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From: rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo)
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Gay Games II & South African participation
Message-ID: <1703@bbncca.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 14-Feb-86 10:50:59 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncca.1703
Posted: Fri Feb 14 10:50:59 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Feb-86 04:18:49 EST
Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 26

Since I raised the issue, here's more info obtained from a friend
last night to shed light on the situation.

The international boycott against South Africa isn't against all-
white teams (many of South Africa's teams are in fact interracial,
I'm told) but against apartheid; the boycott was called by other
African nations, eg, Kenya, and my informant seemed to think that
conformity to the boycott was mainly out of political expedience:
ie, it was more important not to offend Kenya than South Africa.

He also thought homosexuality was heavily surpressed, taboo in
South Africa (the situation must be bad, but I vaguely remember
reading about a few gay bars, and a gay organization, maybe assoc-
iated with universities--Witwatersrand?) as a result of conversa-
tions with a gay South African exile here, so that inviting a
South African contingent to the Games is extending recognition
to an oppressed minority in a very repressive society.  He pointed
out that many North American contingents to the Games are probably
all-white.  Given the interracial composition of South African
teams, the all-white makeup of the gay contingent may be simply
incidental, or a reflection of the difficulty of being both non-white,
gay, and in touch with gay white athletes in South Africa.


					Regards,
					Ron Rizzo