NOVA Pride LGBTQ+ Soccer League Seeks Local Expansion

NOVA Pride Football Club (NOVA Pride FC), a first-of-its-kind LGBTQ+ and allies soccer club in the Northern Virginia region, is seeking to expand after a successful first season earlier this year, culminating in the August 10 Pride on the Pitch tournament in Chicago, where NOVA Pride FC — competing alongside four members of the Philadelphia Falcons (one of the oldest Queer soccer clubs in the U.S.) as The NOVA Falcons — went undefeated to win First Place in the recreational division.

NOVA Pride FC was founded in March by Nubion “Noobz” Thomas-Kennedy, the president of the club’s board of directors, which includes seven other LGBTQ+ soccer enthusiasts. The club’s mission is to “build a community that creates a sense of connection and belonging for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies who are 18 years old and up by providing a safe, inclusive, and fun space to play football (soccer).”

NOVA Pride FC currently plays pickups (open games) on Sundays at Gunston Park in Alexandria. Now that they’ve had their first big win, they’re seeking to expand, as the group has becoming too big for a single team — and Falls Church is on their short list for future locations.

All LGBTQ+ and allied adults interested in joining NOVA Pride FC — of all ages and levels of experience — are invited to complete the NOVA Pride FC Player Interest Form at tinyurl.com/FCNP0924np. Responses will help determine the scope of the coming season, though Thomas-Kennedy says players can sign up throughout the year to join their pickup games and participate in tournaments. Those who submit the form will be invited to join the group’s WhatsApp community, through which team games, events, and announcements are shared and coordinated.

For more information, follow NOVA Pride FC on facebook @novapridefc or visit linktr.ee/novapridefc.

Florida Tourism Agency Quietly Dumps LGBTQ+ Travel Section

The GOP has spent the last several years trying to create an enemy of LGBTQ+ people — and Trans and Nonbinary people in particular — using tropes and conspiracies that echo the anti-communist McCarthyism and Lavender Scare of the 1950s.

Any attempt to improve LGBTQ+ life is treated as an attempt to conquer, shame, or replace heterosexuals. Trans athletes are accused of stealing heterosexual accomplishments. Employment nondiscrimination is lamented as an attempt by inferior people to take jobs away from more qualified candidates. Bathroom access is weaponized as a desire to commit sexual assault. LGBTQ+ books are demonized as “indoctrination,” and LGBTQ+ teachers are labeled “groomers.” Anything remotely related to LGBTQ+ life is treated as adult content of a sexual nature. Any attempts to be LGBTQ+ inclusive are painted as “woke” or extreme.

Protections for LGBTQ+ people are posed as an assault on, ostensibly, the heterosexual right to discriminate against them.

Florida has been ground zero for anti-LGBTQ+ politics in recent years, with laws banning discussion of LGBTQ+ issues (or exposure to Drag queens) around anyone under age 18, an all-out war between Gov. Ron DeSantis (R—obviously) and Disney over “woke” policies (primarily their public opposition of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill).

In mid-August, without a word, the state’s tourism marketing agency, Visit Florida, removed its LGBTQ+ Travel section. After refusing to comment for weeks, the CEO of the agency, Dana Young, offered only a short statement: “It’s fairly simple. Visit Florida is a taxpayer funded organization and, as such, Visit Florida — our marketing strategy, our materials, and our content — must align with the state.”

Visit Florida typically receives about $50 million in annual funding from the state, according to the Associated Press. This year their state funding totaled $80 million.

Though Visit Florida pulled its LGBTQ+ Travel section (and multiple other related pages) to retain state funding, it appears they were not pressured to remove other inclusive portions of their site, including pages dedicated to Hispanic or Black heritage travel, accessible travel, and visiting internationally. Also still present on the Visit Florida website is their page dedicated to nude beaches and nudist organizations.

The Inherent LGBTQ+ Pornography Of The Mind

At Equality Virginia’s 2013 Lobby Day, I decided that I was going to be the one to get Bob Marshall (at the time a Delegate from Manassas — and the “Marshall” in Virginia’s “Marshall-Newman” amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage, which is still on the books. I turned my name badge around and walked right up to the counter, smiled my biggest smile, and introduced myself to his wife (who worked for him). She seemed to like me, and called him out of his office. He came out smiling, and I made sure he was shaking my hand when I mentioned I was with Equality Virginia.

The enthusiasm popped like a bubble, smiles vanished, and the handshake quickly ended. The delegate walked around the table we were standing next to, putting it between us. I questioned his opposition to employment nondiscrimination. He responded by raising the possibility of a gay man putting a picture of he and another man in his office cubicle — then, within a sentence or two, he was discussing how this promoted sodomy.

A picture of two men together — according to Bob Marshall — was pornography of the mind: the sodomy may not have been visible, but it was still there, and still dangerous.

That man thought a lot about sodomy.