Gay Games VI Chronicles
By Chris Salvatierra, Indigo Corewomyn

Three days after the closing ceremonies of the Gay Games, I went to Sydney’s Town Hall Square.  The benches were almost empty…the people around me seemed “straight” and unfriendly.  Where had all the participants to the games gone?  I guess like me, they wanted to go home.  It was a learning experience and I have to thank a lot of people who made this all possible.  Looking back at all that’s happened and looking forward to a fresher point of view and to the Gay Games VII in Montreal.  I smile and say to myself that yes, I still have to conquer the world but first, I want to go home.

The Preparation…

Pride March 2001 – that was the first time I heard of Team Philippines, the team of Filipinos going to the Gay Games in Sydney.  What?  A Gay Games?  The Gay Games?  An Olympic Event for LGBTs?  Thanks to Malu Marin of LeAP! I had an idea what the Games were.  Ché Celi of Indigo Philippines encouraged me to go and apply for a scholarship.  That was wishful thinking back then.  Yeah right, I told myself.  Like I would be able to go to Sydney.  As if I had the money. I didn’t even have a passport.  OK, I told her, I’ll apply if you would.  So I did apply online. 

A lot happened after that.  I forgot all about my application to the games.  I was voted as Coordinator of Task Force Pride.  This kept me busy for the rest of 2001 and the first half of this year (2002).  I was emailed by someone from the Gay Games VI organizers telling me that I was given a full scholarship and was told to submit a couple of things – like the photocopy of the identification page of my passport (like I had one back then), a letter of support from an LGBT or Human Rights organization (that one was easy – could ask Amnesty International Pilipinas to write one or just write one myself…haha.) and last but not the least, contact details of someone in Australia who can verify the information I gave them.  That one was tough.  Who do I know in Australia?  I do have relatives there but they are distant…very distant relatives…like first cousins of my first cousins.  Would they agree to that?  Do they still remember me?  How would they react if I told them I need their contact details because I need to go to the Gay Games?

In short, I was so pressured I took my time.  I took my sweet time in applying for a passport and in sending an email to my cousins’ cousin.  I kept my usual cool. 

Team Philippines met a couple of times.  We had to know who was going and we’d do there, where we would stay, the status of our documents and travel arrangements and of course the all important opening ceremonies “costume” or uniform.  This was just like a month or so before the opening.  Talk of gays, lesbians and transgenders wanting to look good and look Filipino at the same time without burning a hole in their wallet.  (Please note that there were no bisexuals – well, nobody identified, as a bisexual)  That was a tiring discussion – the uniform.  To top it all, I guess I was the one in charge of that by default.  Tina (of Indigo) and her brother, Dennis have a business of printing shirts and other stuff. 

During all these, I got my passport and submitted them all to Jorge Alvarez, the one in charge of scholarships of the Gay Games in Sydney via courier.  I was in touch with Ate Lea, my cousins’ cousin who was so accommodating and helpful. 

After finalizing the shirts to be worn on opening ceremony, all were into worrying about their visas and travel arrangements.  This was just two weeks before the opening on November 2.  The mailing list of the Pinoy gay games was bursting out with angst and anxiety with the slow processing of visa and unclear travel arrangements for the scholars.  I gave my option to leave the country on the 27^th of October.  What a time to cram and complain and to harass and poke Harvey Purse, Registration Database Coordinator GGVI and Jorge Alvarez, Scholarship Coordinator GGVI.  I finally lodged my visa application via courier on the 22^nd of October.  I took the time because I had to wait for my invitation letter from the organizers. It arrived on October 29 – I was already in Sydney. 

On the 23^rd of October, I followed up at the Australian Embassy.  Their call center told me it’s about ten to seven working days to process.  No way!  I had to go aboard the flight on Sunday, October 27.  So, I again poked on Harvey and Jorge.  (Thanks to them!!!  So patient and understanding!)  The other scholars were ranting about their flight details and the dearth in info. I didn’t even worry about that since I had no visa!

The next day, October 24, I was shocked to know that I was supposed to fly the night before.  This was according to Qantas – Makati.  That was it.  So I again made kulit to Harvey.  I asked the person who answered the Qantas number to waitlist me on the 27^th – a fully booked flight. 

October 25 – judgment day.  This is the day.  It was this day or miss the Global Human Rights Conference.  I went online and looked for the email address of the Principal Migration Officer of the Australian Embassy here.  I emailed the PMO and requested to expedite my visa process.  While finishing lunch, I got a call from an Immigration Officer and had an impromptu interview. She told me that she’d try to give me the visa this day but no promises.  She also asked me to fax the letters of support/recommendation that I have.  Ok so far.  So I waited.  Finally around 3:00 p.m., she called again and asked if I could come to the embassy before 4:30.  I said yes.  So off I went to Makati from Manila.  The hardest part in rushing is that you can’t get a cab instantly and the traffic decided to go on a rampage at the same time.  On my way, I called Dennis Mendoza of UP Babaylan.  He was having visa problems too and I told him to go to the embassy and meet me there.  Finally, we both got our visas and got to the Qantas office to get our tickets.

Finally, I was going to Sydney to attend the Gay Games.  Incidentally, it was also my first time to travel outside the country.  Excited but nervous, I went to the airport four hours before the scheduled time since I was waitlisted.  Praying and hoping I’d get on the plane.  Thanks to the Qantas staff at the airport office they removed some of the tension that was building in me.  They told me that I would get on that plane.  I did – 10 minutes before boarding.  Thanks to Dax, Jack, Ryan, Eloi, Riya and Ferdie - they put my spirits up.  We got together before boarding.  Thanks to my Dad, his girlfriend and my partner for staying at the café at the airport to wait for me in case I didn’t make it.  We boarded the airplane on time.

The Trip To Sydney – Flight QF19

The flight to Sydney takes about ten hours because the flight had a stopover at Brisbane.  The flight to Brisbane wasn’t eventful.  The stopover was!  Well, the food was so-so.  I had to eat or get hungry. 

The stop at Brisbane was memorable for me for one thing – I was nearly left by the plane because of the tight security.  All passengers had to go down even if we were to ride the same plane we rode.  So, off I went with just my passport, boarding pass, tickets and myself.  Unfortunately, we were not the only plane that landed.  There were about two other planes.  The queue was long and there was only one line out.  When it was my turn, I had to go back at least three times and still the metal detector was making noise.  The lady told me – finally that it must be my shoes!  Sure enough, it was!  I was about to ask them if I needed to strip naked so I could pass through.  

I only wanted to smoke before boarding the plane.  It was good that the gays were with me.  They accompanied me and had a good “view”.

The flight from Brisbane to Sydney was better.  Maybe because my seatmate let me sit on the window seat.  He’s a Filipino who migrated to Melbourne.  I couldn’t see anything green – Sydney was experiencing the worst drought in years.  No rain for six months as I was told.  Still, I wasn’t disappointed.  I was feeling kind of worried that my very distant relatives would not pick me up at the airport as promised.  It’s a foreign land.  Even though I could speak the language, it still scared me to wander about.  It was my first time out of the country. 

(more about Chris' [mis]adventure next issue J)

© Chris Salvatierra 2002

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About The Author
Chris, as she is called by her wife - Kokoy to her Indigo friends - drives a car lovingly named Macho. She was last year's and  (still) 2003 overall Coordinator of Task Force Pride activities.