Gay Games
From the Advocate, August 19, 1982
FRNY participated in the first Gay Games in San Francisco in 1982. The Games were originally called the Gay Olympics, but had to change their name because of a lawsuit filed by the US Olympic Committee. Because sports culture in the United States has only recently made strides in being more welcome to gays and lesbians (e.g., the first openly gay NBA player didn’t come-out until 2013), the Gay Games as well as gay sports clubs provided a way for gay people to participate in competitive sports without fear of being ostracized. In 1982, FRNY had 11 members participate in the first Gay Games. Members of FRNY have participated ever since, which include:
- 1982, 1986—San Francisco, CA
- 1990—Vancouver, Canada
- 1994—New York, NY
- 1998—Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2002—Sydney, Australia
- 2006—Chicago, IL
- 2010—Cologne, Germany
- 2014—Cleveland and Akron, OH
Gay Games Team NY (1986)
Steve Gerben and Bill Ross, Gay Games (1986)
Gay Games (1986) Closing Cermonies, Kezar Stadium, San Francisco
Julie Klein and Mickie Zacuto, Gay Games (1986)
Gay Games (1994), New York
Gay Games (1994) New York
Gay Games (2010) Cologne, Germany
Gay Games (2014) Cleveland, OH
Gay Games (2014) Cleveland, OH
Gay Games (2014) Cleveland, OH
Gay Games (2014) Cleveland, OH
Gay Olympic Games 1982 application, San Francisco
Sources:
Steve Gerben (2011), Front Runners NY – The Early History, available at: http://archives.frny.org/items/show/3313.
NY Daily News, (2013), “Jason Collins Comes Out of the Closet: Athletes and Fans React on Twitter”, available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/jason-collins-gay-athletes-fans-react-article-1.1330344
Gay Games History http://www.gg9cle.com/gay-games/history/
Curated by Anthony Cocciolo, 2015.