Gay Games or Olympics? ications for

BY HELEN JEFFERSON LENSKYJ

Depuis 1982 les Jeuxgais ont iti organisis par des lesbiennes represented a reaction to homophobia in mainstream et desgais comme unfestivalsportifet lbccasion de se donner sport, significant of participants with little prior dupouvoir. La tendance ricente uers le mod2le de 15ndustrie sporting involvement were attracted by the principle of olympique auec son emphase sur la compitition d2lite et sa inclusion and the promise of community that the Games d+endance aupr2s des sponsors corporatzy, menace leprin- offered. cipe d'inclusion pour les lesbiennes et les minoritks. organizing and the principle of inclu- When the first Gay Games, at that time called the "Gay sion Olympic. Games", were held in in 1982, they were hailed as an empowering sporting and cultural The first two Gay Games were organized by San Francisco celebration organized by and for , gays and their Arts and Athletics, a group founded by former Olympic allies on the principles of inclusion and participation.' decathlete in 1981. By 1989, this organiza- From their inception, discrimination based on "sexual tion had become the Federation of Gay Games (hereafter orientation, gender, race, religion, nationality, ethnic the Federation) and included board members from a origin, political belief(s), athleticlartistic ability, physical number ofparticipating countries outside North America. challenge, or HIV status" was prohibited; the Purpose of Gender parity in committee structures was a key principle the Gay Games Sport and Cultural Festival was "to foster from the outset. The year 1990 marked the first Gay and augment the self-respect of lesbians and gay men ... Games held outside the USA, with the Metropolitan and to engender respect and understanding from the non- VancouverAthletic/Arts Association (MVAAA), , gay world" (Federation of Gay Games). Since their mod- hosting the event with 29 sports and over 7,000 athletes. est beginnings- - in a San Francisco football stadium, the It is noteworthy that the words and gay were not Gay Games have grown into an international sporting part of the names of these first organizing groups, an spectacle and business enterprise, with more than 20 core omission that at least one critic viewed as an attempt to sporting events, a high level of competition between blend into the mainstream (Syms). biddingcities, budgets exceeding$US7m, corporatespon- The 1994 Gay Games in , with 1 1,000 sors, and more participants than most athletes from 45 countries, marked the first time that there have attracted. had been competition between two bid cities; for the 1998 Games, therewere three bids, and for 2002, five. The total Organizing for social change cost of all five bids for the 2002 Gay Games exceeded the budgets for the first two Gay Games themselves (Boson, For many Canadian and American 1998), an indication of the growing trend towards emu- Gay Games lesbian and gay activists in the early lating the Olympic model. 1980s, an interprise such as the In the early 1980s when Waddell and others first began f ou n-derSwere - - .. . Gay Games represented a radical organizing the Gay Games, the principle of inclusion had less interested departure from their usual political different connotations-different for Waddell, a closeted ref 0 rm in a the wdrk, in that it was primarily a gay man for much of his athletic career, and for most 4 proactive initiative-a sport and lesbian and gay athletes. Billy Jean King's experience of mainstream than cultural festival designed to cel- homophobic backlash and her loss of commercial en- in creating an ebrate lesbian and gay existence. dorsements amply illustrated the safety of the closet for alternative, Unlike activists lobbying for legis- competitive athletes, particularly women. Similarly, jobs lative or policy change, Gay Games in coaching, sport administration and physical education nclusive model founders were less interested in re- were in jeopardy if sport leaders' lesbian or gay identities of sporting forming the mainstream than in became public knowledge, while athletes at every level creating an alternative, inclusive risked harassment and ostracism ifthey came out (Lenskyj pet ition' model of sporting- competition. 1991). Twenty years later, with sport still representing the Although, for many, the Games last bastion of sexism and homophobia, legislative and

24 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME Lesbian In

policy changes are addressing some-but certainly not And, in the 1990 photojournal of Gay Games 111, the all-of the problems of discrimination facing lesbian and editors stated that the Games: gay athletes. Gay Games founders sought to provide an opportu- symbolized for thousands ofgay men and women one nity to participate in an openly lesbian and gay sport more step along the road of self-discovery. And for festival. As Waddell explained, "the message- of these one astounding week in time it was a road they could games goes beyond validating our culture. They were travel without ever having to apologize for their conceived as a new idea in the meaning of sport based on existence, or even having to suffer the strain of inclusion rather than exclusion" (cited in Coe 7). He maintaining an appearance alien to their very nature. envisioned the Gay Games as a way of raising conscious- (Forzley and Hughes 1 10) ness and enlightening people both outside and inside lesbian and gay communities (Messner). Participation in Although the emphasis on empowerment is valid, to the Games would challenge homophobia in the hetero- reduce the idea to simply "being oneself' and publicly sexual world, and sexism, ageism, racism and national- showing "love for each other" is to overlook the sociocul- ism among lesbian and gay people. He hoped that his tural diversity of lesbian and gay communities. The choice dream of an "exemplary community" would be achieved whether to "be oneself' or to "pass" as a member of the through inclusive policies and practices: age-group com- dominant group is not available to lesbians and gays who petition, recruitment and outreach to ethnic minority are Black, or to those who have disabilities, for example. athletes and those from the developing countries, and Liberal individualistic notions of self-discovery and self- social and cultural events to break down the barriers of expression are insufficient for authentic, universal em- gender, class, ethnicity and dislability among gays and powerment, because they overlook the double or triple lesbians. Two decades later, there are continuing debates oppressions suffered by minority members of lesbian and the realization of these goals. gay communities. Furthermore, simply bringing together diverse groups of lesbians and gay men in sport does not Media representations of the Gay Games in itself parantee "love for each other," and it is naive to hope that sexism, racism, ableism and other entrenched In most written accounts of the Gay Games, lesbian and forms of discrimination that divide communities will gay commentators seemed just as eager as their non-gay simply evaporate during Gay Games. On a more grandi- allies to normalize this sporting spectacle and its partici- ose scale, Olympic industry rhetoric pants. There was a consistent emphasis on similarity calls for peace and harmony, and rather than difference: "we" (lesbian and gay athletes) can presents Olympic competition as a "The message break "their" (heterosexual) records; we can produce one transcendent human experience, at of these games of the biggest international sporting spectacles in the the same time ignoring the labour world; we can organize events that are officially approved practices and human rights abuses goes beyond by their international federations. of its multinational sponsors, its im- validating our In the extensive lesbian and gay media coverage, there pact on low-income and homeless culture. They is a clear emphasis on using conventional sporting prac- people in host cities, and countless tices to counter homophobic stereotypes and to achieve other negative social and environ- were conceived lesbian and gay visibility and empowerment. In The Story mental impacts (Lenskyj 2000). as a new idea in of Gay Games 11, Roy Coe described them as: Although lesbian and gay commu- nity newspapers are an obvious fo- the meaning of an important demonstration of our love for each rum for Gay Games debate, they face sport based on other and our presence in the world community. Our competing pressures. On one hand, ~nclusionrather statement as a minority group was clearly made they are expected to generate support through the wonderful spirit of camaraderie and for upcoming bids and games, to than exclusion-" friendly competition. (7) congratulate organizers and partici-

VOLUME 21, NUMBER 3 25 pants, and to celebrate izers are at pains to the event as a success keep "politics" out of story in a homophobic the Games ... [They] world. On the other kept public debate hand, since they are the on the Games' short- most accessible source comings to a mini- of analysis and critique mum (Shannon 13). of the Gay Games movement, they will fail One might argue in that role ifthey avoid that, in the face of the controversy and self- rightwing backlash, a criticism. public united front was A brief review of se- crucial to the success of lected newspaper cov- the Games. However, erage of Gay Games I11 the naive aim of keep- in shows ing "politics" out of few differences be- sport-also popular tween mainstream and notion among Olym- lesbian/gay media. Ki- pic boosters-is espe- nesis, a Vancouver cially inappropriate in feminist newspaper, relation to a sporting published a supportive event that is by its very information article in nature political. July and a five-page, Rites, a les- mainly favorable report bian and gay newspa- in September; in To- per, published some of ronto, the coverage in the few critical com- Xwa, the major gay and mentaries. Amevespry, lesbian paper, was a Rites collective mem- mostly positive. In ber, and Shawn Syms, both papers, the only an athlete, identified a serious criticism was number of organiza- Photo: Matlene Hie/ema reserved for the homo- tional problems that phobic Christian fundamentalists who picketed sporting threatened the Games' commitment to inclusion and and cultural events, and threw bottles at Gay Games visibility. Syms was critical of the composition of the participants. The American gay and lesbian magazine, MVAAA board: seven white, university-educated mem- The Advocate, was similarly uncritical. Mainstream Ca- bers, four men and three women (Syms). Vespry focused nadian newspapers, such as the Toronto Star, the Globe on the shortcomings of the cultural events, including and Mail and the University of Toronto student paper, access problems for people with disabilities, failure to The Varsity, were largely supportive of the Games and subsidize tickets for low-income participants, and critical of rightwing backlash (Brunt; "MP praises Gay underrepresentation of people of colour (Vespry). Games as 'rainbow' of diversity"; "UBC condemns homo- Both Syms and Vespry targeted the MVAAA's phobic ad in daily papers"; "Vancouver Holds the Third assimilationist approach to advertising: its "straight look- and Largest Gay Games). ing, straight acting" board members, they claimed, opted One of the most obvious attempts to support MVAAA for a "puritan image," and rendered lesbian and gay at all costs was Esther Shannon's commentary published people invisible by omitting the words gay or queer from in Kinesis. Discussing some anecdotal accounts of the advertising in mainstream media. Although MVAAA Games, she wrote: might have argued that their low-key advertising and sanitized public image were justified in light of virulent A friend of mine told me about ...g etting a politi- rightwing opposition, Vespry and Syms are persuasive in cally correct earful from two British lesbians ... ac- their argument that the Games' principle of inclusion cording to them, the Games were nothing more requires, at the very least, unequivocal solidarity with than an appalling white, middle-class North Ameri- openly lesbian and gay members of the community, can spectacle. My friend ... knew these earnest criti- including the large numbers who reject assimilationist cisms were valid but she kept thinking, "they're strategies (Syms; Vespry). missing the point." [Vancouver] Gay Games organ- Given the increased levels of competition among bid

26 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME cities, pressure on sporting ethos modelled community media to on the Olympics, rather limit negative com- than to promote genu- mentary will be espe- inely alternative and in- cially strong during the clusive visions of sport- Gay Games bidding ing participation, where process. There was evi- winning is less impor- dence of this trend in tant than participating. 's major gay Research studies on and lesbian newspaper, lesbian and gay commu- the Sydney Star Ob- nity sport demonstrate server, which pub- that it is difficult for lished mostly positive those who have been so- articles, and encoun- cialized into the ethos of tered criticism from mainstream sport to Team Sydney (the abandon their often un- Sydney Gay Games examined acceptance of bid committee) when- competition and the "no ever it didn't, or when pain, no gain" mantra the timing of a par- for an alternative model ticular article (e.g. that values fun, friend- Boson 1997b) did not ship, and the pure pleas- "suit" Team Sydney's ure ofbodily movement. purposes. This did not Socializedgender diffet- prevent thestar's sport ences make it somewhat reporter, Mary Boson, easier for women than from writing, among men to embrace a new other critical articles, ethos of cooperation an insightful piece ti- rather than competition tled "Are we cheap in sport contexts dates?" in which she (Lenskyj 1994a, 1994b). identified the danger Greater involvement of Photo: Marlene Hielema that lesbian andgay or- feminist women in lead- ership roles would no doubt help the Gay Games move- ganizations- like Team Sydney. . would abandon their social justice agendas in the rush to get government and corpo- ment to achieve its original radical goals. One troubling rate funding, and in their efforts to demonstrate the power trend remains: only 25 per cent of Gay Games I11 and of the (gay male) "pink dollar" to the non-gay world about 36 per cent of Gay Games IV participants were (Boson 1997a, 1997b). Given the double economic dis- women (Verry). This increased to 45 per cent for Gay advantage experienced by lesbians-as women and as Games V in , largely as a result of the Wom- members of a stigmatized sexual minority-Boson's warn- en's Outreach Committee and direct marketing efforts. ings were particularly persuasive. From 1982 to 1986, when Gay Games organizers were engaged in a lengthy and unsuccessful court battle against Gay Games or Gay Olympics? the Olympic Committee (USOC) to keep their original name, the Gay Olympic Games. Arnbiva- Since their inception, Gay Games have involved a number lence over the key political question, "Gay Games or Gay of sport celebrities and former Olympic athletes, includ- Olympics?",was evident when Sara Lewinstein (Waddell's ing Tom Waddell, Betty Baxter, , Martina partner) told the press, "The perception has been created ~avratilova,and Greg ~ou~anis,and the biographies of that somehow gays hate the Olympics... we love the Federation representatives and bid committee members Olympics. We just don't like the dumb bureaucrats who usually include their athletic credentials (except for those run the USOC" (Waddell and Schaap 234). She went on organizing the cultural festival). The liberal notion of to cite the improved sport facilities that would result from lesbian and gay celebrities sewing as "role models" appears a successful Olympic bid. to hold sway in the Gay Games movement, and undoubt- In light of these early events, it is somewhat ironic that edly their positive examples and personal courage are Sydney hosted the in 2000, two inspirational to many. At the same time, however, this years before Gay Games VI. In fact, according to Sydney's emphasis serves to entrench the mainstream competitive Gay Games bid book, most events would be using facili-

VOLUME 2 1, NUMBER 3 27 ties constructed in the 1990s for Sydney 2000. Equally '90s, the termsgay and lesbian are historically appropriate. important, widespread popular support for Sydney 2000, achieved in large part by the Olympic Bid Committee's References pressure on the mass media to suppress any negative reports (Booth and Tatz; Lenskyj 2000) helped pave the Booth, D. andTatz,C. "Sydney 2000: The Games People way for lesbian and gay community efforts to win Gay Play." Current Affairs Bulletin 70 (7):(1 994): 4-1 1. Games VI. The Gay Games bid book stressed the excel- Boson, M. "We Won! Government Goes for Gold." lence of the Olympic facilities, and stated that the New Sydny Star Observer November 20, 1997a. South Wales government would provide these venues Boson, M. "Gay Games Licence: Sydney Hit with $1.4 either free ofcharge or with major subsidies (Sydney 2002 Million Fee." SydnqStar ObserverDecember 1 1,1997b. 57). One section, however, presented an unexpected Boson, M. "Are We Cheap Dates?" Sydny Star Observer critique ofthe Olympic Games: "The [Gay] Games' ideals December 18, 1997c. and prominent sporting participants will be used to Boson, M. "Games Bids 'Too Costly'." Sydney Star Ob- contrast the elitism of the modern Olympics and to gain server May 1, 1998. [media] coverage in the run-up to Sydney's Olympic Brunt, S. "Inside the Gay '90s: The Name of the Games Games in 2000" (15). is Pride." Globe and Mail August 4, 1990: A24. The Gay Games represent an alternative to the Olym- Coe, R. A Sense of Pride: The Story of Gay Games 11. San pic Games, but they are modelled in large part on an Francisco: Pride Publications, 1986. international sporting competition with over a hundred Federation of Gay Games. The Purpose. 1997. years of checkered political history (and, in the last five www.gaygames.org. years, a seriously tarnished image; see Lenskyj 2000). Forzley, R. and Hughes, D. Eds. The Spirit Captured.. The From the outset, Gay Games' winners were named and Oficial Photojournal of Celebration PO-Gay Games recognized, medals were awarded, records were kept, and III. Vancouver: For Eyes Press, 1990. some events were "sanctioned (conducted according to Lenskyj, H. "Combating Homophobia in Sport and international federation standards); highly trained and Physical Education: Academic and Professional Re- talented athletes whose careers had been impeded by sponsibilities." Sociology of Sport Journal 8(1) (1991): homophobia now had their own "Olympics." Only a 61-69. minority of commentators problematized these trends. Lenskyj, H. "Girl-Friendly Sport and Female Values." Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal 3(1) Conclusion (1994): 35-46. Lenskyj, H. "Sexuality and Femininity in Sport Contexts: The issues examined here confirm that tension remains Issues and Alternatives." Journal of Sport and Social between the radical view of the Gay Games as an alterna- Issues 18(4) (1994a): 356-376. tive, inclusive and empowering lesbian and gay commu- Lenskyj, H. Inside the Olympic Industry: Power, Politics nity event, and the liberal goal of mounting an income- andActivism. Albany: SUNY Press, 2000. generating, international sporting spectacle modelled on Messner, M. "Gay Athletes and the Gay Games: An the Olympic Games. The key principle of inclusion, Interview with Tom Waddell." Gentle Menfor Gender particularly in relation to lesbians, low-income people, Justice 13 (Fall 1984): 22-23. participants from developing countries, and people with "MP praises Gay Games as 'Rainbow' of Diversity." disabilities, is unlikely to be realized if organizers allow the Toronto Star August 6, 1990: A2.

Olympic. . model to dominate. However, if leaders can Shannon, E. "Can You Believe the Roar of the Crowd?" maintain an uncompromising political stance on the Kinesis September 1990: 12-14. issues of inclusion, participation, and accessibility, the Sydney 2002. Sydney Gay Games VI: Under New Skies. Gay Games movement has transformative potential. Sidney: Bid Book, 1997. Syms, S. "Celebration '90: Physique and Critique." Rites Helen Jefferson Lenshyj is a recreational athlete, feminist 13 (September 1990): 10-1 1. sport scholar, andprofessor at Institutefor Studies in "UBC Condemns Homophobic Ad in Daily Papers." The Education, University of Toronto. Her next book is titled Varsity 7 November 20, 1990: 7. The Best Olympics Ever? Social Impacts of Sydney 2000 "Vancouver Holds the Third and Largest Gay Games." (SUNK 2002). Globe andMailAugust 6, 1990: A7. Verry, C. "Gay Games 2002-Sydney." WomensportAus- 'The Gay Games are open to participants who are gay, tralia Newsletter 14 (March 1998): 14. lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, queer, and heterosexual, Vespry, A. "Reflections on the Gay Games. Rites (Septem- but the terms most often used in reference to the Gay ber, 1990): 11-13. Games-related communities are gay and lesbian. Since Waddell, T. and D. Schaap. Gay Olympian: The Life and most of the discussion concerns events of the 1980s and Death of Dr. Tom Waddel. New York: Knopf, 1996.

28 CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME