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Gay Games history

The Knitting Circle: Sports

An international festival of athletics and the arts, held every four years. The gay games at San Francisco were founded byTom Waddelland organised by San Francisco Arts and Athletics, Inc.

General Gay Games details.

The games were originally to be called the Gay Olympic Games but the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) filed a court action against the the organisers, and in 1978 the United States Congress passed the Amateur Sports Act which granted the USOC exclusive use of the word "e;olympic"e;. Even though the USOC had allowed the "e;Rat Olympics"e;, "e;Police Olympics"e;, and "e;Dog Olympics"e; they prevented the use of the name "e;Gay Olympic Games"e; in 1982, and two years later pursued the organisers for $96000 in legal costs.

• Gay Games I: Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, August and September, 1982

  1300 male and female competitors. 16 sports.

  No British competitors.

• Gay Games II: San Francisco, August, 1986

  3482 male and female competitors (ratio 3:2 compared with 4:1 in the Olympics in Los Angeles). 17 sports.

  Six British competitors.

• Gay Games III: Vancouver, 1990

  Twelve British competitors.

  Good Games

  The Third Gay Games and Cultural Festival, held in Vancouver in August 1990. It was an almost magic time, during which intensely happy, healthy lesbians and gay men came together and delighted in their lives and being together. The mood was often euphoric. In mainstream competitative sports the athletes seldom look this cheerful just before beginning a gruelling event such as the triathlon, but the joyful spirit of the game overwhelmed much of the anxiety of the competition.
  from Brian Pronger, The Arena of Masculinity (1990)

• Gay Games IV: New York, 1994

  12000 competitors overall.

  140 British competitors.

  $7 million in advertising revenue.

• Gay Games V: Amsterdam, 1998

  15000 competitors overall.

  Generated 80m for the host city.

• Gay Games VI: Sydney, 2002

See alsoGay Sports 2000.

• R. Coe, (1986),A Sense of Pride: The Story of Gay Games II, San Francisco: Pride Publications.

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The Knitting Circle

Last altered 1st. August, 2000