"Let the games begin" was the chant at yesterday's grand opening ceremony at the Cologne stadium. But the attendance wasn't quite as big. Friends of mine had bought tickets early, so I had a good view from the third row. When the athletes started to march in, the stadium was in a rather sad state: empty stands, the atmosphere wasn't really overflowing and the French team's well-intentioned attempt to get the crowd going with a wave of la-la-la wasn't really understood. A rather laboured start to the games...
Actually, the march-in should also be an act of joy and togetherness. But I was saddened by the moments when signs from many participating countries marched in with barely a handful of participants or none at all. One woman behind Kenya, three boys for Turkey, four Israelis, five for China, no one behind Angola, Ghana, Latvia, and, and, and... The fear and helplessness behind these non-existent faces of my gay and lesbian fellow human beings pains me.
Now that I'm thinking about it, writing about it and clicking through the photos, I can't help but cry. I'm really not a particularly pathetic person, but last night once again made me realise what an island of bliss we're moaning about at a high level. And then we don't even manage to fill a stupid stadium to welcome all those who were able to come here under sometimes difficult conditions. We should be ashamed of ourselves!
After a few short speeches and a warm-up by the outstanding Rainbow Symphony Cologne Orchestra, Foreign Minister Westerwelle arrived to greet the audience, accompanied by boos. God knows I'm not a Guido fan - neither personally nor politically. But the fact that the Foreign Minister, for whatever reason, opened an international gay and lesbian sporting event and found very clear words of condemnation for state repression against homosexuals certainly deserved the final applause. "No religion justifies murder!" For us, he may just be the shrill Guido, but for all those people yesterday who come from countries with oppression, hatred and persecution, he was the gay vice-chancellor of a powerful world nation. His call for more justice and fairness could hardly have been clearer: "We don't demand privileges, we demand respect."
In the end, the evening still had its beautiful and atmospheric moments, for example when Taylor Dayne belted out the official GayGames song in the midst of huge fountains of fire through the stadium. And despite the rainy weather, crowds of exhausted but happy people gathered in Schaafenstrasse afterwards to continue celebrating together. The games have begun.
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