The Gay Olimpics

[kandycoatedkilla]

The gay olimpics. Has anyone heard anything about them, there has been alot of talk on the radio about kraft catching shit because they are sponsering them but i think they should support or way of life

[Ocean Byrd]

Wait, they don't have GLB integrated into the olympics in any way?

[Defence_mechanism]

yeah when they were in sydney in 2002 i went with a friend. it was ok. but i was sick and it was shit hot. but i saw the hockey and some other sports i think. it's the gay games. like the olympics but with gay people. i'm pretty sure there's a website about it. do a google on it. worth checking out. hot gay people playing sports, come on!! :P

[SageDreamer]

The "regular" Olympics Association has forbidden the gay version to use the word "Olympics," so the event is known as the Gay Games. They will be held in July 2006 in Chicago.

The American Family Association (AFA) has called for a boycott of Kraft because of Kraft's support of the games.

There have been lgb people (I haven't heard anything about trans) in the "regular" Olympics, but they are usually fairly low profile. Most athletes at that level spend most of their time training and competing, and they are very, very focused on that. They are highly unlikely to get involved in much social or political activism. Olympic athletes are generally amateurs, and so they want to sign sponsorship deals after the games. This may be another reason why some Olympic athletes are reluctant to come out.

Martina Navratilova actually got a sponsorship deal *because of* being a lesbian. It was mentioned in a recent issue of the Advocate. This is a rare exception.

[Obituary~Birthday]

why would gay people want a separate olympics?:confused:

[Jitter_B]

Do they do events like the dong-suck-a-thon or something?

[Ocean Byrd]

Do they do events like the dong-suck-a-thon or something?

A very good, and inappropiate, question...

[shevek]

Actually, it's a pride sort of thing.

[Jitter_B]

Or the cock vault, maybe.

[Ocean Byrd]

Now that, was a humourous suggestion.

[Snowdancer]

15-22 July. In Chicago. They have all of the same events that regular Olympics & I think a couple of more. Sorry not the ones mentioned, you silly boys. :rolleyes:

I in fact am thinking of riding a cycling event, maybe time trial if I can afford the entry fee. They are more open & have no tryout qualifications that the Olympics do. They also accept transgendered which I bet isn't an accepted quality in the Olympics.

From their website
The Gay Games are open to anyone. There are no qualifying events, no minimum or maximum requirements, and no mandatory affiliations. The Games are built on the founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and promote a supportive environment, free from bigotry, where participants achieve success by their own measure. More than a tournament or cultural program, the Gay Games is a gathering of the international sports and arts community that changes lives, attitudes, and the very nature of competition.

If you want more information here's the Gay Games Chicago (http://www.gaygameschicago.org) link.

[PhotoGra1]

I think its ok to have the gay games. . . but I think having the gay olympics is absurd. In fact. . . I tolerate gay games, but I don't endorse it. Why do we argue for inclusion, and then create events that only serve to segregate ourselves?

[MSman]

Gay Olympics is a bad idea because that will gie the media another opportunity to find the biggest flamer of the bunch and put him on the 6 o'clock news. Will inevibly put a bad image on gays (its not as if we already have 1:rolleyes: )

[Snowdancer]

I am guessing that they were started in part because of the exclusion in past of people who were out(ed). I guess that the official sanctioning board is now recognizing transgendered within criteria but I am quite sure that in the past if you didn't test right cromozonailly (sp?) you were out.

Then again there is the whole proving to the world that we are strong & proud & some of us are proficient in martial arts. ;)

It seems to me that even though the small minded media may find someone that is a bit over the top anyone who actually sees any of the serious atheletes will have at least an opportunity to see that sexual preferance or gender identity has little to do with weakness as so many of them think.

The local economy will get a huge boost from this. I bet that the hotels alone in Chicacgo are thrilled as a hog in mud that the games are going to be there. I'm sure that many of the athelets are going to be obvious at being atheletes. The buisness owners are going to know that they are there for the games. Money talks, Large amounts of money gathered from a large group of people makes business owners happy. They will have a more positive concept of GLBT folks than they may have had before.

The fact that they are so inclusional tells me that they are about getting together as a group & celebrating our bodies, our strengths, & just plain being around a mass group of like minded people that many have hot bodies.

I just read through the welcome page again. There is nothing there that says that you have to be GLBT. I suppose that there are going to be many nonGLBT that wouldn't choose to participate but there isn't anything that says that you have to be. It isn't segregational.


I think its ok to have the gay games. . . but I think having the gay olympics is absurd. In fact. . . I tolerate gay games, but I don't endorse it. Why do we argue for inclusion, and then create events that only serve to segregate ourselves?

[SageDreamer]

If anything, the Gay Games are a chance to counteract some of the stereotypes.

[PhotoGra1]

If anything, the Gay Games are a chance to counteract some of the stereotypes.

It would be much more effective to combat stereotypes while integrating yourself with mainstream America, rather than segregating yourself.

How many bigots will be watching the gay games?

[SageDreamer]

I agree that integrating is an effective strategy, but there are probably some LGBT athletes who might not feel comfortable enough to do that. It's the old "safety in numbers" thing.

Large numbers of LGBT athletes make a powerful statement. The bigots can disregard one or even two of us as an exception, but getting so many together in one place is difficult to ignore.

I don't think it's just the bigots we need to reach. There are lots of lesbian and gay and bi and trans people who could benefit from seeing a wider variety of LGBT people. We all see the stereotypes, but we don't often get the wider picture. I can understand how LGBT athletes might want to meet other LGBT athletes.

No, the bigots probably won't be watching and that's OK. Some of the bigots are so hardcore that it might not matter much what we do. The Gay Games is an event that will probably do more good for LGBT people, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

[Jitter_B]

They should do the "Anal Duration" event. See what homo sexual can encounter and endure the most ass pounding. Duration would be the determining factor. Kind a like a marathon for the rectum, if you will.

[SkeeterVT]

The "regular" Olympics Association has forbidden the gay version to use the word "Olympics," so the event is known as the Gay Games. They will be held in July 2006 in Chicago. Actually, the 2006 Gay Games were originally going to be held in Montreal. But due to a bitter split between the Federation of Gay Games (FOGG) and the organizing committee of the Montreal games, there will be TWO international gay athletic extravaganzas -- with the majority of athletes heading for Montreal for the first International OutGames. The Montreal committee has since evolved into a rival Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA).

Seems that FOGG failed to take into account the fact that the U.S. government's ban on any foreign nationals who are HIV-positive from entering the U.S. is still in force. And the Bush administration has no intention of lifting the ban.

That is leading to a boycott of the Chicago Gay Games in favor of the Montreal OutGames in protest against the U.S. ban on HIV-positive athletes.

-- Skeeter

[SkeeterVT]

Gay Olympics is a bad idea because that will gie the media another opportunity to find the biggest flamer of the bunch and put him on the 6 o'clock news. Will inevibly put a bad image on gays (its not as if we already have 1:rolleyes: )
You're a generation too late. The Gay Games have been around for almost a quarter-century. The first Games were held in San Francisco in 1982. I attended the opening ceremonies for those first Gay Games at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium (Which used to house the 49ers before they moved to Candlestick Park). like the Olympics, the Gay Games are held every four years, onthe same year as the World Cup soccer tournament:

1982 -- San Francisco
1986 -- San Francisco
1990 -- Vancouver
1994 -- New York
1998 -- Amsterdam
2002 -- Sydney

-- Skeeter

[solar_eclipse]

My grade 8 math teacher went to the 2002 Gay Games as a Judo Athlete - it's amusing to encounter him now at GLB events.

[Green]

I don't understand why you would have to go to a seperate olympics if your gay? I read the entire thread, sorry.

[Snowdancer]

I couldn't speak for anyone else who is going to participate or consider participating but this is a major athletic event that is inclusive enough that anyone can enter. In fact, from what I have read on their website you don't have to be GLBT to enter.
It is, however, the only event of this caliber that I know of that openly accepts transgendered. Now this obviously isn't the motivation for everyone (after all by some estimates, no more than 1 person in 350,000 believes he or she was born the wrong gender) but it is there.

I think that there is too much being read into this concept though. Go have a look at the page from my link in my earlier message. To me it looks like a chance to compete with other people some from thee top of the atheletic fields some armatures. If I can pull this off financially to be there I will be there to have a good time & enjoy the events the people, the experience. I personally like the concept of competing with GLBT cyclists (my event) partly because of the pride aspect of it, partly because I wonder how I measure up to other GLBT cyclists on this level. I ride with the Madison chapter of Different Spokes cycling club but that isn't a true measure since there are so few of us.

Here is what they say about the origins & motivation behind it.

In 1982, Dr. Tom Waddell, a 1968 Olympic decathlete, founded the Games primarily to showcase LGBT sports, describing it as "an experiment in global unity; an experiment in education; a vehicle for change." Since that time nearly 50,000 individuals of different races, genders, sexual orientations, national origin, physical and athletic abilities, health statuses, ages, religious and socio-economic backgrounds have come together from around the world in the spirit of Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best. For 25 years, these values have helped to foster an international LGBT sports movement that builds bridges across borders, eradicates stereotypes, and truly changes the world. If you are a recreational or master athlete, an emerging or acclaimed artist, physically challenged, young or old, near or far, LGBT or heterosexual, you are invited to join us in Chicago for a week of friendship, open expression, and global community. This will be a Gay Games for the ages. The sports and cultural components will be directed by experts in their fields, the tournaments and performances will be professionally organized, the competition and culture will be top flight, and the events will be held at world-class facilities sure to bring out your personal best. Most activities will be bundled into four sports villages to maximize convenience and to foster camaraderie and support among participants. The villages, easily accessible by public transportation, are built around some of Chicago's most stunning recreational, cultural, and historic centers.

[Jitter_B]

Problem is, how could they prove if you were gay or not and wanted to participate in the games. A straight guy could get in there and sweep the floor with all the pansy asses there.

[PhotoGra1]

Problem is, how could they prove if you were gay or not and wanted to participate in the games. A straight guy could get in there and sweep the floor with all the pansy asses there.


:rolleyes:

Have you ever met a lesbian?

;)

[Jitter_B]

:rolleyes:

Have you ever met a lesbian?

;)

Yeah. But they can't run worth a shit in army boots.

[Snowdancer]

To begin with straights are welcome. It says so right in the welcome page. Right in the quote I pasted into my last message.

Now on top of that. I'll race you any time on bicycle. If you are a USCF Category 2 or 3 racer I will keep up with you for quite a while. Anything below that & you will be seeing my backside most of the time if you do keep up with me. Or how are you at karate? I don't study right now but I have a bag full of trophies that my kids love to drag out & show their friends that I won in tournaments from sparring. I'm just one example that happens to be a bi genderqueer. There are plenty of very fit atheletes that aren't straight. Many much better at their discipline than I am.

Problem is, how could they prove if you were gay or not and wanted to participate in the games. A straight guy could get in there and sweep the floor with all the pansy asses there.

[SageDreamer]

Problem is, how could they prove if you were gay or not and wanted to participate in the games. A straight guy could get in there and sweep the floor with all the pansy asses there.

Comments like this are the very reason why the Gay Games are a good idea. I'm not athletically gifted myself, but there are lots of gay men and lesbians and bisexuals and transfolks who are very athletic. Believe me, they could sweep the floor with lots of straight boys.

[shastazno]

Problem is, how could they prove if you were gay or not and wanted to participate in the games. A straight guy could get in there and sweep the floor with all the pansy asses there.
i mean like how could you even say that? thats just so stupid. everyones different, but everyone can still be just as good as anyone else.

[jim_w]

This is the most stupid thing I've ever heard. Gay olymyics? The implication being, like with the paralympics, that gays need special games because they can't be expected to compete with straight people? Grrrrrrreat! That's just what you need!

[SkeeterVT]

I don't understand why you would have to go to a seperate olympics if your gay? I read the entire thread, sorry.
Because gay and lesbian athletes, particularly gay men, could no longer stand enduring the vicious -- and often violent -- homophobia expressed by straight athletes. Greg Louganis, a gold medal-winning swimmer at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, did not come out of the closet until after the games, because of intense homophobia by teammate Matt Biondi.

Violent homophobia remains firmly entrenched in the locker room. Athletics and the military are the last bastions of male machismo in this country.

-- Skeeter

[jim_w]

So surely that means it's the job of gay athletes to break down those barriers? Taking your ball and starting your own game isn't the way to do it... Negro leagues, anyone?

[SkeeterVT]

So surely that means it's the job of gay athletes to break down those barriers? Taking your ball and starting your own game isn't the way to do it... Negro leagues, anyone?
Breaking down barriers, in this case, is not practical when you're being pummeled by a gang of straight guys who are so insecure about their masculinity that they feel compelled to beat the crap out of you in order to validate it.

-- Skeeter

[jim_w]

Riiiiight.... Of course. Daddy, daddy! The big nasty straight men were bullying me! Wah! Wah!

Aahahahahahah.