Kick Ass + Take Names: Lezathlon LA
What happens when 600 lesbians get together for a massive multi-event competition involving oil wrestling, three-legged races, an obstacle course and tug of war? We’re about to find out this Saturday, September 1, when the TomboyX team heads to LA for Lezathlon, “the largest and most ridiculous lesbian sporting event in the world.”
To gear up for the main event, we chatted with Morgan Faye, Lezathlon’s founder and current CEO, about the event’s beginnings, her favorite events, and what she sees in Lezathlon’s future.
I have to know how a push up contest evolves into this.
Lezathlon actually began as sort of a joke in 2012 when I wanted to watch lesbians do push ups in the park for my birthday party. Funny enough, it seems lesbians are super keen on doing push ups! The oil wrestling probably didn’t hurt. I let a few of my friends invite a few of their friends and all of a sudden I had 150 RSVPs! I had to shut down the invite page, scramble for permits, and organize 12 teams! I called it “Lezlympics” and people took it really seriously. They made uniforms and trained—it was a riot! The day ended up being so fun and had such a great energy. I realized that this was something we were really missing in our community and I decided to make it a proper event, now named Lezathlon. We’re entering our seventh annual Lezathlon and I couldn’t be more proud of how far we have come. This year we’ll be supporting AIDS/LifeCycle as our charity.
How did you choose and develop your different events?
I think the success of Lezathlon is due to the fact that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and that there is something for everyone there. We make sure we have really difficult events for our premiere athletes to shine, trivia for our brainiacs, and silly events for everyone who just wants to have a ridiculous day in the park. We attract really impressive athletes who are there to show off their stuff, but we also have the most absurd games so that even those who are somewhat athletically challenged can have a blast. There’s a real community feel to the event. Everyone looks forward to it every year and the energy is super positive and silly and spirited.
Which events are your favorites and why?
Everyone always loves oil wrestling because it is both sexy and hilarious. I mean, you can’t complain about oil wrestling! But I personally love the obstacle course. We set up some really difficult stations and I love watching the badass athletes show us their stuff.
Do you personally compete?
Sadly, I haven’t competed since the original Lezathlon. Once it exploded into this massive competition, I had to direct all my time and energy into running a great event for everyone! But it would be nice to get back into the ring in the future.
Where do you see Lezathlon five years from now?
I think we’ll always hold an event in LA. Los Angeles is where we started and it truly is a dream destination for anyone in the queer community. However, we’ve received a ton of messages from women all over the world who are desperate to make it out to Lezathlon but just can’t afford the trip. We really believe that everyone should get the opportunity to play so we’ve decided to take Lezathlon on the road! Our first road trip destination was this year in Denver and it went great. Our plan is to expand to more and more cities every year. We are a small team and want to make sure that every event gets all the attention it deserves, but we absolutely plan to take Lezathlon to other U.S. cities and even overseas.
When is the next one? How do people sign up?
Our next event is Lezathlon LA! The tournament will take place on Saturday, September 1st, 2018 from 10am-6pm! We still have 2 team spots open or people can sign up to be Spectators or Free Agents! All of the information can be found on our website at lezathlon.com.
TomboyX will be on site at Lezathlon this weekend selling underwear, so if you’re in LA, be sure to stop by and say hi! The first 50 people to come by our booth and say “Live the X!” will get a free swag bag — be sure to get there in time to catch the oil wrestling because it’s not to be missed.