LGBTQ flag football league prepares for inaugural season in Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A local flag football league is gearing up for its first ever season, bringing members of the LGBTQ community together on the football field to compete while providing a safe space.

The newest members of the Oregon Alliance Flag Football League are putting in the work to get ready for the inaugural season.

OAFFL Commissioner Derek Spears said they are teaching the players how to lower the risk of sports injuries while playing the game.

SEE ALSO: Cats, dogs rescued from Maui arrive in Portland

“We’re just kind of giving them language,” Spears said. “When we say this, ‘this is what that means, when you do this that’s why it’s important. You move your body like this because we don’t want you to tear a hip or twist an ankle.’”

While the players may not all be the same age, or on the same skill level, they’re all part of the LGBTQ+ community, but that detail isn’t important to Spears.

“We don’t have to talk about sexuality unless you want to, we don’t have to talk about gender unless you want to, but it’s not important here. We want to play football, we want to build community, we want to create belonging and we want to have fun,” he said.

SEE ALSO: Hardesty settles lawsuit against City of Portland for $5K, signed apology

As the new players run through drills and learn the basics of flag football, Spears can’t help but remember how important this safe space was when he first joined the National Flag Football League of Atlanta almost 20 years ago.

“It was in 2007 I found out that I was HIV positive. I was already in such a very dark space of shame in my life, of guilt and all the things that came along with it. To get that diagnosis was kind of like another kind of nail in the coffin,” Spears said. “That organization and those people created a lot of life in me that I did not have, and it really is a part of the reason why I’m still here today. It saved me.”

So, it only felt natural for him to help create the same environment for the next generation. While they’ve already reached 40 members, Spears says the more people that join, the merrier.

“We hit the goal we set, anything we get beyond this, is beautiful,” he said.

If you’re interested in joining, you can sign up here.

Copyright 2023 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.