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!”
Duke
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.
Mark M
How cool is that!
dgz
this is made of win.
Jay
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
AlwaysGay
Great! But make sure most members are gay otherwise there is no point in proving a gay team can win.
Wei Lian
@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
tommyb
that’s awesome good for them!
Tran
It’s nice to see gays representing!
AlwaysGay
@Wei Lian: Excellent.
Yay, Gay!
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).
Ty
I like the tiara, nice touch guys!
luisito
Go Gaysians!
jj
They look familiar, esp the one next to the girl.
Adam
Shouldn’t the girl wear the tiara?
KK
Great Job Bois!
E
Great representing our people!
Mojojojo
How come this was never featured in the DC papers?
John
Is the girl a big lez too?
54
I saw them during the race, they were amazing!
It almost seemed effortless for them.
Any of you boys can ride my boat anytime!
eric p
Great JOb Out 2 Paddle!
I like the name!
shawn
It’s good to hear good news about gay activities and not just gay harassments and bashing! Keep up the good work boys!
Low Batt
Why do asians all look alike?
Matt
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/
syn
damn why the hater low batt?
thanks for the link matt
dan
Nice very nice
Victor
How can I be part of the team?
I’m gay but not asian.
Stan
Asian hotties!!!!
Edgar
This is a good example of minority gays showing visibility in our community. Great Job!