Necessary Roughness

Find Pride in Your Sport, and Your Sport at Pride

It’s official: Pride season is underway. Last month Compete participated in the annual Phoenix Pride, as we have done every year of our existence. From this point on, festivals across the country fill up the calendar every weekend until November. That’s a whole lot of pride.

Phoenix Pride is significant because it is always the first such event of the season. Because of the 100+ degree temperatures that are a given from May through September, Phoenix likes to throw its party early to take advantage of the still-moderate weather. (Although this year we hit 100 degrees on April 1 in Phoenix; sometimes you can only do so much to escape the heat.)

It wasn’t always this way, however. The first Pride event I ever attended was in mid-June – when it was held just outside Phoenix in Tempe. It was the mid-1990s, and I walked three miles in 110-degree heat to get there. I didn’t know a single gay person, so I hung out for about 45 minutes trying to find shade and water before I left. Then I walked the three miles back home.

It doesn’t sound like much fun – and it wasn’t (fun) – but it certainly was eye-opening. At that Pride I started to learn about this community that I would eventually become a part of. In the 90s there was still a feeling that this community was on the fringe of society. The Pride festival was about celebrating who you are and not being ashamed/confused/scared. There was a radical feeling that permeated the air that day.

In the 15 years since that day I have never missed a Phoenix Pride festival. I’ve seen a number of changes in this event and in Pride festivals everywhere. For one, our community is no longer on the fringe, which has altered the tone of these events. Gay people are everywhere, and we are out. The “agenda” of Pride events has shifted to one of full and total equality under the law. Pride is attended by all kinds of people – gay and straight, allies, families, and those who just like a good party. The majority of Americans support marriage equality for same-sex couples, and many of these people show their support by participating in Pride.

Basically, Pride is not just for our community any more; it’s for the entire community. One thing I don’t remember seeing at the first festival I attended way back when: sports organizations. There was gay softball back then, but even that didn’t have a large presence in the community. There was no volleyball or football. No basketball or swimming. There definitely was no rugby. Surely there had to be gay people who liked to play sports … right? Where were they?

Well, they were playing with city-run leagues, often remaining closeted or at least very guarded about their sexual orientation. Or they weren’t playing at all. Now, if you know my feelings about sports, then you know that I believe it is a travesty if a person cannot pursue the sport(s) he or she loves. It’s likely that generations of great gay athletes had to give up sports after coming out. What a shame.

Thank God for the new millennium. In the past decade gay sports organizations have grown tenfold; we now have multiple sports leagues in almost every popular sport in every major city in the U.S. If there is a gay man or woman who wants to play sports, he or she will find a way.

Gay athletes connect to gay sports in a number of ways, but one big way is through Pride festivals. For many, it is the only time of the year they get a chance to interact with and become informed of the entire community. It’s often how they find the team or league that is right for them. Gay sports organizations use Pride as a recruitment method, as well as to promote their brand and raise money. It’s a win-win for both.

For anyone to suggest that Pride events are outdated, I say it is what you make it. And this year, maybe you can make it about finding the right sport for you.