One more wake-up call: the Gay Games stand for fun, community and gay self-confidence. The participants range from 21-year-old gay Olympic champions to 85-year-old heterosexual pensioners. ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU is of course also at the start.
The games were actually supposed to be called the "Gay Olympics" when they opened for the first time in San Francisco in 1982. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took legal action against this use of the word "Olympic". No matter how many "Special Olympics", "Firemen Olympics" or "Young American Women's League Olympics" there were, the word "gay" made all the difference.
So the inventor of the games, former Olympic decathlete Tom Waddell, welcomed over 1,500 participants to the first "Gay Games".
A lot has happened since then. At the opening of the VIII. Gay Games in Cologne on Saturday, the gay German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomed the 10,000 or so participants. He is the highest-ranking politician ever to take part in an opening event and says he is "very pleased". The IOC has also come to its senses. Since 1994, it has even co-operated with the Gay Games in the area of HIV prevention.
Athletes from 70 countries on five continents now come to the Gay Games. The event thus also sends out a visible signal for emancipation worldwide and contributes to the self-confidence of gays and lesbians.
"The political appeal of the Gay Games should not be underestimated," says Dr Dirk Sander, Gay Consultant at Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe. "Many of the participants come from countries where they face severe discrimination as gays or lesbians. There are also many HIV-positive athletes at the start. HIV and prevention are talked about openly here - something that is far from a matter of course in many countries."
The whole philosophy of the Gay Games is centred on integration and having fun together. Top performances - which are certainly achieved at the Gay Games - are not the main focus. There are no qualifying competitions, nobody is eliminated in the preliminary round. Anyone can take part, no matter how old and how athletic - and even whether they are straight or gay. Everything is allowed, nothing is a must.
"The idea from the outset was to take the Olympic motto 'Taking part is everything' really seriously," says Gay Games founder Tom Waddell.
So now not only the 21-year-old gay Olympic high diving champion Matthew Mitcham will march into the stadium at the opening event on Saturday, but also 85-year-old Adolf Klöver from Bonn, a pensioner and straight man.
While Mitcham will certainly make the competition look pale when jumping from the 10-metre tower, Klöver hopes to be one of the best of the 15 competitors in his age group jumping from the three-metre board. "But the competition is tough."
Both Mitcham and Klöver could run into a referee from "Fairplay" at the event. Our partner campaign Herzenslust of AIDS-Hilfe Nordrhein-Westfalen is on site with this initiative. You can recognise the 100 or so volunteers from the campaign by their referee uniforms. Most of them come from the Cologne-based Check UP project and its Bonn counterpart "Gummibärchen".
Together with the staff and role models of ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU, they are distributing 50,000 condoms and providing information about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Health is a high priority at the games. "We don't want our guests to take any unwanted souvenirs with them from Cologne!" emphasises Michael Lohaus, Co-President of the Cologne Gay Games.
ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU is an official partner of the event. Our video adverts can be seen on almost 50 public information spots on "GAY GAMES TV".
In a joint leaflet, ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU, Herzenslust and Fairplay also provide information about safer sex and Cologne's contact points for health issues.
"It's about more than just condoms," emphasises Felix Laue, Fairplay project manager. "I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING and 'Fairplay' stand for responsible and enjoyable interaction with one another."
With this in mind, we wish you successful matches!
(Paul Schulz)
Information about Fairplay and Co.
Sport and games at ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU (including gay games videos)
