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The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of
sexual diversity Gender and sexual diversity (GSD), or simply sexual diversity, refers to all the diversities of sex characteristics, sexual orientations and gender identities, without the need to specify each of the identities, behaviors, or characteristics tha ...
, featuring
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fema ...
,
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
, and
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
(
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was started in the United States in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, in 1982, as the brainchild of Olympic decathlete (Mexico City 1968) and medical doctor Tom Waddell, Brenda Young, and others,The History of LGBT Participation in the Olympics
whose goals were to promote the spirit of inclusion and participation, as well as to promote the pursuit of personal growth in a sporting event. Waddell wanted to recreate the Olympics' power to bring people of various different backgrounds together through the international language of sport, and the organizers of the first event strived to accommodate differences and achieve gender parity. It retains similarities with the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, including the Gay Games flame which is lit at the opening ceremony. The games are open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation, and there are no qualifying standards. Competitors come from many countries, including those where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden. The 1994 Gay Games, held in June in New York City to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the
Stonewall Riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of J ...
, the modern start of the LGBT movement in the United States, "overtook the Olympics in size" with 10,864 athletes compared to 9,356 at the
1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
and 10,318 at the
1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
.


Federation of Gay Games

The Federation of Gay Games (FGG) is the sanctioning body of the Gay Games which was founded in 1982 by Tom Waddell, after he dealt first-hand with the
prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's perc ...
towards gay athletes and their inability to openly participate in sporting events. The Federation of Gay Games hosts the world's biggest cultural and sporting event for the
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
community every four years. The Federation of Gay Games is founded on the principles of "participation, inclusion, and personal best" and continues to support the LGBT community not only through the Gay Games but through
scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...
for underprivileged members. The Federation of Gay Games continues to expand throughout the world and accepts members of any sexual orientation and nationality to participate in the games or contribute. The FGG is planning on hosting the next Gay Games in 2022 in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...
. From its statement of concept and purpose:


Host nations and cities


Gay Games I: San Francisco 1982

The 1982 games took place in San Francisco from August 28 to September 5, 1982. Singer
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
performed at the opening ceremonies, and
Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from t ...
performed at the closing ceremonies. San Francisco was chosen as the location for the first Gay Games not only because it was the home of founder Tom Waddell, but also because the games had support from local government and essential services, and because there was a large gay and lesbian population in San Francisco that could serve as volunteers and leaders. The opening ceremonies, held in
Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium is an outdoor athletics stadium in San Francisco, California, located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park. It is the former home of the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders (first AFL ...
, began with former U.S. Olympians, George Frenn and Susan McGreivy lighting a flame that had been carried on a torch run across America, beginning in New York at the Stonewall Inn. The original sports that were offered at the first Gay Games were; basketball, billiards, bowling, cycling, diving, golf, marathon, physique,
powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...
, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling. 1,350 competitors whose origins ranged from over 170 cities worldwide competed in the first Gay Games. In order to achieve greater inclusion and diversity, the organizers of the first Gay Games created outreach committees to attract and recruit athletes from minority groups including people of color, women, and rural lesbians and gays. Because Waddell disliked the nationalism of major sporting events like the Olympics, participants at the first games represented their cities rather countries, and competitive elements such as medal tallies, medal ceremonies, and recording athletic records were banned.


Gay Games II: San Francisco 1986

The 1986 games took place in San Francisco from August 9 to 17, 1986. Singers
Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a s ...
and Jae Ross were the featured performers during the closing ceremonies. There was an increase of competing athletes in the second Gay Games participants to over 3,500.


Gay Games III: Vancouver 1990

The 1990 games took place in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...
, British Columbia, from August 4 to 11, 1990. Approximately 7,300 athletes took part in 27 sports, with another 1,500 cultural participants attending. Opening and closing ceremonies were at
BC Place Stadium BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province. The venue is current ...
(20 years later to be the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony and the
2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on February 28, 2010, beginning at 5:30 pm PST (01:30 UTC, March 1) at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was the first Olympic Closing Ceremony held in a ...
). This was the first games to be held outside the United States, and it is also notable for being the first games in which Masters world records were set (two, in swimming). The event was also heralded by controversy from social conservatives. A Fraser Valley church's members took out full page ads in ''
The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published six ...
'' and ''
The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...
'' condemning the event as proof of an "impending sodomite invasion" and encouraging residents to gather at Empire Stadium to pray against the event. The government of then-Premier
Bill Vander Zalm William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a politician and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 28th premier of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991. Early life Wilhelmus Ni ...
refused to fund the event. Original video documentation, photographs, and textual records related to Celebration '90 Gay Games III, originally gathered by Forward Focus, artist Mary Anne McEwen's production company and official
videographer Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...
of the Games. The items are available via VIVO Media Arts Centre's archive, both in-person by appointment or digitally online. The
fond In the culinary arts, fond is a contraction of ''fonds de cuisine'' which is loosely described as "the foundation and working capital of the kitchen". It refers to a flavorful liquid that is used as foundation (''fondation'' in French, hence the ...
includes 143 unedited 30-minute
Betacam Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. All ...
recordings of sporting competitions, cultural events, opening and closing ceremonies, backstage activities and interviews with organizers, athletes, artists, community representatives, and opponents. The fond also includes 240 photographs, Celebration ’90 ephemera, and extensive textual materials, including the Official Program. McEwen was a Vancouver-based
LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
activist, Gayblevision co-founder, and co-organizer of the first Out On Screen Film and Video Festival. The footage was shot in anticipation of a feature-length documentary entitled, "Legacy: The Story of the Gay Games" that McEwen was unable to complete due to insufficient funding. McEwen, a longtime VIVO member, bequeathed her personal archive to VIVO hoping that this footage would be made widely available.


Gay Games IV: New York 1994

The 1994 games took place in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
, from June 18 to 25, 1994. The games coincided with the 25th-anniversary events of the
Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of J ...
and were themed on "Unity". Actor Sir
Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...
gave the closing address at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
on June 25, 1994. There were over 15,000 participants that either competed in the sporting events or in cultural ceremonies in the Gay Games of 1994.
Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second diver in Ol ...
, multiple-time World and Olympic Champion diver, served as the announcer and performed a spectacular three-meter springboard exhibition between events. The sporting events of Gay Games IV expanded to thirty one from previous years, including but not limited to, flag football, figure skating, and the first ever internationally sanctioned women's wrestling. Track and Field Results - http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/events/ggiv/trackm.htm


Gay Games V: Amsterdam 1998

The 1998 games took place in Amsterdam,
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...
, from August 1 to 8, 1998. The opening and closing ceremonies took place in the
Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...
.


Gay Games VI: Sydney 2002

The 2002 game took place in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , e ...
, from November 2 to 9, 2002. Sydney won the bid to host the games from other contenders which were
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
,
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...
,
Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated ...
/Los Angeles and
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...
. The Games opening included a speech by out gay High Court of Australia Justice Michael Kirby and were officially opened by New South Wales Governor Professor
Marie Bashir Dame Marie Roslyn Bashir (born 1 December 1930) is the former and second longest-serving Governor of New South Wales. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical position ...
. When Gay Games VI was chosen to be in Sydney, Australia it was partially because of already present GLQBTI sport teams. The Sydney Gay Games were the first in the Southern Hemisphere and this was emphasized by the games theme "Under new skies".


Gay Games VII: Chicago 2006

Gay Games VII were held in Chicago,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
, from July 15 to July 22, 2006. For more on the controversy surrounding Chicago's selection as host city, see Schism in LGBT sports communities over Gay Games VII below.


Gay Games VIII: Cologne 2010

On March 16, 2005, the FGG announced that Cologne, Germany;
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to De ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
; and
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, were the official candidate cities for Gay Games VIII in 2010. Cologne was elected at the FGG annual meeting in Chicago on November 14, 2005. The games were held in Cologne from July 31 to August 6, 2010. This marked the second time the games were held in Europe, with the first being in Amsterdam in 1998.


Gay Games IX: Cleveland and Akron 2014

On March 17, 2009, the FGG announced that groups from
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
; Cleveland,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
; and
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, were finalists for the bidding to host Gay Games IX. On September 29, 2009, at the FGG Site Selection Meeting in Cologne, Germany, Cleveland was chosen as presumptive host of Gay Games IX in 2014. The host organization, Cleveland Special Events Corporation, later expanded the host city to include nearby Akron, Ohio. They also chose to style their event as "Gay Games 9" rather than the traditional Roman numeral "Gay Games IX".


Gay Games X: Paris 2018

On July 31, 2012, the FGG announced that seven cities had been approved as prospective bidders. The groups were from Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
;
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...
;
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...
, United States; Paris, France; and a group proposing to host the Gay Games in either
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
or
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
, Brazil. By August 31, 2012, letters of intent to bid had been received from all groups except those in Brazil. In December 2012, the FGG announced that several requests from bidders to add new sports to the program of the games. Of these requests, that for the inclusion of polo was rejected, while those for archery, boxing, fencing, pétanque, roller derby and wheelchair rugby were approved. Of these, boxing, pétanque, roller derby and wheelchair rugby were included in the bids of the three finalist bidding organizations. Bid books were provided by February 28, 2013, with a Q&A held over April and May 2013. A shortlisting vote took place on May 31, 2013, resulting in the shortlisting of Limerick, London and Paris as the final three cities to continue on the 2018 Bid cycle. Shortlisted cities received a 4-day visit (inspection sites) from a team of FGG inspectors (4 delegates + 1 CM) in July 2013. The final vote took place in Cleveland (Ohio, USA) during the 2013 Annual General Assembly. On 7 October, Paris was elected host city for the 2018 Gay Games.


Future Gay Games


Gay Games XI: Hong Kong – Guadalajara 2023

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...
was announced as the host city of the 11th Gay Games, at a gala event at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, on October 30, 2017. They won with a clear majority of votes, in the first round of voting. It is the first time that the Gay Games will be held in Asia. The "longlist" of cities interested in bidding to host Gay Games XI in 2022 was announced in April 2016. An unprecedented seventeen cities were interested in bidding. On 30 June 2016, the Federation of Gay Games announced that eleven cities had submitted their Letter Of Intent to formally bid. Anaheim, Atlanta, Des Moines, Madison, Minneapolis and San Antonio decided not to pursue their option to bid. On July 31, 2016, nine cities submitted their second registration fee to remain in the bid process. Both Cape Town and Tel Aviv dropped out at this stage, stating an intention to bid for Gay Games XII in 2026. On November 30, 2016, Bid Books were submitted by eight candidate cities with Los Angeles dropping out at this stage. A shortlist of three Candidate Cities was announced on March 1, 2017. Guadalajara, Hong Kong and Washington, DC, hosted site visits before the final decision on the host city was made in Paris on Monday 30 October.


Gay Games XII: Valencia 2026

At the early stage, evidence on social media exists for an exploratory bid by Brisbane, Australia and Brighton & Hove, United Kingdom. Anecdotal evidence from the 2022 bid process also suggests that Tel Aviv, Israel, will bid again, seeking to bring the Gay Games to the Middle East for the first time. The Federation of Gay Games publish the call for interested cities on 19 December 2019, and the official RFI was issued on January 31, 2020. Prospective bidding cities had to submit the response to the RFI by February 21, 2020. The press release issued on February 29 by the FGG stated: "The Federation of Gay Games has received a record number of expressions of interest from cities around the globe desiring to be the host of the twelfth Gay Games XII to be held in 2026!" A shortlist of three Candidate Cities was announced on March 1, 2021. On November 11, 2021 in
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...
, Valencia, Spain was selected as the host for 2026. Valencia will be the first city of these games to be held in a Spanish speaking country. Below is the official list of the candidate cities:


Controversies


Lawsuit over 'Gay Olympics' name

Tom Waddell, the former Olympian who helped found the games, intended them to be called the "Gay Olympics", but a lawsuit filed less than three weeks before 1982's inaugural Gay Olympics forced the name change. This forced volunteers to suspend the sales of buttons and t-shirts in order to remove the terms "Olympic" and "Olympiad" from medals, souvenirs, t-shirts, signs, and programs, which would cost the organization an estimated loss between $15,000 and $30,000. Event organizers were sued by the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) under the U.S.
Amateur Sports Act of 1978 The Amateur Sports Act of 1978, signed by President Jimmy Carter, established the United States Olympic Committee and provides for national governing bodies for each Olympic sport. The Act provides important legal protection for individual athletes ...
, which gave the
United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
(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
Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...
were not similarly prohibited, the Gay Olympics should not be either. 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 certain organizations from using the word "Olympics." Annual "California Police Olympics" were held for 22 years, from 1967 through 1989, after which, the word Olympics was no longer used for the event. The Supreme Court ruled for the USOC in '' San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee''. A 2009 documentary film, ''Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial'', was created in the United States and was previewed at several film festivals. The subject was also included in a 2005 film by David Sector, ''Take the Flame! Gay Games: Grace Grit & Glory''. In the years since the lawsuit, the Olympics and the Gay Games have set aside their initial hostilities and worked cooperatively together, successfully lobbying to have HIV travel restrictions waived for the 1994 Gay Games in New York and the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta ...
in Atlanta.


Plans to launch Gay Winter Games in Fall 1986

Plans to launch a complementary Gay Winter Games, scheduled for February 1986 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, collapsed, due to a lack of sufficient funding and logistical problems. There have been no subsequent attempts to launch a Gay Winter Games since, although
Whistler, British Columbia Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mou ...
, hosts an annual gay winter-sports festival.


Schism in LGBT sports communities over Gay Games VII

In 2001, the bidding organization from Montreal, Quebec, won the right to negotiate with the FGG for a licensing agreement to host the 2006 Gay Games, but after two years of failed negotiations Montreal broke off talks at the 2003 FGG annual meeting in Chicago. There were three main points of contention, over which neither party could agree: * The size of the event * The size of the budget especially the planned break-even participation point * Financial transparency In a weakening global economy following international terrorist attacks, including the September 11 attacks, the FGG wanted Montreal to be able to plan for a successful Gay Games even if participation did not meet Montreal's optimistic projection of 24,000 participants, twice the level of participation of the previous Gay Games in 2002. Due to financial problems in previous events, the FGG also asked for transparency into Montreal 2006's financial activities. After Montreal refused to continue talks, the FGG held a second round of bidding in which Chicago and Los Angeles bidders, who had put forth well-received bids to host the 2006 games in the first round along with Montreal and Atlanta, chose to bid. Ultimately, the FGG awarded Gay Games VII to Chicago Games, Inc. The Montreal organizing committee nevertheless decided to proceed to hold an athletic and cultural event without the sanction of the FGG; this plan developed into the
first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a ...
of the
World Outgames The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged a ...
, and the creation of its licensing body, the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association. Due to limited personal and organizational resources, many individual and team participants were forced to choose between Gay Games Chicago and World Outgames Montreal, a situation exacerbated by the two events being a week apart. The closing ceremony of Gay Games Chicago on July 22, 2006, was only seven days before the opening ceremony of World Outgames Montreal on July 29, 2006. This meant that those who competed or performed in Chicago would have little recovery time before Montreal. The split resulted in a lower quality of athletic competition at both events because neither could claim the whole field of competitors. Team and individual sports were hurt alike. Few teams were able to field complete squads for both events. In wrestling, 100 wrestlers competed in Chicago (comparable to previous Gay Games), but only 22 competed in Montreal, by far the lowest number for any major international tournament. There were some advantages to the games being so close together time wise and location wise. For some overseas participants who had to travel far, the convenience of the two events being only a week apart and not far from each other enabled them to attend both. Many did not attend at all. After Chicago drew 9,112 sport and cultural participants, of which 7,929 were from the USA. Montreal drew 10,248 athletes, 1,516 Conference Attendees and 835 people to the cultural component of the games reflecting more than 111 countries more 60% of the organization's original projections." Since 2006, the need for a secondary global multisport event has been the subject of much debate, especially after the final financial figures for 2006 were released. In 2012, a round of negotiations between the FGG and GLISA ended after a mutually agreed deadline. The board of GLISA unanimously agree to the proposal set forth by the negotiation teams, however the FGG board did not reciprocate. The 7th Chicago Gay Games concluded with a net zero debt, while the Montreal World Outgames concluded with 5.3 million Canadian dollars in debt.


Media impact of AIDS on the Gay Games

Before and during the time of the 1986 Gay Games there was mass media about Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...
) and how it was affecting the gay community. With the number of
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
members at the Gay Games the founder Waddell took this time to try and break the stereotype of the AIDS with a show of athleticism the Gay Games had to offer. This also was a time that volunteers would provide safe sex materials along with condoms to educate the public.


See also

*
EuroGames (LGBT sporting event) The EuroGames are an LGBT multi-sport event in Europe, licensed by the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation to a local city host each year and organised (most often) by one or more of the federation's member clubs. Similar to the Gay Game ...
* International Gay and Lesbian Football Association * List of LGBT sportspeople * Principle 6 campaign


References


External links


Gay Games Cleveland/Akron 2014

Federation of Gay Games


* ttp://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00450.xml Minnesota lesbian/gay committee of the International Athletic Association archives*
Documentation of Celebration '90 Gay Games III held in Vancouver on VIVO Media Arts Centre's website

Gay Ireland
{{International multi-sport events Quadrennial sporting events 1982 establishments in California Multi-sport events Recurring sporting events established in 1982 LGBT sports events