October 2015

A warm welcome to the 7 new GLRF members who joined our community in September 2015: 1 - Spain; 4 - United States; 1 - France; 1 - United Kingdom

In collaboration with the Aviron Club Lyon-Caluire and the 2016 Dieux de l'Aviron calendar, the Gay + Lesbian Rowing Federation has launched a worldwide Inclusion and Acceptance pledge movement. The pledge is a personal online advocacy for the inclusion and acceptance [beyond tolerance] of gays and lesbians in the broader rowing community. GLRF is calling on every aspect of the rowing community: rowers, coaches, clubs, booster parents, university athletic directors, rowing alumni, race officials, regatta organizers, regional/national/international rowing governing bodies, boat builders, rowing retailers, and rowing media, to make a personal online pledge of advocacy and support.

Our vision is to transform rowing from within by reshaping an environment that currently ranges in spectrum from intolerance to tolerance into a culture of complete acceptance. Instead of focusing on external organizations to effect pressure, or encourage individual athletes to "come out," GLRF believes a pledge movement that shows statistical support from countries, from rowing communities, from rowing programmes, and from all roles and positions can create a movement that will eliminate the stigma, the judgment, and the perceived fear of gays and lesbians being themselves in the broader rowing community.

How can you help? Make the pledge and share your commitment to the pledge movement with others in your club or organization as well as your personal rowing network.

The 2016 Dieux de l'Aviron (Gods of Rowing) calendar features a summary of the pledge advocacy on the back cover, in English and French.

For the second year in a row, the Gay + Lesbian Rowing Federation is partnering with the French rowing club, Aviron Club Lyon-Caluire, to promote the 2016 Gods of Rowing Calendar (Les Dieux de l'Aviron). The straight rowing club has taken a proactive role in advocating for the inclusion and acceptance [beyond tolerance] of gay and lesbian rowers, coaches, and race/regatta officials in the broader rowing community - right on the calendar!

The calendars are available for order on the Shop At GLRF. The sales of each calendar helps to support GLRF's presence at regatta booths.

Biking home from Gold's Gym Hollywood and waiting for the light to turn at the corner of Hollywood & Vine, the ginormous billboard on the northeast corner caught our eye. A super hip clothing company was advertising one of their clothing lines with a message about "chillin' with my homies." That's when inspiration hit as quick as the first catch in a race: Nothing beats strokin' with my rowmies! From there, the creative team at GLRF, comprised of our Los Angeles and New York City agencies, set to to work to produce two shirts that would tempt both sexes. Multiple slogans were proposed and discarded as we worked to create front and back themes that were fun and edgy. The result are two super hip, black-marbled wide neck t-shirts that we hope will delight men and women: the Strokin' Browmance shirt and the Catchin' Rowmance shirt. Would someone please tell straight guys how sexy they look in a wide neck tee?

By the time this newsletter goes out, the GLRF booth at the Head of the Schuylkill regatta will be wrapping up but there are still two more GLRF booth events this fall. You can visit the booth at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, New York 31 October and 01 November and the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, Tennessee 06 November and 07 November. Take the chance to grab the new 2016 Gods of Rowing Calendar or browse some of the new shirts, such as the Strokin' Browmance, the Catchin' Rowmance, the Port Curious and the Starboard Curious. Or just pop in to say hello and bring a friend or two, a coach, a teammate, a parent or your soon to be bf/gf!

Don't forget that you can snag a free calendar with an upgrade to our OnTheWater Calendar membership level. The cost is US $30 and includes free shipping.

Don't forget about the great deal for all OnTheWater members. When you login and visit the Shop At GLRF, your status will automatically reduce all prices by 15%.

Share A Link - this isn't just a list of links. Add your club or other rowing links that our members would enjoy, and through our dynamic database listing, the links appear on the GLRF Country pages, the GLRF Categories pages, and soon, our new Learn To Row page.

Calendar - 8 regional calendars allow any GLRF member to post an event for his/her geographic area.

Blogwater - any GLRF member can create a club blog with multiple author access so you don't have to make all the posts. It's a great way to spread the news about your club!

Gallery - any member has their own personal gallery but did you know you can create a gallery for your rowing club? Any image you upload to that gallery has an instant copy and paste code that can be used in a post on a forum, in a calendar event, and in a blog entry?

Groups - you can create an instant club on GLRF with the All Oars Groups. It's free and there is no muss and fuss about website design or domain name management. GLRF helps you create an easy to share subdomain name and suddenly you have a membership site for your city, the gay and lesbian rowers in your club, or for a category community in your country. You can add events to the group, you instantly have your own forum, and you can publish news. GLRF will add a separate group image gallery for you, and you can list links for rowing clubs in your area where your group's members row.

Forums - Every country where GLRF has a member has its own forum. You can post a topic there, be it looking for a coxie or to discuss items of interest to your own GLRF country.

Classifieds - 8 regional classifieds sections allow any GLRF member to submit an ad for an item or for a service. The classifieds are free for any GLRF member.