Gay Games Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: Coll2011-046

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Programs, clippings, flyers, correspondence, articles, news releases, competition schedules, competition results, advertising pamphlets, graphic design documents, and notebooks documenting the Gay Games (formerly the Gay Athletic Games), an athletic event held in various locations in the United States and abroad at four year intervals between 1982 and 2010. In addition to the planning, schedule and results of the competitive events themselves, the collection documents two controversies: the first over the event's use of the word "Olympic," the second regarding a screening of Leni Riefenstahl's 1938 film of the 1936 Berlin Olympics as part of a fundraiser for the Games. Also documented are cultural events associated with the Gay Games.

Dates

Creation: 1982 - 2010

Creator

Gay Games (Creator, Organization)

Access

Contact ONE archivist regarding access restrictions.

Publication Rights

Contact ONE archivist regarding publication and use restrictions.

Historical Note

The Gay Games was an athletic event and festival first held in San Francisco between August 28 and September 5,1982. The event was founded by Tom Waddell, and it was first referred to as the Gay Olympics as it was modeled after the international Olympic Games. Controversy surrounding the event began when the U.S. Olympic Committee filed a legal injunction that succeeded in preventing use of the word "Olympic" as part of its name. As a result, it was known as the Gay Athletic Games that first year. Four years after the Gay Athletic Games were held in San Francisco, the Gay Games continued the tradition of a gay athletic competitions and festivals held, like the Olympics, in different cities at four-year intervals.

Extent

1 Linear Feet ([19 folders])

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Processing Information

Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In order to provide access to this collection, minimal processing on this collection was expedited in 2011. Date spans were given wherever possible, but do not reflect the most accurate inclusive dates.