The 11th Gay Gam will take place Hong Kong next year, four s after a former US thlete-turned-physician's dreams of a tly clive sportg event beme realy.
Contents:
- WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE
- WHY THE FIRST GAY OLYMPICS WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT SPORTS
- LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: THE HISTORY OF THE GAY GAM - THE EVENT THAT GREW BUT STUCK TO S PRCIPL
- ASIA HOSTS 2 OLYMPICS, 2 PARALYMPICS AND THE GAY GAM 16 MONTHS. WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE
Tom Wadll, an athlete the 1968 Olympics, created the Gay Gam first held 1982 to celebrate LGBTQ cln. The Gay Gam are still held to this day wh the next round schled for 2022 Hong Kong. * olympic gay games *
His gay and lbian iends San Francis, though, had never experienced an event as thrillg or movg as the openg ceremony.
And so Wadll created the Gay Gam – then lled the Gay Olympics, until the Internatnal Olympic Commtee sued over the name. “The formula for succs was visibily and inty, ” Wadll said an terview followg the first Gay Gam 1982. Wadll died 1987, but the Gay Gam ntue to this day, growg to an ternatnal phenomenon sce their first eratn.
They draw over 10, 000 athlet and sometim seven or eight tim as many spectators, said Shiv Pl, vice print of external relatns for the Feratn of Gay Gam. And unlike at the Olympics, activism is enuraged at the Gay Gam, as has been sce the begng when the HIV/AIDS crisis was ravagg LGBTQ muni. Above all, though, the Gay Gam are an event for queer and trans people to gather safely, play sports they love and be themselv whout fear of tolerance.
WHY THE FIRST GAY OLYMPICS WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT SPORTS
* olympic gay games *
The first Gay Gam were held San Francis 1982, where transmissn of HIV had peaked among the cy’s btlg gay muny. The Gay Gam uld be an act of prott then, too, Wadll cid, an event durg which LGBTQ people uld play the same sports they watched durg the Olympics and achieve the same kd of glory he had at the 1968 Olympics. HIV/AIDS awarens has been baked to the Gay Gam sce s ceptn: In addn to banng discrimatn based on genr, sexualy, race and other tras, the Gay Gam wouldn’t allow any participant to be turned away based on their HIV stat.
LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: THE HISTORY OF THE GAY GAM - THE EVENT THAT GREW BUT STUCK TO S PRCIPL
The Gay Gam also succsfully lobbied the US ernment to briefly waive a prev ban on HIV-posive people enterg the untry so they uld pete the 1994 Gay Gam New York and the 1996 Olympics Atlanta, chang ma wh the help of the US Olympic Commtee. Though Wadll emphasized that sports weren’t the central foc of the Gay Gam, the event has hosted athlet wh real prows.
Powerlifter Chris Man began his reer at the Gay Gam and went on to w another 30 medals at var world champnships.
And unlike the “regular Olympics, ” at the Gay Gam, a same-sex figurg skatg pair n don matchg nim jumpsus a performance set to “Hopelsly Devoted to You.
ASIA HOSTS 2 OLYMPICS, 2 PARALYMPICS AND THE GAY GAM 16 MONTHS. WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
Wadll died of AIDS 1987, one year after the send Gay Gam, but the Gam and his dream for their impact have only grown sce. Participatn the Gay Gam steadily grew every year was held, and 1994, at the New York Gay Gam, the number of participants exceed the number of athlet at the 1994 Wter Olympics. The openg ceremony of the Gay Gam is still emotnal all the years later, Pl said, pecially when participants om untri where homosexualy is not accepted march the Para of Natns.
But if the last few s of eedom and fun at the Gam are any ditn, the Gay Gam will have a long, storied n.
Sger Ta Turner was the ma draw at the openg ceremony San Francis for the first Gay Gam 1982, but cy supervisor Doris Ward may have received the biggt reactn om the crowd.