Written by:
Myra LaVenue
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this Issue of Curve:
Vol.17 #7
Imagine a gathering of 300 queer women who play soccer by day, dance together at night and, through it all, celebrate each other and sportsmanship. We live in a time when many lesbians still stay closeted just to make a sports team, when NCAA coaches make news for resigning after allegations of harassing their lesbian players. Homophobia in sports is still quite prevalent, but not all women are willing to hide who they are while they play the sports they love. Every Labor Day weekend since 1991, a lesbian soccer tournament has brought together women who love women and love the game. It's called Festival of the Babes, FOB for short, and it's publicized primarily by word of mouth.
"We thought up FOB as a tournament that would welcome and celebrate the participation of lesbians in the soccer community. It was about challenging homophobia in sports and creating an environment in which lesbians could be comfortable expressing themselves," says Alexa Wilkie, one of the founders of FOB.
Babes began in 1991 after a San Francisco lesbian soccer team, the Follies, returned from the 1990 Gay Games in Vancouver, reveling in all the gay athleticism. The following spring, the Follies played in a soccer tournament at the gay and lesbian Seattle Sports Festival. The founding organizing committee, known as the FOB Squad, left that event knowing they could put on their own tournament and do an even better job. With very little time to prepare, they each chipped in $100 to cover costs and pulled together an eight-team tournament in San Francisco that Labor Day weekend. They thought of ways to make FOB fun and less focused on competition than other soccer tournaments. There were special "strip soccer" rules, costumed players and goofy names for the tournament divisions. Keeping with the Gay Games program, they included an opening ceremony to kick off the tournament.
FOB has come a long way from that humble inaugural event, lovingly described by participant Julie Johnson as her "first lesbian Christmas." After years of being the host city, San Francisco passed the ball to Vancouver. FOB has since also been held in Portland, Ore., and in Seattle. Co-founder Millie Supple reflects, "It grew year by year into what it is now-almost a Halloween, slash Gay Pride, slash Burning Woman soccer event-that now has to turn teams away."
The nightly FOB parties are usually held in clubs around the host city and feature entertainment, such as skits, drag king performances and go-go dancers. Countless numbers of couples have met at these parties, and the atmosphere is much more intimate than a Pride party filled with strangers. The parties from the 13th FOB still resonate with bar owners in Portland four years later: Bartenders were swarmed, they ran out of some liquors, and the Saturday-night venue was packed. (The impact of 300 fun-seeking soccer players cannot be described, only experienced.)
"FOB is a safe and special event for women who love women to come, play soccer and get as outrageous as they want," says Megan McNeal, a festival virgin until 2006.
Supple says she's amazed that "what we started 17 years ago is still going strong and can still bring so many lesbians from all walks of life together. It is a true spectacle … and I hope to hell it outlasts me!"
This year's 24-team festival is themed "Barely Legal" and will be held in Portland, Aug. 31 through Sept. 2.
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