Sports
THE SHOT: 2 Gold Medals for D.C.’s Gay Dragon Boat Team
THE SHOT — Members of Washington D.C.’s AQUA (Asian and Pacific Islanders Queers United for Action), competing under the team name Out 2 Paddle, taking part in Dragon Boat D.C.’s annual Potomac River race over the weekend, where they won two gold medals in the Festival Open. Says team member Reginald Reyes: “Proving not only to ourselves but to others that doubt our abilities in this field being we are not your typical dragon boat rowers. We march to our own drummer. As our team captain Lawrence Magali said it, our goal was first to have fun, second is visibility in our community and promoting a positive image of LGBT in DC and winning two gold medals is just the cherry on top!”
Thanks, Queerty, for giving this coverage. Had I known about it ahead of time, I would have probably gone to the race.
Too bad the Washington Blade didn’t have any mention of this. I imagine Out 2 Paddle would have appreciated our support. The Blade “missed the boat” on this one.
How cool is that!
this is made of win.
DC’s MetroWeekly magazine published a fun and inspiring cover story on this team:
When they returned for their second year, Reyes says the team was ready for sneers and snickers. They decided that in this sink or swim arena, they were going to swim — fabulously.
”We thought they were going to make fun of us anyway, so I wore a tiara,” Reyes says playfully. ”That was when we won.”
http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=3431
Great! But make sure most members are gay otherwise there is no point in proving a gay team can win.
@AlwaysGay: we’re all gay (with the exception of our fabulous lady drummer) and if you’re cute enough, maybe we’ll prove it to you
that’s awesome good for them!
It’s nice to see gays representing!
@Wei Lian: Excellent.
Good job OUT 2 Paddle! You guys ROCK! Free BJs for the whole team. Oops, did I say that out loud? Oh lighten up! it was in jest. Unless, they want to take me up on the offer(?) Hey, I am just saying a couple of them are really cute and I could rock their boat (rim shot, please).
I like the tiara, nice touch guys!
Go Gaysians!
They look familiar, esp the one next to the girl.
Shouldn’t the girl wear the tiara?
Great Job Bois!
Great representing our people!
How come this was never featured in the DC papers?
Is the girl a big lez too?
I saw them during the race, they were amazing!
It almost seemed effortless for them.
Any of you boys can ride my boat anytime!
Great JOb Out 2 Paddle!
I like the name!
It’s good to hear good news about gay activities and not just gay harassments and bashing! Keep up the good work boys!
Why do asians all look alike?
Be nice, no need to be mean.
They are doing a great job representing a minority within the minority community. Thanks Jay for that informative link.
I found their official site. http://www.aquadc.org/
damn why the hater low batt?
thanks for the link matt
Nice very nice
How can I be part of the team?
I’m gay but not asian.
Asian hotties!!!!
This is a good example of minority gays showing visibility in our community. Great Job!