Athletes competing at the Gay Games in Cologne were subject to competition-wide random drug testing, and that got the queers upset! So the Federation of Gay Games just voted 48-4-2 to do away with the practice in 2014, which returns to 2006’s rules that only make bodybuilding, powerlifting, and wrestling subject to peeing in a cup; other sports can still drug test, but only if there’s a compelling reason to do so. The main controversy? The World Anti-Doping Agency protocols, which the 2010 Games used, “are not sensitive to older recreational athletes [like these guys] or poz athletes [steroids are often prescribed for facial wasting], two historically important groups of Gay Games participants,” according to a motion the FGG voted on, which also claimed money devoted to drug testing could be used toward sports scholarships.
war on drugs
Gay Games Athletes Now Free to Drug Themselves With Abandon
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Michael
This certainly brings a whole new level of incredibility to the games.
Sceth
Love this! I hate WADA anyway because it tries to pull government into sports regulation.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
In related news the Gay Olympics just added P~N~P as an event…. :p
Roger Brigham
How sensitive of you to refer to people being concerned about security issues and whether skipping medication necessary for their good health because it may not be in accordance with WADA regulations as perhaps not being a smart thing to do as getting “the queers upset.”
What was disturbing about the policy in Cologne was that it was developed without any dialogue with stakeholders, representatives of the HIV community, etc.
The FGG action is ground-breaking: it puts the onus on those who would test to address issues such as HIV infection that mainstream organizations do not even acknowledge. The three-year dialogue leading up to Chicago 2006 was intense and comprehensive; the door is now open for similar dialogue to occur in other sports.
Roger Brigham, chairman of Wrestlers WithOut Borders
member, FGG anti-doping subcommittee
menlo
Is it really fair for steroid-using athletes to compete with non-users? I don’t think so.
SouLKid
WTF!? I totally co-sign @Michael.
These rules are there for a reason. To level the playing field. Now we are going to have steroid pumped athletes competing against non-users which is UNFAIR on so many levels.
merkin
The gay games are nice for publicity and feeling good but theyve long been a joke as far as an athletic competition. ANYONE can compete, so long as they pair their entrance fee, whether it takes them six minutes or 6 hours to run a mile. Its halfway to the Special Olympics
Gay Florida
Following the fine tradition set by circuit parties. So much for honesty and authenticity.
DR
I have to co-sign with Michael. This is incredulous.
I recognize that there are valid medical reasons for steroid use. But to say that there can be no drug testing because it’s offensive or non-inclusive to older athletes or poz athletes is a big “screw you” in terms of fairness to anyone who wants to compete.
Powerlifters, bodybuilders, wrestlers get subjected to drug testing, yet with all the controversy surrounding Floyd Landis (cycling) and Track and Field (Marion Jones, anyone?), those sports get a pass despite the known steroid use in those events?
I was considering these Games in 2014 just for fun; I know I’m no world-class athlete, but I think there’s something to be said to be able to compete against athletes from all over the globe and only have to pay an entrance fee to do so. These aren’t Worlds or the Olympics, and most organizations can’t possibly have numerous qualifying events for something like this. But I’m not sure I want to support an organization which is going to pretty much condone steroid use in order to be “inclusive”.
What the kind of message does that send?
Brian
I understand why athletes with HIV might be prescribed steroids, but can anyone tell me why “older recreational athletes” would need steroids? I understood that for each event there are age brackets as well. So older recreational atheletes are competing against other older recreational atheletes, which should level the playing field.
Isn’t the solution to require a prescription or a medical explanation if an athlete tests positive for a substance — and require the explanation to be linked to the substance that yielded the positive result — not just to eliminate testing entirely?
scott ny'er
this really does stretch the credibility of the gay games.
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