Gay Games sports policies

As the opening ceremony of Gay Games VIII in Cologne, Germany, approaches, the FGG is pleased to remind participants, potential participants, and all interested parties of its innovative and inclusive policies that allow the Gay Games to remain faithful to the FGG’s principles of “Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best”.


Sexual Orientation Policy
There is no need for a Sexual Orientation Policy at the Gay Games: the Gay Games welcome participants of any sexual orientation. At each edition of the Gay Games an estimated 10% of all participants identify as being straight. No quotas or restrictions apply in what is the largest worldwide sporting event open to all.

Gender Identity Policy
The Gay Games Gender Identity Policy aims to allow as many athletes as possible, even those who have not completed gender reassignment surgery, the possibility of competing with athletes of the same gender identity.

In many team sports, mixed teams are welcome, which means that the gender of competitors is not an issue. In sports or events restricted to men or women, the first criterion is that athletes can invoke their legal gender to compete in the relevant category. But athletes who have not been able to legally change their gender can also qualify to compete in their gender identity (male or female) if they can provide a medical certificate stating that they have been following hormone treatment for at least two years, or if they can provide documentary evidence that they have been living in their gender identity for two years. This policy applies to most sports, except those in which insurance and sanctioning make it impossible.

Our host Games Cologne has a dedicated consultant working on any trans registration issues, and several self-declared trans athletes have already registered for Gay Games VIII. It is likely that there are more who have not declared their transgender status, because those who have been able to legally change their gender are able to register with no particular formalities.

This policy is far more welcoming than that found in mainstream competitions, and the FGG looks forward to working with trans athletes to refine and improve this policy for future Gay Games.

Anti-Doping Policy
Like the Gender Identity Policy, the Gay Games Anti-Doping Policy is defined in the Sports Red Book, part of the licence agreement between the FGG and the Gay Games host organization. The FGG and Games VIII host Games Cologne have negotiated an Anti-Doping Policy that allows all participants to compete in a fair and inclusive manner. All athletes are subject to random testing, but athletes under medical treatment using prohibited substances may request a simple medical waiver.

The Gay Games welcomes all athletes, including those with health conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, osteoporosis, cancer, etc. With Gay Games VIII, for the first time all athletes will be able to compete in a drug-tested event, whatever their medical condition, and whatever the therapeutic choices they have made with their own physician.

More details and history of the negotiation between Games Cologne and the FGG are explained below.



History of Policy Developments and Enhancements
The FGG Anti-Doping Policy, approved by the Federation in 2004 and included in the contract signed with the host of Gay Games VIII, requires extensive testing in three sports (Wrestling, Powerlifting, and Bodybuilding), and offers medical waivers only in the very restrictive form of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs). These TUEs require extensive documentation and supporting documents, and a demonstration that no alternative treatments are allowed.

In practice, these TUEs have been provided in past Gay Games only for the sport of Powerlifting, where athletes competing in International Powerlifting Federation-sanctioned events are accustomed to WADA drug testing, and the corresponding TUE process. In other tested sports at past Gay Games, alternate solutions have been used, including a segregation of athletes into tested and untested divisions, and the withholding of medals until test results were completed.

Evolution of the Anti-Doping Policy
All Sports Tested: Our host, Games Cologne, is planning to extend drug testing to all sports. This is necessary in order to receive government support: in Germany as elsewhere, a large-scale sporting event such as the Gay Games requires a broad-based testing policy that covers all participants.

In this context, the restrictive medical exemption policy previously included in the FGG policy and in previous Gay Games is unacceptable. The policy applied in Cologne will be much less restrictive than in previous Gay Games, and will allow all athletes to compete fully, whatever their medical condition.

Medal Awards
Another change relative to past Gay Games that will improve the integration of athletes in sports, whether tested or not, is that while all medal awards and rankings during Gay Games VIII will be provisional pending the final results of drug testing, any medals earned will be awarded during the medal ceremonies for the sport, rather than being sent by mail weeks later.

Random Testing
In Cologne, any registered sports participant may be selected for testing. Most chosen will be selected at random. Sample collection follows WADA guidelines and will be carried out by a certified organization. Samples will be analyzed at the laboratory of the Biochemical Institute of the German Sports University Cologne, an official IOC/WADA laboratory. All athletes will find information on the Gay Games VIII website and a link to the official 2010 WADA List of Prohibited Substances (see link below).

WADA Prohibited Substances
The laboratory will only test for substances on the 2010 list published by WADA. Most medical treatments use substances that are not on this list. Athletes who are not using prohibited substances are not concerned by drug testing.

Medical Declarations
Athletes who are selected for testing and who believe they may test positive for a prohibited substance prescribed by their physician may voluntarily choose to present to the Gay Games VIII Medical Commission a medical declaration signed by their physician indicating the substances prescribed. If their test is, in fact, positive, the Medical Commission will then compare the substances detected with those prescribed. If they match, the Medical Commission will declare that there is no doping violation. NOTE: The Medical Commission will not be judging whether the treatment chosen by athletes’ physicians are appropriate or are the best or only treatments available for a given medical condition.

Confidentiality
The members of the Medical Commission are all subject to professional confidentiality, and they are the only persons who will have access to the medical information provided by athletes. Alternate procedures will be offered to athletes from countries where it is dangerous or impossible to obtain a medical declaration for the Gay Games. Further measures to offer alternative methods of communicating this medical file are under discussion, but the system already planned ensures confidentiality while allowing all athletes to compete under the same conditions, whatever their medical status.

Education
Beyond drug testing, the Federation of Gay Games believes that awareness of doping issues and education about performance-enhancing drugs and drug testing are an important part of an Anti-Doping Policy. The FGG has obtained preliminary approval to use the award-winning WADA Athlete Outreach Model, and will be proposing an adapted version of it for the education of participants and visitors to Gay Games VIII.

An in-depth review of both the Gay Games Gender Identity Policy and the Gay Games Anti-Doping Policy will take place after Gay Games VIII, with the goal of supporting future hosts to ensure that the Gay Games remain an inclusive event, open to all, with a strong message for personal responsibility, health and wellness

Participants can find full details on these policies HERE.

On that page, participants will also find links to the Gay Games VIII Code of Conduct, and to recommendations for participants with previously existing medical conditions and pregnant participants.