Controversy at the British Championships

Chess President’s T-Shirt a Controversy at Championships
August 07, 2011 10:20:00 AM ET
By Andrew Harmon

English Chess Federation president CJ de Mooi said he was discouraged from handing out awards at the British Chess Championships on Saturday for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Some People Are Gay. Get Over It!”

The Guardian reports that de Mooi, a panelist on the BBC quiz show Eggheads and president of the chess federation since 2009, was “shaking with fury” after a competition organizer suggested he change his shirt prior to the award presentations. He said he was then asked to present prizes to adult winners only. “I refused. I was either going to present all the prizes or none at all,” de Mooi said.

Laura Barnes, championship arbiter of event, told the Guardian that despite her concerns about the shirt, she didn’t demand a wardrobe change from de Mooi: “I didn’t think that promoting gay rights, which I thoroughly agree with, while presenting prizes to junior chess players was an appropriate thing,” she said. “Usually prize-givers for a national event would wear a suit and tie.”

More here.