Why the First Gay Olympics Was a Watershed Moment Sports | HISTORY

san francisco gay sports

For 50 years, the San Francis Gay Softball League has taken over diamonds across the cy the sprg, givg generatns of queer athlet a place to play.

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SF GAY SOFTBALL LEAGUE CELEBRAT 50 YEARS OF G SPORTS TO CREATE A SENSE OF MUNY

The sports world has historilly not been the most clive wh the LGBTQ+ muny, but San Francis's Varsy Gay League is changg that. * san francisco gay sports *

Uned Stat Gay Sports Network. San Francis Gay Basketball Associatn. San Francis Gay Flag Football League.

San Francis Gay Softball League. Gay & Lbian Tennis Feratn. Big Gay Frisbee.

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. * san francisco gay sports *

In 2023, Openg Day is pecially signifint for the Bay Area LGBTQ muny as kicks off the 50th anniversary of the San Francis Gay Softball League.

“I thk a lot people who eher didn’t play bee they felt they wouldn’t be accepted beg gay or people who were gay that played now had kd of a safe haven to go out and hang out wh people like themselv, ” he remarked, “So was very much a safe haven but also very petive. After beg n out of Major League Baseball by homophob like Tommy Lasorda and Billy Mart, Glenn Burke rtarted his reer on the diamond and beme a lol folk hero wh tape-measure home ns and jaw-droppg fense for the SFGSL’s Pendulum Pirat. Meanwhile, Gay Gam -founr Rikki Streicher also showed off her athletic prows on the fields of the Gay Softball League.

Years later as the AIDS crisis explod, the toll on San Francis’s gay populatn uld be seen on the SFGSL’s rosters and playg fields.

‘FEEL SAFE, BE YOURSELF’: PNEERG S.F. GAY SOFTBALL LEAGUE TURNS 50

* san francisco gay sports *

Chief among them occurred durg the 1977 season when SFGSL hosted the gural Gay Softball World Seri and San Francis Badland took home the champnship.

Gay dodge ball league creat muny for LGBTQ players. Gay dodge ball league creat muny for LGBTQ+ players. But play is what the Varsy Gay League is all about, creatg joy and rary sports wh the LGBTQ+ muny.

Thao Le is a Varsy Gay League athlete. SF Varsy Gay League.

WHY THE FIRST GAY OLYMPICS WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT SPORTS

IF YOU WALK to the Pilsner Inn, a gay bar the Castro, on Thursday nights around 10:30, you’ll be sure to fd a group the back pat wh a * san francisco gay sports *

That's how Le me across San Francis's chapter of Varsy Gay League's dodgeball team 2017.

Varsy Gay League has been a staple Garcia's life for the last . " The Monday night dodgeball manager for Varsy Gay League is Ryann Madn.

SAN FRANCIS FOG GAY GBY CLUB BUILDG MUNY, EXPANDG HORIZONS OF SPORTS

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen has e out as gay. His announcement is a first for a male ach a major U.S.-based profsnal league. * san francisco gay sports *

"In the past 15 years, Varsy Gay League has created 23 of the safe spac ci across the untry.

San Francis's Varsy Gay League offers dodgeball, soccer and kickball. More is available on the Varsy Gay League webse. 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.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

“The formula for succs was visibily and inty, ” Wadll said an terview followg the first Gay Gam 1982. That’s what the first Gay Gam were all about. 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. You don’t have to be a profsnal athlete – even a proficient one – to pete the Gay Gam.

SF GAY SOFTBALL LEAGUE CELEBRAT 50 YEARS OF GIVG PLAYERS A HOME BASE

You don’t even have to be gay. 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.

LGBT SPORTS HISTORY: FIRST GAY SOFTBALL WORLD SERI BUTS THE ERA OF DIS

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. 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.

NFL STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US PROFSNAL SPORTS

Anyone n participate the Gay Gam – really, jt about anyone. Though Wadll emphasized that sports weren’t the central foc of the Gay Gam, the event has hosted athlet wh real prows. Swimmer Jim Ballard set a world rerd the 100-meter backstroke 2002 at the Sydney Gay Gam.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* SAN FRANCISCO GAY SPORTS

Why the First Gay Olympics Was a Watershed Moment Sports | HISTORY .

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