Two decades later, the New York Gay Football League maintains integrative space for LGBTQ -Athleten

The concept of a queer conclusion appeals to some LGBTQ employees who still long for a safe space to finally experience the high school high school, which they either missed or not because they felt excluded.

But it's not just queer proms. Many community members also recognize other elements of their youth -such as sports -could have been more pleasant if they were easier to accept.

This is the case for at least some of the players who take part in the New York Gay Football League, a local flag football league with up to 300 LGBTQ players and some allies who join together to play two 10-week seasons at March to the end of May and then mid-September to the middle of December. The games usually take place on Manhattan's West Side on Saturdays and are played in a 7-to-7 format, which is a departure from the 11-opposite 11 setup of regular football.

The league is known for inclusion and welcomes everyone to two departments regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity: an open department and an women and division. There are many reasons why people decide to get involved, but several members of the league who spoke for this story with Gay City News emphasized how the league contributed to losing their own love for playing sports or even decades after leaving the field.

Sam Lehman, an experienced member of the league that is currently acting as referee director, said he was a hard, committed athlete during his youth, but things change in his teenage years.

“The sexuality part of her being begins to come to light,” said Lehman, “and children in the team say:” Suzy wants to kiss you “and 'Why don't you talk to Suzy?' It became very distracting, uncomfortable and shameful, and many children leave team sports.

Lehman finally announced, but said he lied to his parents and said he didn't like his coach.

“The truth was,” he said, “I wanted to go to girls before talks about 'Why don't girl?”

Lehman said that he was led back to sports at the age of 26 when he decided on the New York Gay Football League. He immediately felt the comradeship of the teammates, the boost of confidence that she can bring, and the general enthusiasm with playing.

“I missed it so much and everything came back to me,” he said.

Molly Lenore, a trans woman who previously acted as a long-time commissioner of the league, also noticed the refreshing nature of participation in an LGBTQ sports league after so many years.

“In my recent days, I was very active as a man in sports,” said Lenore, who played football, baseball and football as a youthful football, to Gay City News. “When I changed, I thought I would lose a lot – and I did it for a while, especially the ties that I had with my male teammates I had in my life.”

Monty Clinton, the current commissioner of the league, said the players come from different backgrounds and different hometowns, but many of them did not feel comfortable in the changing room when they played sports in their youth.

“This gives people the opportunity to experience these years again,” he said.

However, the league is not just for those who try to restore their relationship with sport. For many others it is a way to find community or to fill yourself.

Clinton said that many members of the league joined without ever taking a football, but he admitted that “some of the best people are those who have never played.” Many members of the league do not come from the New York City region, so they often look for new friends in the league. Many league members also enjoy off-the-field events.

“People come for football, but they stay for community and friendship,” Clinton told Gay City News. “When it comes to football, you can achieve a lot of sales.”

Briana Jacobson, the deputy commissioner of women+ division, repeated these points and said: “The league conveys a feeling of community, camaraderie and permanent friendships that enrich our players' experiences far beyond the field.”

The question of why people joined the league also affects members who are not part of the LGBTQ community. In fact, Clinton emphasized that allies as a trainer, quarterback and in other functions – including teaching – helped to support the league.

“They say:” I came to other football leagues, and you are organized, supportive and inviting – we don't think about whether your gay or hetero, “said Clinton.” If you are here to support the community, the community is open weapons. “

In a sign of their endurance power, the New Yorker Gay Football League celebrated their 20th anniversary on March 1 and ended a time with two decades, during which the league expanded in size and added the women+ division after it originally started with only the open division.

The league has promoted close relationships with the New York Giants and the broader NFL in the past decade – a sign of Big Blue's commitment to the LGBTQ community. Clinton said the Giants informed the league at the time when New York organized the Gay Bowl in 2007 before they again established closer relationships in 2018-2019. The New York Gay Football League is part of the National Gay Flag Football League, which organizes the Gay Bowl every year.

The Giants are the presenting sponsor of the Hall of Fame event of the New York Gay Football League, in which the Giants players and owners took part. The Giants also donated 10,000 US dollars for the 20th anniversary event in the league.

“It adds a measure of importance because it enables us to present what we do on a larger scale,” said Clinton about the support of the Giants. “Without your participation, I think that our reinforcement would be a little less.”

For all operational tasks associated with the maintenance of a league with hundreds of players, the common topic of the players in the league is that it delivers a pleasure and a social interaction that would not have been possible without them. This topic was also in other leagues, such as the Prospect Park Women's Softball League, obviously, in which hundreds of LGBTQ players and some allies have gathered to play games in Brooklyn.

In just one example of this, Lehman remembered a story of a 31-year-old player in the New York Gay Football League, whose parents play him. The player had intercepted and ran it back to achieve a touchdown – generally known as “selection six” in football – and he and his father ran immediately to hug himself after the game.

“It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen,” said Lehman. “The admiration of his father happened to be in life, but it is the same consent of her father – it is the same amusement. We see them again and again. I speak to the fathers when I'm on the sidelines and I always see the same thing: 'This league has changed my child's life.' “

He added: “The obvious things are that they do sports, pick up a bowl and throw the ball. But the unconscious parts are that they become a better person, their self -esteem increases, their self -confidence increases. These parts of being in these organizations are really wonderful. “

Find out more about the New York Gay Football League under nygayfootball.org.