoons and evenings at the Martin Luther King Jr. Rec Center in Minneapolis, starting November 8th. Signup costs $65 per player, and closes on October 31st. Teams will be chosen by a draft system at the Saloon on November 1st, during a beer bust and party to benefit the league.

Cirque du SoGay: Not Your Parents’ Alleycat!

Image: Grahambones

Like bicycles? Like non-traditional sexualities and genders? Come on down to Queer Bike Gang’s first-ever alleycat race on Saturday, starting at 2:30 from Minneapolis’ Sabathani Community Center.

The word “race” might be a bit of a misnomer, says Erika Grace Nelson, a QBG organizer. While typical alleycats can be dare-devil, fast-paced races from one checkpoint to the next, with the route revealed only minutes before the start of the race, the Cirque du SoGay is basically an urban, bike-born scavenger hunt. “Traditionally, the fastest person wins, but we’re not the most traditional group,” Nelson says. “Everyone should be prepared to win, whether you’re super fast or a slowpoke…there’ll be lots of style points. We don’t want anyone to get lost or anything and we want people to have a fun time.”

Nelson was coy about what would go on at each checkpoint, only saying that there would be some “silly activities” inspired by the Babes in Bikeland alleycat race.

If the “race” is a bit tongue-in-cheek, so is the name “Queer Bike Gang.” Nelson said she and others want to draw people in the community together around cycles, cycling, and social justice, in an environment that tries to shed what she called the “macho” attitude of other biker groups.

“Whether you’re a woman or gender non-conforming that can be pretty off-putting,” she tells us. “We didn’t want to cheat death constantly or be the fastest person on the block.”

There’s also a flip side, Nelson says. She and QBG hope to highlight bike shops, used parts suppliers, and other resources that can help people build and maintain a great bicycle on a very limited budget. “For some, bikes are a necessity rather than a luxury. Some of us can’t afford cars!”

Local sponsors of the alleycat include quite a laundry list of cycling-related or queer-related shops and people in Minneapolis:
Banjo Brothers
Milwaukee Bicycle Co./Ben’s Cycle
The Hub
Varsity Bike
Trash Bags
Freewheel Cycle
Smitten Kitten
Cognition Caps
Grovecraft
bee listy (local artist)
Bikes on Dykes (local artist)
Kelly Brazil (local artist)

Wrestling for Everyone

Gays in competitive wrestling can be a rather –uh– touchy subject for some men.  One of Jason Lindquist’s friends found this out the hard way when he tried to join a new wrestling league – when the organizer found out that some of the guys trying to join were gay, he canceled the league.  In response, Lindquist said, his friend (who did not want his name used in this story) decided to start a new league, with Lindquist’s help, that would be open to all wrestlers regardless of sexual or gender identity.

So far, no one has made any porn jokes, Lindquist wrote in an email but he and his co-organizer were at pains that the league not appear to be a venue for sexual encounters.  “We tried to make the website and the craigslist posting very clear,” he wrote, “that our goal is to provide a safe space for wrestling with mutual respect between all members.”

Lindquist said he started wrestling in high school, 20 years ago.  “I really love the competition and the struggle,” he wrote. “It’s a game of strategy as well as strength.  I like that competitors are evenly matched, so it’s not a ‘whoever is bigger wins’ kind of situation, and wrestlers of all sizes can participate.”

The league, tentatively called “Minneapolis Wrestlers,” is still in its formative stages, Lindquist said in an email, with the first informal meeting scheduled for June 30^th, at 8pm at the 19 Bar in Minneapolis’ Loring Park neighborhood.  But already, Lindquist wrote, there are 23 gay and straight men interested, with a wide range of heights and weights.

James Sanna is a staff writer