NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Michiel Thomas and Yuhei Ogawa, the executive producers of the documentary film "Game Face".

This documentary chronicles the coming out of two LGBT athletes: Fallon Fox, who is the first openly transgender MMA fighter, and Terrence Clemens, who came out as openly gay during his college basketball career.

We spoke with Michiel Thomas and Yuhei Ogawa Monday in New York at a showing of "Game Face" as part of DOC NYC, which is America's largest documentary film festival.

"There's a lot of reasons why we wanted to make the film," said Michiel Thomas, who also directed the film. "There were personal reasons for me, because I love basketball and I'm gay myself. But also I'm originally from Belgium, and when I moved out here I got to meet several friends who I found out that they lost their scholarship when they went to school because the school found out that they were gay. At the same time there was also a wave of teenage suicides going on. So all these events made me want to do something about it. And I thought this documentary could be a perfect answer. So that was the approach from the beginning."

We also discussed how they made contact with Fallon Fox through transgender basketball player Kye Allums, how the film premiered in April and has played in more than 45 film festivals with many more to come, plans to have it shown in schools and universities, future plans to get it on TV and online, the comparison of the reactions in MMA to Fallon Fox and the reactions in basketball to Terrence Clemens, and much more.

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Labels: basketball, Eddie Goldman, Fallon Fox, Game Face, LGBT, Michiel Thomas, MMA, No Holds Barred, Terrence Clemens, Yuhei Ogawa

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with MMA fighter Fallon Fox.

The first openly transgender MMA fighter, she is the subject, along with openly gay college basketball player Terrence Lamar Clemens, of a new documentary "Game Face".

Directed by Michiel Thomas, this film documents the inspiring coming out stories of these athletes.

We spoke with Fallon Fox by phone Thursday.

"'Game Face' is a documentary about LGBTQ athletes, what happens to them before they come out and during the process of when they come out as LGBTQ athletes in sports," she said.

"We have been filming for about a year and a half, almost two years with production to get this project complete. So I'm very happy that it's coming to full fruition as of late. So It's making its tour around film festivals, so people can check it out there as it makes its tour around those festivals. And you can also catch it whenever we find a distributor and put it out for the mass public."

We also discussed why acceptance and understanding of transgender people and athletes are growing, why she is currently not signed by any MMA promotion despite her 5-1 pro record, why fight promoters who refuse to sign her will be judged badly by history, the prospects for her getting signed to fight, her many other activities including writing, and much more.

"Game Face" is an important and worthy documentary which is both enlightening and moving, and is heartily recommended to be seen.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: athletes, Eddie Goldman, Fallon Fox, Game Face, homophobia, LGBT, MMA, No Holds Barred, sports, Terrence Lamar Clemens, trans, transgender, transphobia