11/4/2002: Gay Games open
 

http://cellar.org/2002/gaygames.jpg

In Sydney over the weekend, the Sydney Gay Games opened for its sixth time. They have 12,000 competitors from 80 nations, no word on whether the 2000 Olympics facilities are in use. Participating in the opening was the very fine singer k.d. lang, who also celebrated her 41st birthday. (No, that's not k.d. on the ice there.)

I wonder whether it's more a sporting event or more a cultural event.

Yeah, I've always had a bit of a negative reaction to events such as these - gay games, indiginous games, etc.

I'm all for people's rights to do whatever they want. The pride marches are a wonderful spectacle, highlighting alternative lifestyles, and attract thousands of people to watch.

You don't see the 'caucasian games' or 'hetrogames'. There is nothing stopping either of the two afore mentioned groups from partaking in mainstream athletic competition.

....let the flames begin!.....

Re: 11/4/2002: Gay Games open
 

Grandma???

C'mon Tony...most of us can tell k.d. from DQ. :-)
Especially since k.d. is more of a drag king.
Um....what planet are you posting from again?

What I really want to know is, what the heck is he... uh... she... um... that person, holding in.... er.... damn you, pronouns! Anyway what is that thing? A frying pan? An oversized castanet?

I'd say it's a bit of both: a celebration of the culture, and a love of sport. Good stuff.

When I first saw k.d. perform on TV (with the Reclines), I thought she was a he.

The REAL issue here is that Shepps thinks she's a fine singer. What the hell is wrong with you?! Let me guess...you bought Kenny G's new CD the minute it hit the shelves, didn't you? ;)

It's editorial! Post an image with one person in it, and then write a story with one person in it, and most people will think there's a connection. Probably more people have seen kd lang than haven't, but certainly there are a lot who haven't.

And she's a fine singer, with a great voice. And so were the "American Idol" candidates. If you go for that sort of thing.

I think <i>The Consequences of Falling</i> and <i>Barefoot</i> are great cuts. The pic on the back of <i>Invincible Summer</i> shows how femme she can look too.

It's all in jest. I don't particularly care for her music, but she's not a bad singer. :)

Hey! I liked the cowpunk kd. She was fun. She's gone all famous and adult contemporary, and that's too bad.

But as that great crooner Stompin' Tom Connors recalls...

Where the wild roses grow in Alberta-
On the banks of the Gooseberry lake
There's a rose I suppose that you hearda-
She's as mild as a wild Irish wake
Like a thorn she was born to be contrary
Like a boy's was her joy raising cain.
The wildest rose that ever drove on the prairie
behind the wheel of a big truckload of grain.
Chorus
Little k, little d, little l-a-n-g
Her name was just plain kd lang
But her main claim to fame was how she sang with a twang
And jumped around like a 'rangytang
lady k.d. lang

Hmm
 

Someone might try to make the point that promoting ridiculous steretypes(i.e., all gay men are promiscuous perverts who do things like go around dressed in women's clothing) is probably not the best way to acheive mainstream acceptance of homosexuality. Perhaps it would be better to communicate the idea that not all homosexuals are potential child-molestors who talk with a lisp.

Oh oh ... here we go.

Where the hell did that whole paedophillia link come fron anyway (apart from the catholic church)? Always seemed really silly to me. This sort of wierd idea that all those evilevil ungodly sexual peversions were somehow all interlinked or something.

This one *i'm* probably going to get flamed for (how unusual) but why can't gay athletes compete in the normal olympics?

They do...Greg Louganis (though I don't believe he was out at the time).

Hmmm...I see this in the same way I do the NAACP: Something that allows people of a certain group to celebrate...well, themselves, after being unable to do so for so long (though I don't think the Gay Games are necessarily on the political tip). I'm all for it.

He was out as soon as he hit the board. ;)