C: Mika Kozma (R), of Poland, who is married to a woman, and Tom Slater of the U.S. compete in the Ballroom Dancing event during Gay Games VII in Chicago July 20, 2006. If gays want to play football or darts, Chicago is the place to be. The 2006 Chicago Gay Games, which opened on July 15, lasts a week. The pairs figure skating and ballroom dance, both staged last Wednesday, are unmistakably, incontrovertibly gay. They are also among the most popular events for spectators. The events provide one of the precious few venues for same-sex couples to participate in activities like figure skating and ballroom dancing without enduring jeers or sideways glances. "That they can for once hold hands with a man here is uplifting," said Stina Rogal, who is co-organizing the Gay Games figure skating competition. "It makes all the years they spent working as hard as anyone else pay off." At the downtown Hilton Chicago, women twirled women while wearing matching sequined dresses or with one dressed conservatively as the leader and the follower decked out in a hot pink two-piece outfit. Men spun across the floor with other men, often dressed in identical black tuxedos. One follower wore a flowing pink scarf that trailed behind him on the dance floor. "If two men dance Latin together, it's very powerful," said Ursula Hegglin, 40, of Switzerland. "Their elegance across the floor is marvelous." And two women can be a more graceful pairing. Hegglin and Loredana Conte, 45, who are both dance partners and a romantic couple, wore matching one-piece jumpsuits with Hegglin in pink and Conte in black. "She leads and I follow," Hegglin said. "It's great to be here with these people and do what we feel like doing." Another team, Latin dance veterans from New York, said dancing as a same-sex couple offers more options than in traditional ballroom dancing. "You can show so many more things and be so much more versatile with your dance," said Jacob Jason, 26, who danced with Willem Devries, also 26. "It's much more artistic." But there can be difficulties as well. Men need to adjust to dancing with a partner who has equally big hands. And the difficulty for women? Well, four breasts take up more room than two in close dance positions, noted Tara Walsh of northern California.    (Agencies)

如果同性戀們想踢足球或投標槍，芝加哥是最理想的去處。為期一周的2006年芝加哥同性戀運動會于7月15日開幕。毫無疑問，于上周三舉行的雙人花樣滑冰和交際舞大賽的參賽者們也是同性戀人。同時，這兩項比賽也最受觀眾們歡迎。 運動會專門從為數不多的幾所高檔場館中選出一所，作為花樣滑冰和交際舞此類比賽的場地，以防這些同性伴侶們受到嘲笑或遭白眼。 同性戀運動會花樣滑冰大賽的協辦者史蒂娜·羅格說：“他們能夠破例在這里與男伴牽手比賽，真是令人激動。他們多年來像別人一樣辛勤努力，如今終于得到了回報。” 在市區的希爾頓芝加哥酒店里，女人們在賽場上旋轉起舞，她們或者穿著彼此搭配的亮片長裙，或是領舞者穿得保守點，伴舞者穿著熱辣的粉紅兩件套。 男人們也在舞池中翩翩起舞，他們常穿著一模一樣的黑色燕尾服。一位伴舞者戴著飄逸的粉色圍巾，圍巾隨著舞步在他的身后飄揚。 40歲的瑞典人厄休拉·赫格琳說：“如果兩個男人一起跳拉丁，會顯得很有力量。他們在舞池里表現出來的優雅是一流的。” 如果兩個女人做舞伴，會更優美。 赫格琳和45歲的羅達娜·昆蒂既是舞伴，又是情侶。她們倆都穿了一條連衣裙，赫格琳穿的是粉色，而昆蒂穿的是黑色。 赫格琳說：“她領舞，我伴舞。和這些朋友們在一起感覺真的很好，我們可以做自己想做的事。” 來自紐約的一對交際舞老手說，同性交際舞比傳統的交際舞更加自由。 26歲的雅各布·詹森說：“你可以表現出更多的東西，你的舞步也會更加自如多樣。這樣的交際舞更具美感”。他的搭檔是26歲的威勒姆·德弗利斯。 但是困難同樣存在。男人們要適應和一個有著與自己同樣大手的舞伴一起跳舞。女人的難處呢？來自加利福尼亞北部的塔拉·沃爾什說，兩個女人靠的很近的情況下，胸部占的空間要比一男一女時要大。 (英語點津姍姍編輯)