13 Facts About Gay Games

Federation of Gay Games is the sanctioning body of the Gay Games which was founded in 1982 by Tom Waddell, after he dealt first-hand with the prejudice towards gay athletes and their inability to openly participate in sporting events.

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 for underprivileged members.

San Francisco was chosen as the location for the first Gay Games not only because it was the home of founder Tom Waddell, but 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 original sports that were offered at the first Gay Games were; basketball, billiards, bowling, cycling, diving, golf, marathon, physique, powerlifting, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.

Gay Games coincided with the 25th-anniversary events of the Stonewall riots and were themed on "Unity".

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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.

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.

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 were held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 15 to July 22,2006.

On 30 June 2016, the Federation of Gay Games announced that eleven cities had submitted their Letter Of Intent to formally bid.

Federation of Gay Games publish the call for interested cities on 19 December 2019, and the official RFI was issued on January 31,2020.

The 7th Chicago Gay Games concluded with a net zero debt, while the Montreal World Outgames concluded with 5.