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The Gay Games is a popular sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay and lesbian community. They were started in San Francisco in 1982, the brainchild of Tom Waddell, whose goals were to promote the spirit of inclusion and participation, and the pursuit of personal best into a sporting event:
- The purpose of the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) is to foster and augment the self-respect of lesbians and gay men throughout the world and to engender respect and understanding from the nongay world, primarily through an organized international participatory athletic and cultural event held every four years, and commonly known as the Gay Games.
The Gay Games are open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There are no qualifying standards to compete in the Gay Games. They bring together athletes and artists from all over the world, many from countries where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden.
Locations of Gay Games
| Name | Location | Opening | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gay Games I - Challenge 1982 | San Francisco, USA | August 28, 1982 | 1,600 |
| Gay Games II - Triumph 1986 | San Francisco, USA | August 9, 1986 | 3,500 |
| Gay Games III - Celebration 1990 | Vancouver, Canada | August 4, 1990 | 9,500 |
| Gay Games IV - Unity 1994 | New York, USA | June 18, 1994 | 11,000 |
| Gay Games V - Friendship 1998 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | August 1, 1998 | 14,700 |
| Gay Games VI - Under New Skies 2002 | Sydney, Australia | November 2, 2002 | 12,000 |
| Gay Games VII - Where the World Meets 2006 | Chicago, USA | July 15, 2006 | |
| Gay Games VIII - Be Part of it 2010 | Cologne, Germany | July 31, 2010 |
On 16 March 2005, the Federation of Gay Games announced that Cologne, Johannesburg, and Paris were the official candidate cities for Gay Games VIII in 2010. Cologne was elected in the FGG annual meeting in Chicago in 14 November 2005...
Controversy over Gay Olympics
Dr. Tom Waddell, the doctor and former Olympian who helped found the Gay Games, intended the Gay Games to be called the "Gay Olympics," but a lawsuit filed less than three weeks before 1982's inaugural Gay Olympics forced the name change.
Event organizers were sued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) under the U.S. Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which gave the USOC exclusive rights to the word Olympic in the United States. Defendants of the lawsuit contended that the law was capriciously applied and that if the Nebraska Rat Olympics and the Police Olympics did not face similar lawsuits, neither should the Gay Olympics.
Some, like Jeff Sheehy, coauthor of San Francisco's domestic partner legislation and former president of the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered Democratic Club, believed homophobia to be a motivation behind the lawsuit. They cite the authorized use of the word "Olympics" by the Special Olympics and other organizations as evidence of this homophobia.
Others, like Daniel Bell, cite the IOC's long history of protecting the Olympics brand as evidence that the lawsuit against the "Gay Olympics" was not motivated by discrimination against gays. Since 1910, the IOC has taken action, including lawsuits and expulsion from the IOC, to stop other organizations from using the word "Olympics."
Global schism over Gay Games VII?
The seventh edition of the Gay Games was originally planned for Montréal in 2006, but the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) removed its sanction after differences arose between it and Montréal 2006, ostensibly over the size of the event. After withdrawal of its sanction, the FGG awarded the official Gay Games VII to Chicago, Illinois. Montréal nevertheless decided to proceed to hold an athletic event without the sanction of the FGG; this plan developed into the first edition of the World Outgames, and the creation of its sanctioning body, the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association. It is yet to be seen whether the worldwide communities of LGBT athletes are both willing and able to support both the Gay Games and World Outgames into the future. Ozzie Guillen, manager of Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox, has publicly announced that he will attend this year's Gay Games in Chicago.
See also
- Federation of Gay Games
- EuroGames is a similar event. However, whereas Gay Games is a global event, Eurogames is primarily European, organized by the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation
- World Outgames, organized by the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association
References
External links
- Chicago 2006
- Montréal 2006
- Federation of Gay Games
- Bid cities for the 2010 Gay Games
- Cologne -- Winning city
- Johannesburg
- Paris
"Gay Games"