This should be interesting.”
These were the last words gay activist Tom Waddell spoke before succumbing to an ongoing fight with HIV/AIDS in July of 1987.
He must have thought the same five years earlier, as he watched his creation, the Gay Games, premiere in San Fransisco.
Twenty-four years after the first Games, Waddell’s legacy lives on.
Gay Games VII: Where the World Meets began in Chicago last Saturday with an opening ceremony at Soldier Field. Notable guests included Mayor Richard Daley, Megan Mullally, White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and former NFL player Esera Tuaolo. Christy Fairbairn, winner of the 2006 Windy City Gay Idol, sang the national anthem.
The competition boasts 12,000 participants from 65 countries who participate in 30 sports. Chicago alone has about 2,500 representatives. On the other end, Kaine Keabetswe was Botswana’s only contestant.
The games are open to all, regardless of gender or orientation. Nono Grant, a Dallas attorney who identifies as straight, is playing soccer this year with her gay sister Dee, also an attorney.
Also in attendance at the opening ceremony was Gay Games co-founder Sara Waddell Lewinstein, carrying on her late husband’s work and reminding participants about the man behind the games.
Thomas Flubacher was born in 1937. He grew up in Paterson, N.J., and eventually attended Springfield College, finally studying medicine. He placed sixth in the decathlon at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. He changed his name to Waddell early on, identifying himself with his friends Gene and Hazel Waddell.
In the 1980s, Waddell organized what he called the Gay Olympics. After the International Olympic Commission sued over the name, the event became Gay Games: Challenge. The first Games drew 1,350 athletes from 12 countries to compete in 17 sports.
It was during the first Gay Games that Waddell met Sara Lewinstein. Lewinstein co-founded the Gay Games and served as vice president for San Francisco Arts and Athletics. He and Sara decided to have a child, Jessica. Jessica Waddell Lewinstein was also in attendance at the Games in Chicago.
Waddell lived to see the second Gay Games, known as Triumph, in 1986. He died July 11, 1987.
Two years later, inspired by Tom’s efforts, the SFAA board of directors expanded the Games to beyond the Bay Area, creating the Federation of Gay Games. Gay Games III: Celebration was held in 1990 in Vancouver.
Gay Games IV was especially significant. The Games, played in New York, were purposely scheduled to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, when patrons at a gay bar in New York resisted arrest. The games, known as Unity, exceeded the Olympics in the number of athletic participants.
Amsterdam hosted Gay Games V: Friendship and Sydney hosted Gay Games VI: Under New Skies.
Montreal was the first choice for the 2006 games, but due to controversies over the size of the event, the FGG chose Chicago as the new site. Montreal instead will start the World Outgames on July 29.
Selecting Chicago did not go as smoothly as the Federation had hoped. Residents of the city protested the events, and many complained about the location of certain sports. One of the larger fights came from Crystal Lake, a northwest suburb of Chicago where the rowing competition was to take place. After four hours of debate, the city’s park district board finally voted 3-2 in favor of the event.
Despite requests to stop and numerous protestors, the Federation of Gay Games continued to support Tom Waddell’s message: “To educate people through sport in the spirit of better understanding.”
The games opened to a crowd of tens of thousands. The event, according to NBC, is supposed to pump more than $50 million into the local economy.
Competitions are already underway across the Chicagoland area. Northwestern is hosting different sports, from Synchronized Swimming to Powerlifting, between Welsh-Ryan Arena and the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Aquatic Center.
The physique competition, in which athletes show off their well-lubricated muscles, took place at Welsh-Ryan Arena from Tuesday to Wednesday. Wednesday night. Finalists posed for the audience Wednesday night as judges decided a winner.
The closing ceremony will take place Saturday, July 22 at Wrigley Field.
Planning already has begun for the next competition, four years away. Gay Games VIII: Be Part of It is scheduled to start July 31, 2010, in Cologne, Germany.
