In 2 weeks on 4th of March I will be presenting in Frankfurt at Members Best Practice Conference as pre - EGLSF AGA 2011 with quite a few speakers and workshop presenters.

My presentation What creative fields can contribute to innovation and development in LGBTQ sport? is a part of Cultural Perspectives on LGBTIQ Sports paired-up with Wagner Camargo's session "Discussing Sex and Sexuality in the sports arena" on his scientific research as social anthropologist.

An open letter from qSPORT in regard to the recent events in Croatia,
related to statements of Mr.Vlatko Marković, president of the Croatian Football Federation

WHY AN APOLOGY IS
JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Dear EGLSF board, members and sport enthusiasts,

We know you have all heard recently of statements by Mr.Vlatko Marković, 
but probably lack the exact understanding of the context and the impact 
to realize that his act will not be fixed by a mere apology.

Croatia is a small country that most have heard of only in the 90s, 
due to the wars in Balkans and the breakdown of the Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia. 
Some may also know it also for its amazing nature resorts and 
cultural heritage protected by UNESCO (exceptional number of protected sites).
Aside from this, quite a few athletes (Blanka Vlašić, Janica and Ivica Kostelić, 
Duje Draganja, Sanja Jovanović...) and national teams (in handball, water polo, 
rowing, tennis...) put this troubled country (4.6 million inhabitants) 
on the sport world map by making exceptional achievements in a better way 
then any politician or business has done so far in attempts to meet EU standards.

Last week EGLSF's Innovation and Good Practice Fund awarded support to QueerSport-in-SEE (South East Europe) a project proposal submitted by qSPORT. Project was initiated as an effort in ProActiveOUTREACH in order to instigate pioneering LGBTQ Sport development in the region of South-East Europe.

Although the awarded funds are only 1.000 euros (adequate only for small scale projects and with limitations it's use) we hope that the network potential of LGBTQ sport community will help us upscale existing plans and make the most out of this opportunity in developing new development practices.

"Don't forget to say Hi to the generals!"* That was the last thing I heard from a friend who dropped me off at the Split airport while I was going through the security check. I was about to board the plane for Cologne, and then continue by train to my destination – The Hague – city of peace and justice. Whether it deserves its reputation as a city of justice or not is a matter of great debate in Croatia, the country where I am coming from, still wrestling with the legacy of the recent civil war. But my mission there certainly did have something to do with justice, or injustice. The kind of injustice rarely acknowledged as such in this same southeastern European country, but in the last couple of years nevertheless emerging as a topic. The topic being gay issues in general, or more specifically gay issues in sports. Thanks to the finnancial support of EGLSF's Outreach fund I was off to the 2009 Annual General Assembly of The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation that was taking place there.