FAQ / Why Gay Games?

From our series of answers to Frequently Asked Questions: 


2006 Tom Waddell Award winner Derek Liecty once responded to the question "Why Gay Games?" with the following statement:
This is a question the Federation gets all the time. It is difficult for a straight athlete, whether male or female, to fully understand the atmosphere and pressure that a closeted gay or lesbian athlete feels when trying to compete or participate in a “straight competition.”

The pervasive discrimination and putdowns of gays and lesbians in the locker room and on the field of play, along with "faggot" jokes and "sissy boy" remarks, to say nothing of the discrimination in access to sports because of being openly gay or lesbian, has had a negative residual impact on countless men and women for decades.

So the Gay Games provide a venue where gay and lesbian athletes can gather and compete in an atmosphere which is free of this discrimination.

The Games are also about breaking down stereotypes and showing the world that gays and lesbians can compete on a level playing field with everyone else. We have had World Records broken at the Gay Games. But the Games also have a need to provide what our founder 1968 Olympic Decathlete Tom Waddell could not find in the Olympic Games, that is, a place where one could participate in a sport regardless of ability, feel welcomed and included and where the goal is simply to do one’s personal best.

It is a very empowering experience for a gay and lesbian athlete to come into a stadium with 10,000 others and say, “Wow! I really am not alone in the world.” The Games are truly at the forefront in the fight for gay and lesbian emancipation and integration.