just out ▼ July 15. 1 0 0 4 ▼ 13
F igure skating
There has been phenomenal growth since then:
Gay Games II in San Francisco in 1986—
3,500 athletes from 259 cities and 16 nations for
17 sports.
Gay Games III in Vancouver, British Colom
bia, in 1990—7,300 athletes, 1,500 cultural par
ticipants and 31 sporting events.
Gay Games IV in New York City in 1994—
11,000 athletes from 2,900 cities and 44 nations
competing in 31 sporting events.
Waddell died from complications of AIDS in
1987. His dream, however, lives on: “Doing one’s
personal best should be the paramount goal in any
athletic endeavor.”
Figure skating drew a sellout crowd. This was
impressive, considering the venue—across the
city at Coney Island, almost 2 hours away from
midtown Manhattan by subway. This was the first
time that the sport was included at the Gay Games
and perhaps the first time in the history of the sport
that same-sex pairs were part of the competition.
One hundred skaters from nine countries com
peted in four disciplines—compulsory ice skat
ing, free dance, pairs and singles— and five ability
levels from beginner to world class.
C losing ceremony
It was a hot summer night June 25, a night that
we’ll always remember and that the world will
never forget. On that night a sellout crowd of
57,000 piled into Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to
celebrate the closing of Gay Games IV.
The ceremonies began with Harvey Fierstein
exclaiming, “Welcome to Yankee Stadium, these
are our athletes.” With that, there was a tremen
dous fanfare and 11,000 athletes marched onto the
field. It’s hard not to feel a sense of pride when you
gaze into the eyes of those who fulfilled their
dreams and played in the games.
The hour and 20-minute procession was punc
tuated by Judy Gold, Julia “It’s Pat” Sweeney and
Harvey Fierstein, who said, “Look! Lesbians who
bowl! It’s new! It’s exciting! It’s got balls!”
The festivities continued for the next three
hours, starting with Aprile Millo leading the sta
dium in the National Anthem, and moving on to
Barbara Cook and the Unity Chorus singing “Jack
and Jill.” This was followed by comedians Suzanne
Westenhoefer, Marga Gomez and Kathy Najimy,
Cindy Lauper, Cheer Dallas, Crystal Waters with
her 20 lesbian motorcycle escorts, Dianne Reeves,
Lavender Light, Armistead Maupin, Sir Ian
McKellen, Lisa Lisa, Phylis Hyman and, finally,
Patti LaBelle and the fireworks.
The whole thing was summed up when Roberta
Achtenberg asked the question “Why do we do
this?” She quoted Sappho of Lesbos, “Someone in
some future time will think of us.” The games and
the Stonewall celebration have proven to us that
we do have the power to change the world.
G ay G ames facts
Gay Games IV opening ceremonies in New York City
E pilogue
The lotions and tapes are now packed, and
thousands of athletes are heading home—some
with honors, but all with a sense of pride in
participating in this ever-growing tournament.
The events brought us a little closer. Maybe
we’ll get to Amsterdam for Gay Games V. Re
member, we have a date in ’98.
G ay G ames events
Aerobics, aquatics— swimming, diving and
water polo— badminton, basketball, billiards,
bowling, cycling, figure skating, flag football.
Wearin’ o’ the green
Team Portland makes a proud mark in the Gay Games
▼
by Martha Allen
ortland area residents who competed in Gay
Games IV said the events in New York City
were fabulous, fantastic, incredible experi
ences that left them, as one athlete said, with a
“feeling of overwhelming joy.”
Team Portland sent 65 members to the Gay
Games. Team members participated in track, ten
nis, swimming, physique, triathlon, wrestling and
other sports, along with some 11,000 gay and
lesbian athletes from around the world.
Tyler Cole, founder and member of Team
Portland, and a tennis player, said that the games,
the ceremonies, the cultural events and the Stone
wall 25 celebration all led to wonderful commu
nity spirit.
“New York City was so full of queers that it
was nearly impossible not to see other participants
while on the subway, walking around Manhattan,
or sitting in a restaurant. Walking into Yankee
Stadium for the closing ceremonies and seeing
more than 50,000 people cheering was a feeling of
overwhelming joy. Thousands of gay and lesbian
athletes were being applauded openly and proudly.
Twenty-five years after Stonewall, we really have
come some distance.”
Cole said that, of the 31 sports in the games.
Team Portland members participated in about 12.
“We didn’t tally a medal count,” Cole said.
“The emphasis was on participation and not the
number and type of medal won by each team. We
did have many members do their personal best and
others r proud of their r performance under
difficult
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circumstances. Many did bring home medals, but
we congratulate all those who competed.”
Among Portlanders bringing home medals was
golf, ice hockey, in-line skating, judo, marathon,
martial arts, physique, powerlifting, racquetball,
soccer, softball— fast pitch and slow pitch— sport
climbing, squash, table tennis, tennis, track and
field, triathlon, volleyball, wresting.
G ay G ames history
The idea for the games was originally con
ceived by Dr. Tom Waddell, himself a decathlon
participant in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
The first Gay Games was held in San Francisco
in 1982. There were more than l ,300 athletes from
179 cities and 12 nations participating in 14 sports.
“I was fortunate to win two gold medals,”
McMahon said. “But the whole experience was
fabulous. Having the opportunity to play at the
U.S. Open facility was great, and experiencing
both the ceremonies was a highlight.”
McMahon said that hot, humid weather made
the competitions difficult for Oregonians, but added
that going up against more than 800 other gay and
lesbian tennis players made the heat worthwhile.
Other Portlanders who did well in tennis compe
tition include Carolyn Lumber and Jane Paulson,
who won a gold medal in the open women’s
Team Portland tennis group
Ed McMahon, a tennis player and spokesman for
Team Portland’s tennis group. McMahon won
two gold medals, one in singles competition and
another in doubles.
doubles competition, the highest competition level
possible. Deanne Larsell won a bronze medal, and
Stephen Yew and tennis partner Bill Lynch also
topjpjiome a bronze4fpr thçif doublei coniperition.
According to Marlin Collingwood, director of
communications for the Gay Games, the entire
budget for Gay Games IV was $6.5 million dol
lars, “one-eighth of one percent of the budget for
the Olympics held in Barcelona.”
Collingwood estimates that over 2,000 people
received hosted housing in New York City and
that over 600 scholarships were distributed in
various forms and degrees such as waiver of fees,
coverage of transportation and loading costs and
food vouchers. Scholarships were based on three
criteria— financial need, health status related to
financial need, and representation by country, city
and discipline to achieve diversity.
Five to 6 percent of the athletes enrolled were
self-identified heterosexuals. Many of them par
ticipated for reasons of solidarity; for friends,
brothers, sisters, children and, in some cases, as a
memorial for someone close who had died of
AIDS.
All uniforms for the dancers in the opening
ceremonies were donated by Levi Strauss and
Company. Some teams were able to gel local Gap
sponsorship for items such as shorts and shirts.
New sports at Gay Games IV included figure
skating (with same-sex pairs competition), in-line
skating and sports climbing. Flag football re
placed touch football, and women’s divisions have
been added in wrestling. Discontinued sports in
clude croquet, darts and equestrian.
Other local medalists include Dawn Collins,
who won a bronze medal in track; Ellen Carder,
who won a gold medal in martial arts; Jennie
Eisenbraun, who medaled in physique; and Bill
Crew, who won two medals in rowing competi
tions even though he entered at the last minute.
Crew also participated in golf and tennis compe
titions.
“The rowing wasn’t affiliated with the games,”
Crew explained. “It was a separate event because
we got organized a little too late. But it was great,
it was the first-ever sanctioned gay regatta.”
Organized by a Washington, D.C., rowing
club, the Stonewall Regatta drew a number of
entries, and spectators. Crew said he rowed with
an international team that included members from
Detroit, Sacramento, New York and Canada. The
team won a gold medal, he said. Crew also rowed,
as a substitute, with the Washington, D.C., team,
and won a silver medal.
“The whole experience was very empowering,
very affirming,” Crew said. ‘There was a spirit
there I’ve never felt before— it was incredible.”
Another Portland resident who had a great time
in New York was Tom Barreto, a tennis player
who says he is already looking forward to
Amsterdam in 1998.
“It was fantastic,” Barreto said. ‘T he energy of
New York, plus the energy of the games, was
incredible. And the people were wonderful. I’d
heard New Yorkers were rude, but people were
very friendly and polite to all of us. Even the taxi
drivers would say, ‘You here for the games?’ ”
Team Portland’s green outfits, combined with
the presence of World Cup soccer fans in New
York, led to some confusion.
“Everyone thought we were Irish soccer play
ers,” Barreto said. ‘They would stop us on the
street and ask where to find the Irish bars. I didn’t
know that, but I could tell them where the good
bars wepe."
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