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    Celebrating Queer Bodies at the Gay Games

    The Gay Games is a competition for LGBTQ+ athletes from around the world. It was founded in 1982 by a group that included Olympic decathlete Dr. Tom Waddell, as well as Rikki Streicher, owner of the iconic lesbian bar Amelia’s. Patterned after the Olympics and held every four years in a different city, the Gay Games came to encompass many events, including track and field, wrestling, and bodybuilding. The photos here are from the 1986 Gay Games, held in San Francisco, an event that included more than 3,000 participants from 17 different nations.

    Two medalists embracing at the Gay Games. Photo by Robert Pruzan, from the Robert Pruzan Collection (1998-36), GLBT Historical Society.

    As AIDS cast a growing shadow over queer people’s lives (and led to Waddell’s 1987 death), the Games’ mission of celebrating the queer body became increasingly vital. Today, it remains a significant athletic and cultural event that gives athletes of many nations a joyous place in which to excel. The next iteration of the Gay Games will be held in Hong Kong and Guadalajara in November, 2023.

    International athletes entering the stadium for the Gay Games under signs and flags from various nations and cities including Athens, Guam, Ireland, Dublin, Israel, Tel Aviv, Italy, and more. Photo by Robert Pruzan, from the Robert Pruzan Collection (1998-36), GLBT Historical Society.

    As the ability of queer people—especially trans athletes—to compete in sports is being restricted in locations around the U.S., it’s important to reflect on the long history of queer athletics and to continue to celebrate queer bodies in all their diversity.

    These photos are drawn from one of the more than 1,000 individual archival collections held by the GLBT Historical Society that reveal a vast array of LGBTQ life, history, and culture.

    A man in silver body paint and a woman in gold body paint holding a
    large mock torch on the Gay Games podium stairs. Photo by Robert Pruzan, from the Robert Pruzan Collection (1998-36), GLBT Historical Society.

    We make these community treasures available to all at our archives downtown and our museum in the Castro district. To book your visit, or to make a contribution to support our work, visit https://www.glbthistory.org/

    Community Treasures from the GLBT Historical Society Archives
    Published on July 13, 2023