Revolution #55, July 30, 2006

Gay Games in Chicago

For a week, starting on July 15, over 12,000 athletes and an estimated 60,000 spectators gathered in Chicago from over 70 countries for the 7th Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival. Among the prominent supporters of the events were former NFL defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo, champion diver Greg Louganis, and tennis champion Billie Jean King.

Participants talked enthusiastically about both the high level of competition at the Games’ 30 different events and about the warm and welcoming atmosphere that surrounded the whole experience. Sean Burns talked to Revolution as he prepared to compete for a gold medal in doubles tennis: “Particularly for men, in sports, the assumption is that we couldn’t possibly be gay and be strong, and be athletic. This is an opportunity in a great environment to just dispel that myth and again to be able to express ourselves athletically.” Sean said, “The fact is any sport, say college athletics, it’s the 'Straight Games.'” He added, “We are guests at those games. We are not invited to be who we are. We are invited to participate as long as we don’t talk about it and we don’t demonstrate who we are. In this instance, we get to be who we are. These are the Gay Games! Everyone gets to stand up and say 'This is who I am. I’m not embarrassed, I’m not ashamed. And everyone who comes to watch these games, with the exception of an unbelievably minute minority, are supportive of who we are.'”

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"What we see in contention here with Jihad on the one hand and McWorld/McCrusade on the other hand, are historically outmoded strata among colonized and oppressed humanity up against historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system. These two reactionary poles reinforce each other, even while opposing each other. If you side with either of these ‘outmodeds,’ you end up strengthening both."

Bob Avakian,
Chairman of the RCP,USA
From the talk, “Why We’re in the Situation We’re in Today… And What to Do About It: A Thoroughly Rotten System and the Need for Revolution”

"In a world marked by profound class divisions and social inequality, to talk about “democracy”— without talking about the class nature of that democracy and which class it serves—is meaningless, and worse. So long as society is divided into classes, there can be no “democracy for all”: one class or another will rule, and it will uphold and promote that kind of democracy which serves its interests and goals. The question is: which class will rule and whether its rule, and its system of democracy, will serve the continuation, or the eventual abolition, of class divisions and the corresponding relations of exploitation, oppression and inequality."

Bob Avakian

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