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Tina Srebotnjak: I'm going to introduce the man whose going to introduce Mark, and that
is a very charming guy in his own right, and of course you'll remember him very well from
his many years hosting Canada AM, Seamus O' Regan.
Seamus O' Regan: Thank you Tina. In 1992, Mark Tewksbury burst onto the international
scene following a thrilling, come from behind victory in the 100 meter backstroke at the
1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. This gold medal performance capped a remarkable 16-year athletic
career, which included three Olympic medals, seven world records, a cover appearance on
Time Magazine, and inductions into three major halls of fame. He grew into the leader who
travelled the world with the International Olympic Committee, was on the executive of
Toronto's 2008 Olympic bid, wasn't his fault. You did your best buddy. He took a difficult
and public stand for athletes' rights and ethics in sport against the IOC. He later
co-founded OATH, an organization that challenged the IOC to live up to its own ideals.
SO: Tewksbury become a champion for a number of important causes. He currently sits on
the National Board of Special Olympics, the national, he's national ambassador for CANFAR's
Legacy Group, for his ethical leadership and active humanitarianism, he has received honorary
doctorate of law degrees from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Calgary.
Author of three books, including "Inside Out: Straight Talk from a Gay Jock", Tewksbury
is one of the few openly gay Olympic champions in the world. In 2006, he was president of
the first World Outgames held in Montreal. In 2007, was named Fondation Émergence? Parfait!
Person of the Year for his fight against homophobia, and in 2008, was invited by the Government
of France to be part of their initiative introducing a declaration to decriminalize homosexuality
at the United Nations in New York City. Of course most recently, Mark was the Chef De
Mission for the 2012 Canadian Olympic team competing in London.
SO: And if I, at the last minute could just add a little something. As somebody who watches
and, sometimes is involved in the news, there's been an incredible amount of talk about homosexuality
in professional sport. And Mark, was a man well ahead of his time, thankfully. And as
a man who happens to be married to a man, and who did so, with a great deal of ease,
it is because of civil rights pioneers like Mark Tewksbury that this country has to thank,
and I personally have to thank. Thank you Mark. Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Tewksbury.
Mark Tewksbury: Hello. Good... Oh you need that, okay. Good evening everyone. Such a
big house, thank you for coming! Just before I start, I'm still involved as you heard in
my introduction in many different organizations, and to my friends at Special Olympics, CANFAR
and the Canadian Olympic Committee, thank you so much for being here as well. You're
not in the speech so I wanted to mention you.
MT: So, it's such an honour to be invited to deliver, to be asked to deliver the June
Callwood Lecture, I was fortunate enough to live here in Toronto in the late 1990's and
the early 2000's, and got to know June a little bit from being at various events with her.
And she was such a remarkable woman. She was really one of Canada's most prominent social
justice activists, and she founded or co-founded over 50 organizations that dealt with social
justice issues. Some of them including Casey House, Penn Canada and the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association, just to name a few. So such an icon, and it's so amazing that
she's remembered through this lecture series. I'll never forget her words, I only heard
her speak once, and she said, "If any of you happens to see an injustice, you are no longer
a spectator, you are now a participant, and you have an obligation to do something". And
I never forgot that statement. They're very powerful words to live by.
MT: I wanna share with you tonight, some of the events that I've seen, from the lens of
gay and sport, because that's where my activism, if you wanna call it activism, has taken place.
And how they pulled me in to actually become a participant. I didn't begin my life, and
I don't think anybody does with the idea of becoming an activist per se, but when I look
back, there were certainly a few events in getting ready for tonight, that I realize,
okay, those probably laid the seeds for what would eventually happen later in my life.
MT: I grew up in Calgary, it's where I'm residing back again, and I started swimming, was part
of the Cascades Swim Club, and the first big trauma in my life happened when I was about
11 years old, 11 or 12; the head coach of our swim club, had an affair with the assistant
coach, assistant head coach, it was a man and a woman, and it was scandal in Calgary,
Alberta. And the parents were not having it, the parents were like these two coaches are
going to be fired. But all the kids loved the coaches. The swimmers didn't care. We
just wanted our coaches to stay and so we lobbied together in protest against the parents'
decision. And my dad was on the board. [chuckle] My poor mom was caught in the middle, and
unfortunately we lost. The coaches got fired and we got a new head coach, but it was my
first organized protest and my first understandings of taking a stand for something that you believe
in really strongly.
MT: A few years later I made the National Youth Team at 15, for Canada, and I got together
with the other top youth swimmers from across the country, here in Toronto. We were trained
at Etobicoke Olympium Pool and the problem with that was all the coaches that brought
their athletes then coached the training camp and they all wanted to kinda outdo each other.
So they kept laying on more and more and more and more work and we couldn't keep up with
it. They were burning all of us out. And we were sitting and complaining and tired. And
I decided I was was gonna lead this protest. And I called together a tribunal with the
coaches and the chaperon and I made our case that we were training too hard. And this one
we won! [chuckle] They changed the training program.
MT: So little simple things, but they kinda planted the seeds of what would have eventually
become a voice that would perhaps speak on a larger scale. I made the national team when
I was 18 years old and I started to travel the world. And I got a broader sense of issues
of social justice and also my place in the world. One of my very first trips was to East
Berlin, back when there still was an East Berlin, and I was struck by the bleakness
of the city and also the stark contrast in the living conditions that I was used to here
in Canada, but I also saw the humanity.
MT: At that time the East German women were a force to be reckoned with on the international
scene. They won everything. And we would learn later that they were systematically given
steroids and were technically cheating. And there was this very strong hatred that you
could feel from the international community against this particular group because people
felt like they were cheating and they weren't getting caught, but yet I could always see
the people behind that. I saw the women behind the men. [laughter] Do you get it? The East
German women. Anyway. [laughter] Okay, that was bad. [laughter] But I knew just because
they were doing bad things didn't make them bad people, and something about these East
German women, maybe because I was struggling with my own issues of masculinity and being
gay and there were these women that were big, you know, all of these things going on.
MT: I wanted to talk to them. So I actually studied German at university so that I could
learn enough German to open the door to speak to them and I'll never forget being at my
first World Cup competition and one of the big East German girls, Astrid Strauss, 6'4"
was standing at the bar beside me and I turned to her and said "vi gates". And she was like...
Her mouth fell open because I asked how she was in German, and then I said something like,
"I carry a suitcase on a train" [laughter] which is like what you learn in school [chuckle]
But she laughed and tried to speak some broken English and we sorta had this connection and
I got to know these East German women, so much so that on my 21st birthday, February
7th, 1989, I was in East Berlin.
MT: It was the last World Cup that would take place before the wall came down, later that
year. And they decided, her and two other Olympic champions, two other women Olympic
champions, Cornelius Urch and Kathleen Nord decided to take me out for a birthday lunch.
And they took me to a place that didn't accept any western money. You had to know about it
from being East German and it was this beautiful place with a maitre d' and gold guild everywhere,
and luxury. We had five courses and it was the most extravagant meal I'd had my entire
life, and here it was in East Berlin. And sitting at this table with these three Olympic
champion women, one of them, Kathleen Nord, said something in German and started to weep
and she left the table. And I, when she left, said to the other two women "What just happened?"
And they said well Kathleen has just had a bit of a crisis of faith because she's been
told for so many years that people like you, from the west, are bad and evil, and she's
sitting here talking to you and having a great time. And she sees that that's not true, and
she's wondering how much else isn't true that she's been told in her life. And it was such
an incredible moment, one of those kind of eureka moments that made me realize how important
it is to challenge things, to dig a little deeper, and to seek out the truth.
MT: On one hand while all this was going on and this foundation was being built and I
was becoming, in one way, strong in finding a voice, on the other hand, I was running
away from my own truth and who I was. Such are the contradictions of life. I remember
growing up as a kid in Calgary and had a pretty normal childhood and then around adolescence
things started to change. When I was... When I hang out with my guy friends and they were
being... Becoming attracted to all the girls, I was becoming attracted to them. And don't
get me wrong, I love women. I just don't love women, you know?
[laughter]
MT: So these guys were talking, and I wasn't really relating to what they were saying.
And I tried to keep it hidden. I knew that I was a bit different, but didn't quite know
what it was. You know, we're talking, like 40 years ago, 35 years ago, when the world
was a very different place. These issues of homosexuality were not addressed anywhere
in my world in a public form. I never heard the word gay, or ***, unless it was in a very
derogatory meaning. And I didn't even really know what it meant. I just knew that word
wasn't good.
MT: So, it was a pretty awful day in grade 8, when I showed up at school, and I saw that,
my locker had been broken into. And as much as I tried to hide who I was, they figured
it out. And as I opened the locker... I opened and saw inside the word "***" written across
things. And I was so hurt and devastated. And I'd love to say that I was an activist
and I stood up, and I approached the bullies and... I didn't. I wish I had the wisdom and
experience of 45 years old at 14, but of course, we don't. So I chose to run. I did the opposite
of what an activist is. I was a coward. I ran and I hid and I cried. My parents eventually
came home from work and saw that I was home, and wondered what had happened. And I'll never
forget my mother saying, "You can tell me, honey. You can tell me whatever it was. Whatever
it is, just tell me."
MT: So finally she got it out of me. I said, "Mom, I went to school and '***' was written
on my locker." And I could just see, like, the blood drain from her face. I could see
her just go white, and I knew this wasn't okay. And that she wasn't gonna be able to
make it okay. We went back to school the next day, we met with the Principal, and he did
the best he could. Like in those times, no one knew what to do with these issues. But
his solution was, it'd probably be best if he changes schools. And so I did. And you
know, it took about three days at the new school before somebody had talked to somebody
from the old school, and said, "Oh, you're the *** from Cedarbrae." And that line followed
me all through my school life.
MT: And so, swimming it became very important to me, as you can imagine, because incredibly,
swimming was a safe place for me. Although sport isn't typically known as being open
and welcoming to gay/lesbian people per se, it wasn't spoken about and I was really great
at what I did. And I think that excellence can be an excellent deterrent against discrimination.
So people sort of knew I was a little bit different, but sort of had a certain level
of tolerance from it. You can run, but you can't hide. I was still who I was. And I'll
never forget, it wasn't for nothing that the head coach of the University of Calgary swim
club always pointed to me to kind of get the team going with the cheers when people were
feeling low, right? And not all gay people are cheerleaders. I'm just saying that was
one of my attributes.
[laughter]
MT: So I used to do this really great cheer. We were the University of Calgary Dinosaurs,
so I used to this really... I butched it up a lot. So it was like... I'd go, so anyway,
try to get 18 to 22-year-old college guys cheering, right? Like, you try to do that
challenge, y'know? I'm saying... So I go to them, "Come on guys, I'm a dino! You're a
dino! Dino's we are all! And when we get together, we do the dino call!" Then I'd go, "Roar!"
And all the guys would pound their chest and kind of jump on each other. It was amazing.
It was like, wow. But I'll never forget making the national team the very first time. And
the head coach, God bless him, pulled us together in a team meeting and decided to share with
us everything that had ever done wrong for Canada at the Commonwealth games.
MT: The time somebody looked the wrong way and got hit by a bus; the time somebody broke
their leg; the time some... It was like, crazy! So at the end of his speech, with all the
energy having left the room, he said, "Does anybody have anything to add?" And I think
he meant another bad story. But I shot up my arm... 'Cause I thought to myself, "This
would be a good time for a cheer." So...
[laughter]
MT: I probably walked to the front of the room, composed myself, and in my audience
are my heroes. Like, Alex Baldwin, Victor Davis, Anne Ottenbrite the champions world
record holders people I wanna be like one day, and I compose myself, and I come up with
a cheer. We're not dinosaurs, right? It's a Canadian team, so I had to come up with
something new and I went, "I'm a beaver, You're a beaver, Beavers we are all! And when we
get together, we do the beaver call!"
[laughter]
S1: Yeah, yeah, thank you.
[Applause]
MT: So, the 42 athletes in that room looked at me like, "He is so gay!" Oh my god! I'm
serious! [laughter] But nobody said anything! Just a really quick sidebar, I knew I'd come
back to this, injustice kills me to this day. It just hurts me so badly. And I don't know
how many of you watch the Canada/USA Women's Soccer game from the Olympics last summer?
MT: You know as a Canadian team we can handle being beaten when somebody is better than
us. We can handle when things don't go our way because other people are better prepared,
whatever. But when an outside force changes the course of history by interfering it's
really hard to live with right? So that was a moment during the Olympic Games that almost
killed me. That was the one where I had to have a little scream and a cry with my inner
circle in the village to let go of it so that I didn't give that frustration to the team.
But I have to tell you on the pitch, when that women's team won the bronze medal, they
called up to the stands and said "Tewks do the beaver cheer." And I did the beaver cheer
for the women's soccer team. So I just had to tell you that. Okay sorry about that! [laughter]
So, no one ever spoke about it, and so that was kinda of my MO. That's how I manoeuvred
through the world, as long as we don't have to speak about these issues then we're gonna
be okay. I chose never to speak about it when I was a competing athlete, back in the late
1980's and early 1990's.
MT: I saw a Greg Louganis, a diver in 1986 at the world championships. He had already
won two Olympic gold medals. He was defending his world championship titles in two different
events at these '86 worlds. And I saw that everywhere he went all the guys had a little
whisper campaign. The nastiest things... His nickname is so nasty, I don't even feel like
I can say it in public to this day. Like it was just so awful. And who wants to be that
guy? I wish I was braver. I wish I had whatever it took at that time to stand up, but I didn't.
It wasn't my time yet. I didn't wanna have that follow me. I was afraid my coach wouldn't
coach me. I was afraid my team mates wouldn't support me. I was afraid which we... And we
were in the same locker room with the football team. I just, I didn't know what would happen.
So I just chose not to speak. But in promoting this event I saw Now magazine wrote "Gay Olympian
Mark Tewksbury gives June Callwood lecture." And I think, oh my God, I would have died.
Like if I saw that in writing I would have like [scream] had a conniption fit on the
spot. But I just never would have imagined speaking publicly about such a private issue
as being gay, until an injustice happened and I couldn't just be an observer anymore.
I had to do something about it.
MT: It was the most unlikely time, my father had died of cancer. He died very young at
55 years old, and I was just on the cusp of my 30th birthday. And I think probably of
my father passing away was one catalyst that opened the door for me to speak publicly,
because he had a very hard time with it. And so that sort of cleared that path. But six
months after he died I was represented by a speaking agent here in Toronto, and they
gave a showcase. And at the showcase I was one of the three speakers, and I dyed my hair
blond at that time in my life. And so I came out on stage and okay, yes, there was some
music and yes I bounced out on stage but I gave my speech as I always did. And I learned
the next day a client that was about to sign me for a six figure national tour of speaking
pulled out of the deal because they thought I was too openly gay. And here I was doing
everything in my power not to be gay at all. And so I was at this place where it was just
a little injustice done to me, but it was the catalyst that said "You know what? I gotta
find my voice here. I've gotta speak about this and say who I am." I couldn't stand that
dance of who knew, who didn't, how do I navigate this world. So I decided to come out. It was
December 15th, 1998. I'll never forget it.
MT: I did an interview for The Global Mail about a week before it actually went to print,
and when it came out, it ended up on the front page of the paper. And I'd never actually
been in Canada when I've been on the front page of the paper. I'd always been like an
Olympic winner overseas or something. So I didn't understand what happens when you're
on the front page and all the radio talk shows you become the fodder of every sort of discussion
that's going on. By 10 AM there were 93 messages in the voice mailbox, 93 requests for interview
and talk and a CBC reporter was camped out at my door. I went to open the door and I
was like, "Ahh!", slammed the door. I was like, "Oh my God." So, you know I thought
I was ready for it but I really wasn't. And it was such a big deal at that time, but I
didn't see myself as an activist or a trailblazer. I just needed to be me. And in the course
of speaking about my own story, it happened to intersect with a little bit of history.
And that I just happened to be the first openly gay athlete in Canada to talk about it. Not
that I was the first gay athlete, but the first one who's story kinda went out there.
But I don't call that the beginning of my activism. I think as fate would have it, that's
when I kinda discovered my voice. And when I found it in this part of my life, then it
actually led to speaking up and speaking out in other areas as well.
MT: A few years earlier I had been recruited to become part of the International Leadership
in Sport and and via the Canadian Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee
and in fact I was placed on one of the most incredible commissions that there is at the
IOC it was the Site Selection Commission. So, I used to travel the world doing the technical
analysis with a team of 14 other people of the cities that were bidding for the games.
This was for the 2004 Olympics. There were 11 cities bidding. So, we got to travel to
all 11 cities, spend close to a week in each city doing our business and then bringing
that down to a shortlist of five of who would go to the final.
MT: And as an athlete, I was held up to such a high standard, you know... I lived through
the era of Ben Johnson and and a Canadian being caught for steroids on the international
scene. And we paid a huge price for that in Canada. A lot of it good... I mean it really
shone the light on how do we do sport and winning at all costs and all that sorts of
thing. But you can imagine the standard of integrity and ethics and values were enormous
and extremely high at that time. Sport was also based on meritocracy. You work hard,
you're rewarded for it. There is no gimmicks there's no sense of entitlement. And there
is always ethics and values. So, I was a little bit surprised at that point and I'm speaking
about a point in time of the IOC and this is back in 1996 and Juan Antonio Samaranch.
But at that time, he'd been the president already for sixteen years. And you know what
happens when people stay in powers too long. The scale had started to slide a little bit.
I noticed as I went to each city that there was posturing and we were making our decisions
about who would go to the final before we even started to evaluate the city.
MT: So what happened to fair play? I noticed in Russia, they closed the Hermitage for us
and we had a 15-person tour of the Winter Palace. And when I got back to my hotel room
that night there was caviar and flowers... Oh! And a little trinket from the Hermitage.
And it's sort of like, "Wait a minute, this isn't $150 or less", [laughter] which is the
standard of what we were allowed to accept for gifts. And I knew it was wrong and I knew
it didn't feel right and it didn't even feel right with the other Canadian commission member
who was the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee at that time, Carol Anne Letheren. But we
both decided to keep our mouth shut because we were new to the IOC world. And we'll just
see how it works and we'll just start to figure out and then maybe we'll speak up. But if
you don't speak up, what happens? You become a part of the problem and that's exactly what
started to happen.
MT: So, all those standards and values that I brought at the beginning as an athlete by
the second, third, fourth, fifth city started to disappear. I started to absolutely become
part of the problem. One of the lowest points in my life was going to the fifth city that
was bidding which is Istanbul. And they didn't have the same budget as the other cities.
You know... We didn't stay at the Ritz Carlton Downtown. We stayed at the Novotel by the
airport. And we didn't get the BMWs taking us around. We got one big old charter bus
maybe. And there were no gifts in that room anywhere, And trust me, I looked everywhere.
[laughter] In the closet, in the bathroom, I'm like, "Where are they?" And honestly,
this is what I thought. I said to myself, "Does this city really think they have a chance
at winning the Olympics?" That's how far I had come from where I arrived out on that
commission to five weeks later in Istanbul.
MT: It was my little, my little wake up call to who I was, to the environment I was working
in and whether this may or may not be right for me. Just as a sidebar the rest of the
commission thankfully also had a wake up call. The very last city that we visited was Capetown.
President Nelson Mandela. President took the bid... We'd already made a decision about
whether they were or were not going to be in the final before we heard a speech as usual.
But after his speech, even though we weren't going to put them in the final, we wanted
our picture taken with him. And we saved a spot in the middle and we all lined up for
the picture and he was just kind of chuckling at the side. And when they finally said, "President
Mandela we're ready for you to come in." He went to the furthest back part which was beside
me, took the secretary who was 26 years old, the least most important person, and brought
her to where they were saving the spot for him and he then took her spot. And which is
right beside me, [laughter] so I said, "Hi you're so tall!" [laughter] And said without
saying a word really held a mirror up to all of us as to kind of how far we probably swayed
or strayed from the values that we were supposed to be upholding.
MT: I stayed in that world for a couple more years but there came a tipping point. And
ironically I came out to December 15th 1998. On December 12th 1998, Mark Coddler from the
International Skiing Union spoke about some of the bribes that were happening over the
Salt Lake City bid. I don't know if you remember that moment in time. And all of a sudden this
Pandora's box was opened. About some of what I'd seen behind closed door, of the behaviour
of what was going on, especially in this bidding process for Olympic Games.
MT: And listen, temptation will get the best of us, you know? I'm not trying to blame people,
point fingers here, because I think that we're human and we all make mistakes, let me be
clear about that. But I think there's a chance, when you have a moment where, if you've strayed,
and you get to go back on course and you don't take it, that's too far. That's way too far.
So I'll never forget sitting in my living room, here in Toronto, and there's a press
conference in Lausanne, and President Juan Antonio Samaranch was up at that head table.
And one of the reporters said specifically to him, "Mr. Samaranch, do you take any personal
responsibility for what has happened under your leadership?" and he said, "No, it's the
fault of the seven African IOC members that were expelled."
MT: And for me, that was too far. I knew that he knew, I mean, I knew, so how can he not
know, right? And it was too far for me. What did June Callwood say, "If you see an injustice,
you have an obligation to do something." and so I did. I decided to speak up. I stepped
down from all of my posts within the Olympic Movement and they were many. They were on
the International Swimming Federation, on the Toronto's 2008 bid, on the IOC Site Selection
Commission, it kind of went on and on and on. But I stepped down and I also called for
Juan Antonio Samaranch's resignation. That went over really well. [chuckle] So I was...
Hey, and you know, I thought I would be like one of many athletes that was out there like,
just so fumed by this injustice and I jumped out there like, "Heh!" and then I turned around
and was like, "Where is everybody else?" [chuckle] But it actually, over time, what started to
happen was, the people that were of like minds started to find each other.
MT: And I was joined, locally, by true activists that had been pioneers for athletes rights
in Canada, Ann Peel and Heather Clark, that had started Athletes CAN, that really knew
that framework, that solid activism and changing organizations and movements needed. And with
their support, we created an organization called OATH, it stood for Olympic Advocates
Together Honourably. We were joined by academics, advocates, activists, athletes from all over
the world. We represented 53 different countries, and between us we had 47 Olympic medals, as
well as an incredible amount of university degrees from all the academics. And together,
we tried to push for change, while there was a window of reform open at the IOC. The IOC
was under such scrutiny from around the world for the first time in its entire history,
it had to open itself up to outside people coming inside and giving recommendations of
how they should move forward, as an organization.
MT: So we rallied. We went, we launched OATH in Lausanne at the IOC's footsteps, at the
Olympic Museum. "If you're gonna do it, go big!" So we did. We met in New York as our
first meeting, we went to Seoul were the IOC was having their meetings, to keep the pressure
on. We went to Washington to lobby all of the various senators and congressmen, because
at that point, the Salt Lake City Olympics were coming up and they were actually the
only body in the world that could hold the IOC accountable to any kind of standards.
They even got Juan Antonio Samaranch to have to go to Washington to appear at one of those
hearings. Unfortunately, at the end, yes, there were some victories, small, but that
window of opportunity closed, and with it so did the chance to truly reform. I believe
that the IOC has changed somewhat, I think that Jacques Rogge, the last president, certainly
moved in a fairer and more transparent direction. At the end of the day, there is still no accountability
at the IOC. And if you don't have to be accountable, you tend not to want to give that right up.
And they haven't.
MT: So that would be one thing to be very nice to see. But we certainly pushed for that,
it was the first time I came against, up against truly immovable power, just a force that will
not budge. But I don't regret it, because I would be standing here feeling sick, had
I not said anything, done anything. As June said, "If you see an injustice, you have an
obligation to do something." But I also have to say that, for the record, I believe completely
in the leadership and in the Canadian Olympic Committee in this country. That period was
a real change also for our own association to look at itself. And I'm so incredibly proud
to be associated with them today. And also, if you think about it, I'm an openly gay man,
I was the Chef de Mission for the 2012 Canadian Olympic team. How cool is that? How cool is
that? [laughter]
MT: Applause.
MT: Because sport, for so many unknown reasons in a way, I've tried to figure it out, but
we'll talk about that maybe a little bit later. For so many reasons sport remains behind the
rest of society on this particular issue where there's so many openly gay business people,
actors, politicians, doctors, you name it, it's part of pop culture. It's hard to watch
television on any one night and not actually see a gay or lesbian character really, or
during the day especially if you're watching Ellen [chuckle] Okay so, they are out there.
But sports remains its own world it remains really behind in those areas and when I think
of gay activism in sport, I think of individuals. I don't think of many associations per say
because there haven't been historically that many. I think of Martina Navratilova. I think
of Billie Jean King. I think of Greg Louis, the trailblazers who paved the way for the
generations to come.
MT: But I also know of a very important person that isn't so well-known but was definitely
a huge activist. His name was Tom Waddell and he was an American Olympian and he competed
in the Olympic games and felt like there wasn't really a place for him as an openly gay man.
And so in 1982 he started his own movement. It was called the Gay Games and it happened
first in San Francisco. Actually happened the first few times in San Francisco. The
games that happen every four years just like the Olympic games, it's a multi-sport event.
Brings together people from first all across America and now all across the world. The
goals were to promote inclusion and participation and it just kept growing and growing and growing.
MT: So, although it was little bit outside of the main stream, there was certainly some
activism starting to happen. People were starting to congregate via sport and as openly gay
and lesbian people but I didn't know about it and many people didn't know about it. I
l earned about it in the year 2000. Montreal, the city of Montreal was going to bid to host
the 2006 Gay Games. I just come out in '98 and '99 and so they approached me and asked
me, if I would be part of their presentation to try to win these games. It was gonna happen
in Johannesburg in South Africa and I was so exited to be part of it. For me this was
going to bring gay and sport together which was like amazing and it was also part of our
bid was to have the world's biggest human rights conference on LGBT issues. So it not
only brought together gay in sport, it brought together gay sport and social action. And
so it was like yes! Like I'm in so big time.
MT: So we went to South Africa, we pitched mostly in American group. We were up against
three American cities and Montreal won the right to host the 8th Gay Games in 2006. And
very exciting time I left Toronto to move to Montreal. I wanted to really be part of
it if I was gonna be involved, I wanted to build it from the ground up and we were so
on track. We had support from all three levels of government in the millions of dollars,
we had sponsorship, we had Tourism Montreal behind us a 100%. Cirque du Soleil was gonna
do the opening ceremonies. We were going to do it in the Olympic Stadium, 30 years to
the day of the closing ceremony of the 1976 Olympics. Like it was crazy, it was like all
lining up to be this most amazing thing. We even had Luis Arbour, at that time the high
commissioner for human rights, a Canadian at the United Nations, to open our human rights
conference. Like it was, it was a dream and then two years in to delivering this project
the federation of Gay Games, they like the IOC of the Gay Games world thought that Montreal
was too mainstream, that we were going too far with tourism, that may be they didn't
actually want a human rights conference and all of a sudden things just started to turn
strange and before we knew it without getting into all sorts of detail, they pulled the
games from Montreal and gave them to the city of Chicago.
MT: We're in four million dollars, two years of our lives. This train has left the station
and I am stuck again in the city. They're like "Oh my God Tewksbury all you do is cause
havoc". I was like "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!". But what did June Callwood say, "If
you happen to see an injustice, you have an obligation to do something." We felt like
this was unjust and we felt like we had to do something, so we didn't stop the project,
we kept going. We helped create a new international organization called the Gay and Lesbian International
Sport Association, nicknamed GLISA or acronymed GLISA. We became the first World Outgames
and we went through and still delivered in 2006. It breaks my heart to this day that
this movement had to split, that unfortunately we just couldn't see eye-to-eye but it was
the only way forward at that moment in time. To this day there's still two movements and
they still both work.
MT: Out of deference to the Gay Games movement, the Outgames movement moved one year earlier.
So instead of going on a 06-10-14 cycle they changed to 13-17-21. So actually, there's
just more competitions now in the world for people to choose to go to. But I am so glad
that we kept going because at that Human Rights Conference, which has become a main part of
every Outgames that's held in the world, Louise Arbour did open it. There's a Supreme Court
justice from every continent of the world, all five that came and moderated all five
plenary sessions. The participants came together and created what was called a Montreal Declaration
to give Louise Arbour to take back to the United Nations when she left this conference.
In it, we talked about issues of discrimination faced by the LGBT community around the world,
to the most horrific extremes where people are being executed or imprisoned for life
for being gay or lesbian, which is still happening to this day in countries in this world. Two,
fighting for equal rights for LGT parents it's around the gamut of issues but really
looked at how can we start to bring more quality to the world. Louise Arbour took it back to
the United Nations.
MT: And then came a huge surprise. Two years after the games had ended, it was November
and I got a call that the International Affairs Minister from France was looking for me. [chuckle]
Really? "Oh my god, what did I do with France?" [laughter] Never mind okay. Just... It was
joke! So we finally connected and because of that declaration floating around the United
Nations, France decided to take the lead. And in 2008, on December 18th, they introduced
to the floor of the General Assembly of the United Nations a declaration to decriminalize
homosexuality around the world. To at least deal with that imprisonment and execution
issue, and to make it not at least unlawful. We were so excited to watch it hit the floor,
and one by one the countries that supported it, showed their support. 61 countries, Canada
abstained. United States abstained. Heart breaking. But then we watched the opposition.
Syria and Egypt then got to stand up and do the anti-declaration, talking about gay people
sleeping with children and horses. And... Like ***, like it was crazy, their
talk. And then we sat and watch the support for that go and it went all the way to 58
countries. So we won by 3. By the declaration of the United Nations is like a filibuster,
it's just where they sort of get the sense of where the issue is, it isn't yet moved
to anything more formal.
MT: So we saw at that level, we still had a very, very, very long way to go. We all
then went next door to another room at the United Nations which is exactly like the general
assembly room just maybe one-eighth smaller. And all the representatives from the government
were there and that's where I got to speak. And I will never forget when my microphone
came on, and the little red light went and I was like, "Please voice come out, please."
And you know what I talked about I started by saying, "My name is Mark Tewksbury. I won
an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke in 1992, at the Botswana Olympics and I am
gay. And half room went... [laughter] Because they didn't understand how those two things
could be true in the same statement. I told them the *** in the Locker story. It almost
made it worth it, just to be able to share it at that level.
MT: I talked about winning the Olympics and dropping 1.2 seconds in the last ten months
of my career, basically making a 7-year improvement in that time, because I came out to a coach.
Because for the first time in my life, I didn't have to fight with of all of that energy inside,
but I could channel it on an outside goal. And when I said, "Today they'd probably call
that steroids if somebody made that improvement. I just call it 'gay power'" [laughter] Even
the guy from Syria chuckled, he couldn't help himself, it was awesome. [laughter] The next
year in 2009, the United Nations formally struck a working commission to look at issues
facing the LGBT community around the world. So finally LGBT issues were on the formal
agenda at the United Nations. When I came out 15 years ago, I thought it would be just
a few years until we saw a change. I had no idea it would take this long for sport to
finally get some momentum and start moving in a different direction. People always ask
why, why that is, and I wish I had an easy answer and it doesn't make sense to me. If
you think about most of the major professional clubs in North America, they're in major hubs,
they're in cities where urban life is filled with progressive people and they're not in
isolation or in a silo where none of these issues would be impacting them.
MT: But for some reason, sport has been remained in a bubble. I think it has less to do with
sexuality as it does with masculinity, and this ideal of men been masculine, of women
being feminine. You know, women... You could... Women don't get off easy either; it's a whole
other thing. But that masculine ideal that we're all struggling to attain, especially
in that world of professional sports because it's the ultimate in masculinity, there's
a disconnect of how gay fits in that world, and that's the best I can sort of explain
perhaps why it's taken so long. But just last night... So first of all, Jason Collins opened
that door. Let's give Jason Collins, yes... Opened that door.
[Applause]
MT: First professional male player in a North American professional sport to come out in
the NBA. Last night, Robbie Rogers actually made history. So Jason came out first, but
he didn't play yet. So Robbie became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a US professional
league in soccer, and his story is so incredibly touching. He came out and then retired, because
he assumed he could not play soccer as a gay person. The coach from LA Galaxy recruited
him and said, "That's the craziest idea I ever heard. What is your being gay have anything
to do with how you can play soccer." And he brought him to the team, and his teammates,
when he came out, they knew it was history. And they all patted him and they all had his
back, and that's like the dream come true. That's like exactly what I hoped would happen
when somebody finally came out.
MT: We still have a long way to go, but I feel like there's a two-pronged approach now.
We have, on one had, the individuals like Robbie and Jason out there doing their thing
but we also have organizations like the NHL, the Burke family: Patrick and father Brian
that started "You Can Play" in honour of their son and brother who was gay and who was killed
way too young, died in a car accident, and decided to that they needed to change the
culture of hockey. I almost fell off my chair when I saw the NHL commissioner endorsing
a gay movie or a gay thing in hockey. I was like, "Oh my God, Batman, I can't believe
that we're making progress." These are baby steps, but if the management and leadership
is willing to change the culture, and a few brave individuals are able to say I'm the
face of that, this is why it's important. I think we're bound to see more change in
the years to come.
MT: Times are a-changing, yes they are. But you don't have to look too far to see how
quickly we can revert to. The same time we're celebrating this change in sport, there's
a massive, and I mean massive, anti-gay marriage protest in Paris, this weekend. I was shocked
to see the number of people involved at that protest. And it reminds me again of why we're
here and why June Callwood's words must be remembered for a very long time. Whose responsibility
is it to ensure that social just prevails? All of us. Every single one of us. In our
own way. It can be telling your kid that, you know what, the word *** or gay is unacceptable.
It can be helping somebody that needs a hand. It doesn't have to be standing up against
immovable power. But every single one of us has a chance to make a difference, to speak
up, to take a stand, to care, because as June said, "If any one of us happens to see an
injustice, we are no longer spectators, we are participants, and we have an obligation
to do something." If we don't do something, then who's going to? "If you see an injustice,
and you don't do something, who's going to?" "If not you, then who?" And thank you.
S?: You have a seat.
SO: So we're going to take a few minutes for audience questions. And there's a microphone
right there in the middle of the aisle, and we would love it if you could come up and
talk to Mark and maybe ask a few questions, it would be great. Okay. That was a great
speech by the way.
MT: Okay. Good night.
SO: Can I just say it again?
[chuckle]
Speaker 4: Mark, thank you for coming, that was great. Really inspirational. I remember,
when 1992, I was trying to remember when you won it because being a proud Canadian, I just
got so excited. I thought it was fantastic when you won the gold medal. I just wanted
to know, the bullying issue in, a lot of it has to do with being gay and everything. I
just wanted to know what your thoughts are, 'cause there seems to be a lot of stuff going
on in the States and Canada, that type of thing.
MT: Well that's a nice, light, easy first question, thank you so much. I mean, it's
about bullying and my thoughts on what's happening in North America. And I mean, I just can't
imagine, like, remember a bad day at school, and you could leave school, and go home and
be safe for a few hours? This world that we live in where it's 24/7/365, it's pretty brutal,
the only good thing that is coming out of it is that we are talking way more about it,
and way more schools are aware of what to look for. I've been at many different forums
over the past couple of years with guidance counsellors, principals, where this is front
and centre, this issue. How do you change kids? How do you change that time in our lives
where you're becoming an adolescent, you're becoming awkward, you don't want to be the
one that's different. So it's easier to point to somebody else, and make them a bad person.
Unfortunately it often takes the death of somebody to make us really wake up and act,
and I think, sadly, there's been a number of deaths in the past two years here in Ontario,
British Columbia, down in the United States, that has forced people to do something. But
not an easy solution to this problem, I certainly don't have it, but I'm at least grateful that
there's awareness about it and people are trying to do something.
SO: Agreed. If you wouldn't mind taking the mic, that'd be great, just so everybody could
hear your question.
MT: If we're talking about anything, by the way, and it's an issue, and somebody has brilliant
idea and it can save me, please hold your hand up [laughter] and I'll run over the microphone.
Speaker 5: I remember when you came out, and I was teaching at a school in Western Canada,
and you did a lot of goodness for some, many of our kids. But my question is what do you
say to the person in a situation where they can't come out? They're teaching in a school
where if they know that they're gay, that they'll be fired. Well, what's your message
to them? And first of all I'd like to say hello to your famous author, I'm also from
Newfoundland and I'd like to say that Joey Smallwood, we always used to laugh at him,
he had nothing on this Ford character today. [laughter] But what do you say, Mark, to the
teacher in a school where if it's known that he's gay, he will be fired? And they have
the authority to say, "Well, you're fired."
MT: Is that still happening? Can that like, in the Catholic school system where it is
still happening?
S5: That can happen in the Catholic school system if you're... In the system I taught
in, if a man's had an affair, like your coach, the school board would haul him in and say,
"Cut it out". If he had an affair with another man he'd get fired, and that still is happening
today.
MT: So, I mean, I guess you need to make your choice. I think that if you choose to work
in an environment like that, and you can handle it, and you feel like you can make a difference,
and you can actually live with keeping that secret, then that's your choice, and all the
power to you. And thank God for people like that, that are probably looking out for other
gay kids in that kind of environment. But I am just astounded that that is still the
case in teaching. Yeah, I don't know what to say. It's... I don't think, you know, if
you really feel like you have to speak up, then I guess you have to understand there's
gonna be consequences and that you may lose your job. And there is injustice in the world,
right? And it's frustrating as all hell. But it is part of life, and the older I get, I
don't like it anymore, but I'm more aware that life is not always fair, and sometimes
we have to make brutal choices and it's the way it is. I'm sorry I don't have a more eloquent
answer.
SO: Yes.
Speaker 6: I'm a children's librarian for Toronto Public Library, and I'm just going
to comment sideways on what this gentleman has just asked, because I've been following
a social media-type website which is called something like "Stamp Out Homophobia". And
it actually publicized a phys ed teacher, a female phys ed teacher, who was lesbian,
who mentioned... You know how in a death notice, the person's partner is mentioned there? It
was put in there, fairly discreetly, along with her siblings, and she was fired, and
this is just recent, from a Catholic school. I think it was in Michigan, and I can't remember
the woman's name. But they actually have a small video clip or YouTube of her reaction.
And the education that's going on in social media is just amazing, so if any of you want
to know that you can ask a good TPL librarian [laughter] Not me! I know I have it somewhere
on my Facebook page, but what I really wanted to know Mark, and you may well have mentioned
this in some of your writing, you spoke a little bit about coming out to your parents
after the locker story, but coming up as a child, as a teenager, what else happened for
you that really made you twig or made you realize that you were fighting an uphill battle?
Was it church, was it, what social forces were kind of working on you as you grew up?
MT: Interesting question. So first of all, are there no like, at least human right tribunals
or commissions that you can at least take your claim... Your... People are shaking their
heads no. Okay, wow. Okay, we have to do the work on this one. So I actually didn't come
out to my parents, so I told them "***" was on my locker but they didn't twig that that
actually was true. So when I came out to them, it was a shock at 24. It was like, "Really?".
"You're shocked, remember the Barbie... The... " Anyway.
[laughter]
MT: "Really?" So, they were pretty shocked. But yeah, you know, I think coming up so,
I was very fortunate and I don't think it takes a lot of people to make life bearable,
but you need at least one person to support you. And I was so lucky to have at least one
person every step of the way. When I had that *** in the locker thing happen, my neighbour
happened to be an artist in university, a woman. She was 18, I was 14 or 15 and we became
great friends and she became my rock. But then she introduced me to her kind of art
scene and you know like, so there is always a way to manoeuvrer through it. Same with
my Olympic swimming. One person knew that I was gay. It was one of the coaches that
I came out to again a woman, the second one is swimming coach, Debbie Miller. But I always
have that support system and I think that was crucial. When I won the Olympics, I came
out first to my parents who basically just absolutely lost it. My mum's first reaction,
God bless her, she is the best now. She wished she was my partner and I would get married
every day, she's come full circle, but at that point, she grew up in a small town in
Alberta. Catholic, good catholic girl and her first thought, first thing out of her
mouth was "What are the neighbours gonna think."
[laughter]
MT: Like that was really like she just couldn't get her head around, any of it. I told my
agent who thanked me very much for telling me and then told me if he was ever asked,
he would absolutely deny it. And if I ever spoke about it, I am out, like so. So I really
lost everybody but I always had a support person. And you know it goes back to that
teacher at the school. If you're able to do it and a least have a support system and make
it work, you can do it. But I think if you're really feeling alone in the world which was...
Most kids that have the bullying feel like. They don't feel like they have anybody to
turn to. That's when your options becomes absolutely desperate. And life becomes unlivable.
So I was very lucky to have people there each step of the way. Not, usually not more than
one. But I always had somewhere to go.
Speaker 8: I appreciate you saying that and I am just saying that I am going to find...
this gets filmed. I know that it is available on the TPL website at some point, and I am
going to make sure I post that on Facebook.
SO: Thank you, great.
[applause]
SO: Tina, we have time for couple of more questions? I know that, we do, let's go for
it.
Speaker 9: Well, I'm a teacher and I've got every gay kid's back. I mean, when I was teaching
a grade four class, there was this boy I knew he was gay. And my "gaydar" just went "whooo,
whooo, whooo". And so I made great emphasis on reading books to that class like, all kinds
of families. So and so has two mums. So and so has two dads, and all of those things you
can do, there is a lot of stuff out there. If you're a teacher who cares. Another piece
of good news is that Ministry of Education has just told Catholic schools in this province
that they have to call their clubs Gay-Straight Alliances.
[applause]
SO: If they'll stop.
S9: They can't call them like inclusive clubs or something like that. They have to call
them GSA's and that's really good. I mean, I commend our government for doing that. So
you can be very powerful in the role, in the role of a teacher. And I had that kid came
back to me when he was 14 and he said "I am getting bullied" and I said "Okay, where are
your parents on this? Do they know, do you want me to talk to them?" I did. And I said
"You need to support him", and they did. They went to the principle of the school. And luckily
the Toronto District School Board has policies and curriculum and all kinds of stuff that
you can use. So it's not all teachers and it's not uniform but what I'm saying is, there
is hope out there. And more and more and more. I think most of us in this room will be proud
that we have gay marriage in Canada. And it's legal and it's great.
SO: Thank you for your comments.
[applause]
Speaker 10: Have to bring it down. First question and it seems like what you have done is really
pave the way for an attempt to attack systemic homophobia. That is really you're talking
about the homophobia that was systemic among the... In the sports world. Systemic homophobia
that exist in so many social institutions in which we live. First of all I commend you
for doing that and I am one of those teachers who has worked for...
MT: All teachers in the house tonight, you see that?
[laughter]
S1: No, no listen. I worked for 30 years for the Catholic system, living in seclusion and
I stayed because if I didn't stay, who would? And I insisted on teaching religion and I'm
very proud that I did that. And still I see many, many... I also was lucky because...
I guess lucky, I chose to work in an all-girls school so I guess I fit in. [laughter] But
I just wanna know, do you have any plans to work with existing gay and lesbian organizations
like Support Our Youth, other organizations to help gay and lesbian, transgender, bisexual
students rediscover the joy of sport because I know so many of them who don't. One of the
great things in my school among women, we have one of the best rugby teams and those
girls, I'm so proud of them because they have overcome all of the stereotypes and I mean
they know everyday what it's like to go to a single sex school and to be called lesbians
just because they attend. So they really know and they're working and I'm just hoping that
you have plans in your future to really actively engage LGBTQ students in some sort of organization
that will teach the value and power of sport as a liberator because you say you clearly
have lived that in your example.
MT: Thank you. Thank you, yeah. I've done lots. I go as I can. The most amazing thing
to me like, I was just given an award by this group called Jer's Vision, Jeremy Diaz started
it. At 16 years old or 17 years old, he took his case of bringing a prom date to the Ontario
Human Rights Tribunal. It's remarkable to me that some kid's in there... At that time
in their life, had the wherewithal and the strength and the power to stand up. So, to
be honest, as much as you guys... I mean they look at me who the heck is this old guy Mark
Tewks... Who the... " They're like, "Oh he used to host How It's Made... it's me. Yay!"
They do all, okay thanks, okay. Yeah, I mean, the big issue is just to be safe to talk about
it and I don't feel like, necessarily like I come from the world of Olympic sport and
I don't feel right now in the Olympic world, that it's a homophobic environment.
MT: I just still feel it's not quite there where people feel totally comfortable to talk
about it right? So we're not anti-gay but it just has to still take some baby steps
where people feel like they can actually come out. It was very clear. As chef, I had a few
members come to me as gay and lesbian athletes, but again it was private. It was one-on-one
but I think that starts to set the tone when the Olympic Committee put an openly gay person
there, it obviously means you're in a safe place. But it still takes people time and
even when I came out, in 1998 when I came out publicly, that wasn't the end that was
the beginning. It took me like probably ten more years to kinda integrate all the different
parts of my life and you just don't live in a silo and have all these secrets and then
one day they're all gone. It takes some time and I think maybe we're seeing that in sport.
I don't think it's necessary as homophobic but it's not where it needs to be where everyone
just feels open and safe if I can say that.
SO: Please.
Speaker 11: Hi. You talked about always having people in your life. You always had that one
person who was there and who's supporting you and just for your average everyday person,
how do we go about being that one support and that one ally for somebody who needs one?
MT: I think it's as simple as being there when somebody needs you and the hard thing
usually about dealing with a gay or lesbian or bisexual, trans is slightly different at
times. But it's like an invisible minority and so it's easy to hide and often people...
Like when I came out, many people are like "Yeah we knew" but it's like "So then why
didn't you talk to me about it?" because they didnt' wanna ask. They didn't wanna take the
first step, right. So the best thing that that my coach did for me was she kinda opened
the door. She kinda said, "If there's anything you ever wanna tell me. It's all good. Whatever
it may be." [laughter] She's really made it clear that I'm gonna be all right. So, but
really when I did come out to her... So, Debbie was a synchronized swimming coach and from
years of listening to that music and going, "One, two, three, four. One, two, three",
she was kinda deaf a little bit. [laughter] So I said to her, "Debbie I'm gay" and I'll
never forget... She was like "What?" I was like "Uhh! I'm gay! I saw her tears... She
got tears in her eyes and I thought "Oh my God, this is like, she's gonna reject me."
This is the thing I worried about the most. And it just took her a minute to get her own
emotions in check. Then to say, "I can't believe how hard it must have been and I'm here for
you 100%." But I think just those words, that's all I needed but...
MT: Like that was enough. So literally, just being there and being the support can be enough.
And creating that space where people feel comfortable enough to tell it.
SO: One final question.
[chuckle]
S12: Good evening. First of all, Tina, thank you so much for always being so gracious and
for spearheading this and we applaud you.
MT: Tina! Tina! Tina! [applause]
S12: And Seamus, you are missed on Canada AM.
SO: Oh, thank you.
S12: And Mark thank you so very much for coming this evening to address us. I guess, sort
of, putting this all together in terms of organizations in Toronto there, like a long
time ago... There used to... I think it's still in existence, called "The Fraternity"
and I call it "Gay Yuppies" and then now there's out on Bay Street. And then when I'd gone
to New York, I got dragged off to a party of gay lawyers. And so at this I met gay lawyers,
I met gay doctors, and I met gay dentists. And they all had these little organizations.
And so my question to you is, is there a such thing as sort of Olympian or gay athletes?
Sort of a network of sort of support, social, professional, business, etcetera. And I'm
thinking if there are upstanding, incredible people like yourself and others who would
stand up and say they're a part of this. Do you think that perhaps if this was set in
place that then other gay athletes, professional athletes, may then be predisposed to coming
out?
MT: Good question. I'm not... You know, it's a good question. It's tough to tell. I mean,
I think, I at least like that I'm so public so I am the club. Like I own that.
[laughter]
MT: So a lot of people come to me, right? But I think... It's a valid... It's something
to think about, for sure. I think that most people in sport tend to speak about these
things after they retire. And after they retire there are places for them in the Gay Games
or the Outgames, the GLISA, the Federation because it's kind of like a Master's League.
So they can go actually be in sport, be around other people that are the same *** orientation
and many people in the Gay Games and the Outgames, are actually also straight cause it's made
for allies as well as us. But it's just that everyone should feel safe to play sport. But
it's an interesting question. How many gay athletes are there? Like, you know?
S12: Well there is the ten percentile, handsome.
MT: Yeah. That's the sort of number, right?
S12: But the thing is then are you... And I'm not trying to make hay of this, but is
it still not dangerous but is it still perilous for people to come out who are in the NHL,
the NBA, baseball, whatever? I mean is it...
MT: I would like to think we are on the cusp of it not being. I think that it's going to
be safe soon. But I think that, like when I came out it took my brain a while to catch
up and my behaviour a while to change. I think the psyche in sport is still that it's, it's
maybe not okay if I do that. And it's gonna take some time for that to shift and to change.
But I think we're starting to see it. I really believe it. I mean Jason I was happy. Now
Robby, last night said, "Wow! Already there's a second?" And by the time we're at the 5th,
6th, 8th it's not gonna be such a big deal. Now I spoke specifically, really, from a male
perspective. I just like to qualify this. It's a very different issue I believe as a
lesbian, a gay woman in sport. And it's interesting, I think it's the other side of the coin. It's
like there maybe many lesbians there in sport, but they're encouraged not to speak about
it so they don't perpetuate the stereotype that everybody's a lesbian. And again, it
comes down to that issue of masculinity because if you're a woman and you're good in sport
you must be masculine and therefore you must be a lesbian. Right? So it hinges around this...
That's just my own hypothesis, but I believe that that's kind of the crux of the issue.
So this is from a gay male perspective. I just wanted to qualify that, the very last
question of the night because the issue remains difficult, but it's come at it from a different
way.
S12: Well, not that I want your partner to come and say, "Oh my God, another thing for
him to do!" But if I could please kindly charge you to give this some serious thought 'cause
I think you'd make an extraordinary spokesperson, ambassador.
MT: I will do.
S12: Yeah. I think if they saw... It's like in any field, if you see someone credible
and worthy then you would want to attach yourself to this cause. And so if I could... May I
please leave that with you. And also, I heartfully thank you, Mark.
MT: Thank you very much. Thank you.
[applause]
SO: Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Tewksbury.
[applause]
SO: And can I also...
MT: Let's just one sec...
SO: Yeah.
MT: You guys wanna do the beaver cheer?
SO: Oh my God.
MT: Come on! So listen carefully! It's trickier than you think! So, I'm a beaver, you're a
beaver... This is the tricky part. Beaver's we are ALL. It has to rhyme with: And when
we get together we do the beaver CALL. Okay? So let's do it!
MT: And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three!
MT & SO: I'm a beaver! You're a beaver! Beavers we are all! When we get together, we do the
beaver call!
[laughter]
[applause]
SO: Thank you everybody. And thank you to June Callwood for continuing to inspire us.
And thank you Tina and everybody at the Public Reference Library. Thank you all.