Flying the Flag? - Reflections from Eurogames 2022
I just took part in the Eurogames 2022, in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) this week; competing in men’s tennis singles and doubles events (I did OK!). While the tennis tournament was formally managed through the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA), the Eurogames itself is a much bigger multi-sport LGBTQ+ event, so the city has been bustling.
Having partaken in the Paris Summer Cup the previous weekend (a rather splendid GLTA event - see Chrissie Chresta’s earlier blog), my participation at the Eurogames gave me a chance to reflect on differences between regular GLTA events (of which I have done around 50) and the Eurogames.
Obviously many more sports are represented here and there are thousands of participants, but a more pertinent reason caught my attention. Beyond the sports, there are a variety of lectures, exhibitions, round-table discussions and cultural events happening in parallel. In particular, I saw an exhibit for the "Zero Flags Project". 71 flags of nations in which being gay is a crime were flown, with the hope that eventually there will be none. This is a stark reminder that we still have a long way to go, despite relative freedoms we may have at home in the UK. Sport can play a real part in highlighting such inequality and in uniting people to drive change.
Coincidentally, the Eurogames began at the same time as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (UK). During the opening ceremony, Tom Daley (Olympic diving gold medallist) carried a multi-coloured baton, to represent the LGBTQ+ community. He was joined by representatives of 6 nations of the Commonwealth where homosexuality is a crime, who were holding rainbow flags - an enormously brave gesture of them.
Officially, we enter GLTA events and the Eurogames under our national flags, but is this required? I had the pleasure to spend time with a Russian player, though he had to play under a blank flag, given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and also recognising the country’s deteriorating LGBTQ+ rights (❤️ Kasatkina ❤️).
As a geographer and avid traveller, I used to know all the world’s flags (oh and a geek), but do they truly represent us, especially when our communities are perhaps not accepted or included in our own societies? Personally, I would prefer to play under the rainbow flag, if any!
About the author: Omar (he/him) is based in Manchester and has been a member of Northern Aces since 2008. He played his first GLTA event in London the same year, and has now taken part in over 50 international LGBTQ+ tournaments.