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The Gay Games · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I never told you a productive I hurry, and today
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: we have an episode for you about the Gay Games.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: We are kicking off Pride Month with a bang with
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: a history and a rundown about the Gay Games because
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Samantha and I we had not heard of it until
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: recently with Samantha's Activists around the World episode on Kitty
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Sway where it came up.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: And we were like, what is this? We should look
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: into what is this?
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: What's going on here? So I would say go listen
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to that episode if you haven't already. Also our episode
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: we did on the Olympics for discussion about gendered categories.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: You could also check out our book. We have a
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: whole chapter about the Olympics in there. And our conversation
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: we had with doctor Annabath about trans athletes I think
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: also relates to this, and an important related conversation about
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: access and cost that we had in that episode that
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: will touch on a bit here, But that's something to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: keep in mind. This is going to be a bit
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: of a shorter one, but I will tell you that
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: if you want to learn more, Gay Games dot Org,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: they have a really useful, interesting timeline that has videos
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and interviews and it just shows how it's changed and
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: how it came together and the people that made it
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and what it's meant to people. So if you would
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: like to check that out, you can. So. The Gay
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Games is an inclusive event modeled somewhat after the Olympics,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: where LGBTQ plus people can come together and compete in
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: sporting and cultural events. These days, it brings in around
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: ten thousand and attendees who can visit Festival Village, which
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: is sort of like Olympic village, a meeting spot, a
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: place to stay, a place of entertainment. There are activities
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: like the memorial Rainbow run around the host city. There
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: are workshops, all kinds of stuff. It honestly, in some
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: ways reminded me of Dragon Con because it has like
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: a lot of those like in things if you know,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: you know, yeah, like the flamingo.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: We'll talk about that in this second.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: So, as discussed in our Olympics episode, the Olympics does
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: have a long and often not so great history around
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: including queer people in sport or in general, women or
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: people of color for a while, or speculating about people's
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: sexual orientation and or gender identity to the point of harassment.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: That's something we see today, right. So Olympic decathlete doctor
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Tom Odell wanted to create an inclusive LGBTQ plus space
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: that featured not only sports competition, but a place for activism,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: for people to come together and make community and culture.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Waddell first got involved with the nineteen sixty eight Mexico
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: City Olympics. This was a time with a lot of turmoil,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: the protest against the Vietnam War, for one.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: The civil rights.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Movement was in full swing in the United States, and
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: black American athletes threatened to boycott the Olympics in protest
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to racism in America. Of racism in America, there were
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: initiatives on voting ballots proposing banning LGBTQ plus folks from
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: becoming teachers. The Stonewall riots were on the horizon. There
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: was a lot of political violence with the assassination of
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior and Senator Robert F.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Kennedy.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: There was violence in Mexico City when students protesting poverty
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: in part caused by all the funds going to the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Olympics instead of the citizens. They were fired on by
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Mexican soldiers, resulting in thirty deaths and a lot more injuries.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: So because of this, there were acts of resistance and
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: defiance at these Mexico City Games, amongst some of the
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: athletes calling out racism and inequality. Two of those athletes,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: black men, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, were sent home
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: after raising the Black Power fist during the US national anthem.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: While on the metal podium.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Doctor Waddell was vocal in his support of the athletes,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and there were calls to have him court martialed for
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: his comments because he was part of the military at
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: the time. Due to Waddell's participation in the military, he
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: could not compete in the Olympics as an openly gay man.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Waddell had also witnessed women being barred from competing in
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: sporting events. This was around the time of Boston Marathon
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: that whole thing. After seeing all of this and conferring
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: with others in the community, Wardell and others set about
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: putting together an inclusive alternative to the Olympics, the Gay Games.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: The first Gay Games took place in nineteen eighty two,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: fittingly in San Francisco. About thirteen hundred people showed up
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: with twelve countries represented, and Tina Turner was the headliner
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: for the opening ceremony.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: What this is why she was an icon in general
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: in every way? But yeah, she was the opener. Yes, please, yes,
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: I need to see that performance.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: You I think you can. And I read she like
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: brought down the house with her performance of Proud Mary Man.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: That would be one event I would love to have seen, damn.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And it was really fun to read the interviews of
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: people who were there, and they were so happy and
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: shocked that someone of her caliber showed up at a
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: time when being queer was still kind of looked down upon,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: and she showed up at their event and it made
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: them feel very like, oh, this is something.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: You have seen. Yeah, yeah, to have someone that's amazing, Yes.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, I have to say. Over the years, they've gotten
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: some really big names. I'm only gonna mention some of them,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: but I would recommend looking it up because they've gotten
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: some people to show up for these games.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: I cannot believe I've never heard of these games. I'm
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: really sad. I go, oh, I'm so glad to talk
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: about it.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, me too.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: There were sports competitions and cultural events at these first
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: games opening and closing ceremonies. It was largely put together
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: by volunteers and with donations, and allegedly it costs around
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty thousand dollars. The athletes ranged from
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: professional to just starting out, like they would hold you've
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: never done this sport before, but you're interested kind of things.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: So they were really just come on in if you
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: want to try it out, and the focus was more
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: on getting a personal record as opposed to a medal.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: It was much less competitive and much more collaborative. Organizers
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: and volunteers made a specific effort to bring in women
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: as well, and it ended up that close to half
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: of the participants were women. Wadell didn't like the nationalism
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: aspect of the Olympics, so it was more focused on
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: city participants. The city participants were from. Yes, there still
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: was a little like sometimes in the pictures you'll see
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: people holding up like Germany or whatever.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: But yeah, you'll see like a.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Little city sign like that.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: That's cute.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: I know, I love it. There weren't metal ceremonies or
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: medal counts. It was more of a celebration than a competition. Yeah,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: but people did get medals. They just didn't do like
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the whole yes thing. Yes, case way did we saw that.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: In the beginning, this event was generally referred to as
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the Gay Olympic Games. There were even pins printed with
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: the name. I think you can still get them. But okay,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: I'm getting ahead of myself. You know who didn't like that.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: The US Olympic Committee soprise.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they did not like it at all.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Well, they initiated a lawsuit to prevent the event from
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: using Olympics as.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Part of their name.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: At the time, there were a lot of events that
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: used the term Olympics as part of their name. But
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: when it came to the LGBTQ plus community, that is
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: where they put the foot down.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: They were like, absolutely not, you will.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Not do that. They were successful in their suit, so
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: the Olympics was struck from the title. However, the whole
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: thing really shored up support for the event in the
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: gay community. But going back to what I was saying earlier,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: I believe because they'd already printed some merchandise, it's almost
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: like the Olympics is redacted, like it's still on there,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: but there's like a.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Plus cross over it. Yeah. Yeah, and I think you
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: can still get it like that.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: I think it's one of the what I was saying earlier,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: like one of those in things if you know, you.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Know, yeah, yeah, that's right, being rebellious that it exactly well.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: In defense of the US Olympic Committee, they claimed that
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: the name implied that they were apposed to gay athletes
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: competing in the.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Other Okay, yeah, yes.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: But yeah, this was their first lawsuit around the whole thing,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: so what are we to make of that? And the
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: whole thing? The Gay Games themselves was about expanding people's
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: views of the many facets of the gay community. When
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: this was going down, many people just didn't believe gay
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: people were or could be athletic instead of just drag
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: queens and leather people they'd often been labeled at as
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: at the time, or that lesbians only played softball, or
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: that wrestling would become home erotic if gay people were
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: allowed to compete, things like that, those kind of stereotypes.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, I know.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: A lot of gay sporting events took place under the
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: radar for safety reasons at the time, too, so people
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: didn't see them happening. So these stereotypes continued unquestioned. And
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: it also reinforced the idea that it was something to
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: The Gay Games was a way of shining a light
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: on people in the queer community being in sports and
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: what it looks like and how it looks like, all
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: kinds of things, not just these couple of things that
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: people had stereotyped it to be. The historical context of
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: when this was taking place is important to keep in
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: mind too, because this is when the HIV AIDS epidemic
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: was on the rise and largely ignored by the US
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: government and society, or seen as a punishment or the
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: fault of the victims. President Reagan and his extremely homophobic
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: administry were in power at the time. Public sentiment in
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: the US was volatile and often fearful and judgmental around
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: gay people. Some queer groups were prohibited from using public pools,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: for example, because they thought people thought that's how HIV
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: AIDS might spread. Some people were coming from countries where
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: being queer was illegal, so having this space of joy
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: and camaraderie and activism was really important, and sadly, Waddell
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: himself died of AIDS in nineteen eighty seven. When people
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: recount the games from this period, there were a lot
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: of losses in the community hanging over the whole thing,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Like almost every interview I read, Yeah, people had lost people,
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: and there were a lot of really powerful counter protests
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: against the small number of people who showed out to
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: say being gay was wrong. So people did show up
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: at these games testing and saying homosexuality is a sin,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: as unfortunately we would expect, but there were much bigger
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: counter protests against them.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: So that's good.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Vicky Carter, a member of an LGBTQ plus swimming group
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: in the UK, called out to swim participated in the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: games and told the BBC we had two swimmers who
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: were out about their HIV status and one broke a
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: world record in their age group. It was amazing because
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: there was this terrible thing going on with HIV and
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: AIDS and people talking about how sick it was to
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: be gay, what a dreadful thing it was, and how
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: we're all going to die, and then you've got people
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: who are sick who are breaking world records, and it
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: was like, well, you might think we're sick, but we're
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: actually strong and powerful and can do amazing things. It
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: felt really defiant. The whole thing was truly terrifying, so
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: to overcome that terror and say no, I'm not going
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: to be frightened. It is okay to be gay, it
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: is okay to get on with my it's okay to
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: get on with my life. And we will live through this.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: And so there are a lot of great statements like
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: that in interviews that I mentioned at the top, So
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: if you want to read them, I would recommend it.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: I would recommend it.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: So with a successful inaugural Gay Games event under the Belts,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: organizers decided to follow the Olympics templates and hold a
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Gay Games every four years. Gay Games Too took place
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty six, also in San Francisco. Attendance rose
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: to over three thy five hundred. A handful of new
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: events were adding to the roster too. And here's something
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier. There is a lot of lore to this,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: but the story goes that this is when the beloved
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: pink Flamingo relay really came to be as a tradition.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: And it sounds so much about this, Yeah, it sounds
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: really fun. It's a swimming event that has costumes where
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: the swimmers have a flamingo on of sorts in a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: relay race and they can carry the flamingo.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: However, they would.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: Like it sounds so fun, that's amazing.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Yes, the pictures are fabulous.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: I feel like this is even more entertaining to watch
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: than the Olympics. This would be more entertaining.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: For the third Games, the organizers went international, hosting them
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: in Vancouver, Canada in nineteen ninety. These were even bigger,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: still more than doubling in size since the previous event,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: with about seven five hundred athletes and fifteen hundred artists.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: There were athletic and cultural events, and a few sanctioned
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: swimming world records were set, which was the first for
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: these Games. Records achieved in swimming continued in the nineteen
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: ninety four Gay Games held in New York City, furthering
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: its legitiacy as a sporting event with world class athletes.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: I have to say this nineteen ninety four to one
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: in New York was kind of a stree range, Like
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: looking back over it, Rudy Giuliani spoke at it like all.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: These things gives me like that makes me sad and
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: like nostalgic for when politicians were sane, right, But also
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: you don't want him to be a part of this
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: now exactly.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: I was just let your name on that. Why is
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: your name here?
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: I think there were some pretty cool people of this
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: one too. But another thing I didn't get into, but
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: I believe at this game's this is when they worked
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: with the US governments to make it so that people
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: who were coming from other countries into the US to
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: participate didn't have to declare their HIV status.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Which was a big deal.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: By the time of the nineteen ninety eight Games in Amsterdam,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: almost fifteen thousand people from seventy three countries showed up.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: This was a notable game for a lot of reasons.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: First of all, it had the highest percentage of women
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: competitors as compared to previous events. On top of that,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: there was a bit of an uproar around same sex
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: pairs and figure skating that ultimately led to the international
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: bodies in charge to change the rules to allow same
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: sex pairs. Yes, and further, they were providing information on
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: breast cancer, which had impacted a lot of their community.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: So they do a lot of fundraising around things.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: Like HIV AIDS.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: But this is when they also really got in on
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: breast cancer. The two thousand and two Games were held
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: in Sydney. In the two thousand and six Games in Chicago,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: there was some host city drama that tear Montreal was
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: originally going to be the host, but they pulled out
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: and hosted a competing event, Oh, the out Games. Yes,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: but the Gay Games came together in Chicago and the
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: closing ceremony took place in the iconic Wrigley Field and
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: featured Sydney Lauper.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: That makes it perfect sense. It don't get me Motaina
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: as too, but like, yes, she hasn't always will be
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: an icon in the queer world.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, I think Billy Jan and King came to that
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: one too. There were a lot of people at this one.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Cologne's Cologne, Germany. There they hosted the twenty ten Games
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: and they set up a cultural village to highlight how
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: these games were about more than just a gay version
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: of the Olympics. They encompassed a lot more. It was
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: a space to learn through art and discussion. And then
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: the twenty fourteen games in Akron and Cleveland featured a
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: video message from President Obama during the opening ceremony about
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: how important these games were. Of note about the twenty
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: fourteen Games, this is when Sochi in Russia was hosting
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: the Olympics, and there was a lot of concern and
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: backlash amongst LGBTQ plus folks and allies do two Russias
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: anti LGBTQ plus policies. This actually resulted in a quote
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: constructive meeting between leadership of the Gay Games and the
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: International Olympic Committee, and the people who were in that
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: meeting representing the Gay Games were like, we never thought
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: we'd be here. After they pretty much suit using the
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: name Olympics. But yeah, there's a lot more on their
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: site about that whole thing and about the how that
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: looked and how specifically organizations in Russia. Queer organizations in
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Russia were like, make sure when you're helping us, you're
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: not ignoring that you got some pretty bad stuff in
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: the United States too. It was a good read. It
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: was very interesting. So the Sydney Games were also when
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the Gay Games, they were starting to hone in on
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: their branding because they'd been facing all these questions about
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: how they had to justify their existence. Is this discriminated
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: towards straight people? Why do we even need the Gay Games?
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Things like that, and so that became something that they
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: started to really focus on and continued over the years,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: and it would change as society changed, viewpoints changed, But
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: that was when they really started to focus in on it,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: and they also started to link up with LGBTQ plus
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: organizations in the countries they were going to, like smaller
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: ones to help set up these events and make sure
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: they were reaching the right people all that stuff. Paris
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: hosted in twenty eighteen, and there was some drama behind
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: that one too. Also. I think it was Miami that
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: was the host city and they pulled out a last
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: minute and people had already flown there and stuff. It
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: was yeah, wow, it was really bad. But yes, Paris
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: did happen. And then the pandemic capited, which delayed the
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: next Games until twenty twenty three, where they were held
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: in Hong Kong and Guadalajara, Mexico. And part of the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: reason they chose two cities was because of the pandemic.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: It was still people were traveling, but it was still
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: kind of like, I don't know, let me be careful, yeah,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: And so they held them in these two places that
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: they hoped large amounts of people could get to. The
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Hong Kong Games led to the local FGG or Federation
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: of Gay Games organization to eventually host the Asia Pride Games,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: and they were success and they're going to I think
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: they're having their second one. Nice. Valencia, Spain is the
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: host of the June twenty seventh to July fourth, twenty
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: twenty six Games. So this was an accidental on time
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: episode we did.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it's so perfect timing.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: It's rare that we do this. But yeah, this.
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: Is not that rare. Pretty tune somehow, like the world
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: seems like the vibe seem to know it's time.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: It's time.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. I guess you're right.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: It wasn't intentional. No, but here we are.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: I love that.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, me too. And listeners, if you have been or
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: are planning on.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Going, please right in and let us.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: I would love to hear about this. Yes, yes, Also
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: I need pictures of the flamingos from this. Yeah.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: So here are some of the event categories they have
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: as of now. Aquatics, shack and field bowling, court sports
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: like volleyball, basketball and dodge well cycling, dance including cheerleading,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: grass sports like baseball, rugby, and cricket, matt sports like
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: wrestling and fencing, Open water sports and racket sports. They
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: also have chess e sports and dragon boat racing.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: So I guess a similar to flamingo racing.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I don't think so.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: No, maybe now the boat dragons.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, it's a dragon boat.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I get it. I get it. After you
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: did that motion, yeah, a whole like rowing motion that
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: for some reason they clicked.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very helpful in audio when I make a gesture.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: They have a lot more events. Samantha and I were
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: just looking through and picking out the ones that we
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: were like, oh, that's you don't.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: Normally see that different.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Yes, they have a lot of dance games.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Is unique. Yes, I love that. Actually, yeah me too,
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: me too.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: You could participate any last one to yeah or the
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: other one, scarier.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: One, the scarier one.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: The bad movies that we've talked about, where they going
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: to the world with that dude with the box Head girl,
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: I can't the weird nurses. Oh, Silent Hill, thank you,
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: Silent Hill. I was like resurrection, that is not right,
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: pyramid Head, not box close enough. It has a shape.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: That was the most mom thing I could do. Your
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: little friend box Head.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, just go play that.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: But you're good at that game. That's what I'm meant
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: to say.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, thank you, Samantha.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: I think you should train to be in the games
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: at the Gay Games.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: We should look into it. I want to know what
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: exactly what games are they're playing can be perfect. I'll investigate.
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: Okay, I'll investigate. Next assignment, yes for you.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Okay. As for the cultural events, they include things around dance, music,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: TV and film, art and literature. So it sounds like
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: I have a lot of stuff to do, a lot
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: of stuff to check out.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: How do you compete in literature?
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Oh no, these are no these are just cultural events
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: where you hang out and learn.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Oh what they have? Okay, okay, okay. I was like,
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: they compete in this hell all right?
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I can see trivia?
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's in my head. I was like,
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: this is like a Jeopardy thing. Yeah, yeah, it's not.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think so.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: And they have to dance at the same time.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Wow, that would be I would watch that.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, I would watch that.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: There you go, Gay Games. If you're listening to us,
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: we've got suggestions, We've got ideas, activity type of things.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: We've got so many ideas.
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: Stitching while you dance Oh yeah, the trick is not
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: to stab somebody or yourself.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: That's that would be ideal. That's a good trick.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry anyway, keep going.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I have more respect for the Games than that.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Moving on, so many credit the Gay Games in part
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: with boosting LGBDQ plus participation in the Olympics and with
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: the proliferation of gay sports clubs across the US and
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: across the world. Reading accounts from participants, it seems like
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: it is a really joyous space where people feel like
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: they can be themselves, a feeling that they would take
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: home with them and share with others. We've talked in
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the past about the importance of sports too when it
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: comes to building community, self confidence, things like that, and
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: having spaces like this is increasingly important with growing attacks
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: on trans and non binary athletes. There also remain questions
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: of cost and access, which we have talked about before
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: when it comes to sports and especially events that call
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: for training and travel. Like I said, for this, you
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: don't necessarily have to have the training part, but having
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: this does represent so much, and the Gay Games has
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: scholarship programs to bring people in and teams off in
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: front fundraise. I know the cheer team is pretty big
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: and fundraising so people can come and providing for their
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: travel and stuff like that. The Gay Games are also
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: working on bringing in more women and more people of
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: color and people with disabilities. They're having discussions about changing
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the name because there's just conversation about whether or not
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: for the younger generation, gay is what they connect with,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: if that's the term that they connect with or resonate with.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: So they're having that conversation too. But so many people
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: have reported how powerful it was and is to not
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: feel alone and how these events really gave them that,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: and especially in dark times Yeah, where you're being told
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: you can't participate in these sports or that's wrong.
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: To hide you who you are, Yes, exactly.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: So I wanted to end on this quote from their website,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: which again is Gay Games dot Com. Work In the
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: United States, LGBTQ plus rights are under attack, from bands
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: against transgender individuals to those wishing to remove the rights
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: and protections for the LGBTQ plus community that have come
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: about in the past forty years, and many of the
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: attacks we see today are the same ones we faced
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: forty years ago. Taiwan is the only Asian country where
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: marriage equality exists in South Africa, the only country on
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the African continent. Thus, when people ask do we still
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: need a Gay Games, the obvious answer is yes, yes
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: we do. Yeah, I'm very glad to have learned more
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: about this. Yes, yeah, And as I said, the website
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: is full of interviews and pictures and videos. Some of
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: those performances are up there, so I do recommend checking
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: it out. And I really, listeners, if you have been
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: or I don't know, have any information about it, please
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: let us know.
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: I need I need clips and I'm sure we can
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: go look up. I mean, I'm gonna look up the
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: Flamingo race immediately as well as the Tina Turner performance
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: because I must that will feed my soul. But also
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: any you have an assignment.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Yes, look into the force.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: Let's see we can get you into the Gay Games.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I'm sure I could get in. I mean that's the thing.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, let's do this.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Q training montage.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: Make sure I'm hydrated.
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: Me in the background, how you your forehead?
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Get you got this?
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: We got like some gator rays like I got you
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: the cold towel.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Yes, all right, well we'll look into that. Listeners, never
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: fear in the Meanwhile, if you would like to contact
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: us and oh and Happy Pride by the way, Happy
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Pride Yes about anything Pride related or what have you,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: you can email us at Hello Stuffhenever Told You dot com.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: You can find us on Blue skyte Mom Stuff podcast,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff when Never Told You.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: We're also on YouTube. We have some merchandise at Compureau,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: and we have a book you can get where you
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: get your books. Thanks as always to our super producer
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Chandler and our expected brewser maya thank you and thanks
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: to you for listening. Stuff Never Told You is protection
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: of by Heart Radio. For more podcast in my heart Radio,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: you can check out the heart Radio app, Apple podcast
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: or where you listen to your favorite shows.