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The EuroGames are an LGBT+ multi-sport event in Europe, licensed by the EGLSF (European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation) to a local city host each year and organised (most often) by one or more of the federation's member clubs. Similar to the Gay Games, EuroGames are a sports-for-all event, open for participation irrespective of sex, age, sexual identity or physical ability. Additionally it often included less prominent non-olympic sports and disciplines catering to interest of LGBT+ communities like same-sex ballroom dance, line dance, cheerleading, aerobics, bodybuilding as well synchronised/artistic swimming with male participants, which was historically forbidden.
In terms of scale EuroGames range from 1,5 to cca 4 thousand (or exceptionally more) participants primarily from the West and South of Europe but also elsewhere (often Asian and American diasporic communities), most often with extra outreach support subsidies for less privileged participants. [1] [2]
The EuroGames is most often a long weekend event with opening ceremonies, some of the sport, social and cultural activities (as side program) also happening on the days before.
The official name of the EuroGames is the European Gay and Lesbian Multi-Sports Championships. It is a Dutch initiative inspired by GayGames, first organized in The Hague in 1992. [3]
The EuroGames are a multi-day sporting event. They are organized annually in a European city, except in years when the global Gay Games take place. Since the advent of the World Outgames in 2006, this has been taken into account in determining whether or not a city is assigned to a particular year. In a year in which Gay Games and/or World Outgames take place, EuroGames generally do not take place.
Like the Gay Games as well as the World Outgames, the EuroGames are open to everyone regardless of gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability. When a competitive sport has not yet reached the maximum number of participants, participants from non-European countries are also admitted.
Since 2001, the EuroGames have existed in two versions: the big EuroGames and the small EuroGames. It was planned that these small Games would have a maximum of 1,500 participants and seven sports and would last two days. The "small" EuroGames Utrecht 2005 were an exception to this. Almost 3,000 participants, nine competition sports and three competition days made Utrecht, as the smallest organizing city until then, have the largest 'small' Games compared to Hannover and Copenhagen in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
The 2023 EuroGames took place in Bern from 26 to 29 July 2023. 20 sporting disciplines and over 2,000 athletes of various sexual orientations and gender identities participated in the event. [4] The sporting event included new demonstration sports like Quidditch and local recreation like hiking. [5] Classic disciplines included tennis and bowling, but other disciplines such as street workout, the Hyrox challenge, quidditch and many other activities were scheduled. [6]
The centre of the old town was decorated with 250 LGBT flags. for the occasion The city of Bern has had to deactivate its Twitter comment function following homophobic comments, notably from the Swiss Young SVP party. The youth branch of the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland has indicated that they are considering filing a complaint. [3]
Jasmine Imboden and Greg Zwygart co-president the 2023 EuroGames association. [7] According to Greg Zwygart, the EuroGames is an inclusive sport event, also for heterosexual athletes. The event includes trans and intersex people even though these categories of people are not present in some sport disciplines. [7]
EuroGames 2023 hosting impacted Bern Pride to have exceptionally big Village and elaborate multi-day and multi-vanue program mostly with local talent and few guests. [8]
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On Twitter, Julie Nublat-Faure , deputy mayor in charge of sports, announced that the 2025 EuroGames would be held in Lyon from 23 to 26 July. This is the first time the city has hosted a European sports competition dedicated to the LGBT+ community [9] This 22nd edition [9] plans to bring together some 4,000 athletes from over 40 countries in Europe and around the world, [9] who will compete along the banks of the Saône and Rhône rivers in over thirty sporting disciplines, including tennis, football, rugby, synchronised swimming, pétanque, sailing, dance and choral singing. Participation in this sporting competition is made possible thanks to the support of fifteen clubs affiliated to the OS.L [10]
The LGBT+ Sports Federation also pointed out that this event offers the opportunity "to exchange ideas and raise awareness among participants and spectators around themes such as LBGT+ handisport, the fight against serophobia, and notions of gender and sexual orientation". [10]
Edition | Year | Location | Country | Participants | Countries | Sports | Note | Other bidders |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1992 | The Hague | Netherlands | 300 | 5 | 4 | ||
2 | 1993 | The Hague | Netherlands | 540 | 8 | 6 | ||
3 | 1995 | Frankfurt | Germany | 2,000 | 13 | |||
4 | 1996 | Berlin | Germany | 3,247 | 18 | 17 | ||
5 | 1997 | Paris | France | 2,000 | 18 | 17 | Brussels, Zürich | |
– | 1999 | Manchester | United Kingdom | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cancelled | Cologne |
6 | 2000 | Zürich | Switzerland | 4,500 | 19 | Hamburg | ||
7 | 2001 | Hanover | Germany | 1,500 | 7 | Small EuroGames | ||
8 | 2003 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 2,200 | 7 | Small EuroGames | ||
9 | 2004 | Munich | Germany | 5,050 | 38 | 27 | Vienna | |
10 | 2005 | Utrecht | Netherlands | 2,855 | 44 | 9 | Small EuroGames | |
11 | 2007 | Antwerp | Belgium | 3,650 | 38 | 11+1 | Small EuroGames | |
12 | 2008 | Barcelona | Spain | >5,000 | 40 | 25 | ||
13 | 2011 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | >3,000 | 26 | |||
14 | 2012 | Budapest | Hungary | |||||
15 | 2015 | Stockholm | Sweden | 4,465 | 71 | 28 | Big EuroGames | |
16 | 2016 | Helsinki | Finland | 1,400 | 40 | 14 | EuroGames | |
17 | 2019 | Rome | Italy | |||||
– | 2020 | Düsseldorf | Germany | Cancelled | ||||
18 | 2021 | Copenhagen/Malmö | Denmark/ Sweden | 2,000 | 22 | |||
19 | 2022 | Nijmegen | Netherlands | >2,000 | 17 | |||
20 | 2023 | Bern | Switzerland | >2,000 | 75 | 20 | ||
21 | 2024 | Vienna | Austria | |||||
22 | 2025 | Lyon | France | |||||
23 | 2027 | Cardiff | United Kingdom | Munich [11] | ||||
The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and other individuals.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Bosnia and Herzegovina may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female forms of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA) was an international gay and lesbian, culture and human rights association. Their last update was issued in March 2016, and the website has been offline since October 2017. The focus of GLISA was developing gay and lesbian sport worldwide. This was engineered through sanctioning world and continental games, creating a global calendar of LGBT events, fostering the creation of new LGBT federations, clubs and teams, supporting existing LGBT sport organizations, working in partnership with other sport organization to pursue this mandate, and providing the financial framework to support GLISA's global efforts.
Eurogames may refer to:
The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged according to the skill levels of the competitors. The Outgames brought together athletes and artists from all over the world, many from countries where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden.
International Front Runners (Frontrunners) is an umbrella organization of LGBTQ running and walking clubs around the world. The walking clubs are called Frontwalkers.
The 1st World Outgames took place in Montréal, Quebec, Canada from July 26, 2006, to August 5, 2006. The international conference was held from July 26 to the 29. The sporting events were held from July 29 to August 5.
Gay Olympics most commonly refers to the Gay Games, which were originally named the Gay Olympics.
The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) is a sporting body in Europe. It was founded by West German and Dutch LGBTQ sport clubs in 1989 after being inspired by the first Gay Games in San Francisco, and has since expanded in scope to cover the broader LGBTQ+ athletic community. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Today, EGLSF has more than a hundred LGBT sport clubs from all over Europe as members, representing more than 20.000 European athletes.
The Outgames were a set of series of multi-event sporting competitions for the LGBTQ community, which is open to all competitors regardless of sexual orientation, or qualification standard. They were sanctioned by the now-defunct GLISA, the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association. They derived from the original 2006 World Outgames, when the Montreal organizing committee split with the FGG over the organization of the 2006 Gay Games, and created their own sanctioning body and series of Games, with the cooperation of the EGLSF, the sanctioning body of the EuroGames. After the creation of the World Outgames, regional Games were created to complement the EuroGames, being the North American Outgames and the AsiaPacific Outgames. Outgames editions are accompanied by OutFest cultural festivals and OutRights LGBT rights conventions. The first convention at the 2006 World Outgames developed the Declaration of Montreal.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Moldova face legal and social challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same rights and benefits as households headed by opposite-sex couples. Same-sex unions are not recognized in the country, so consequently same-sex couples have little to no legal protection. Nevertheless, Moldova bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace, and same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1995.
The 2009 World Outgames, the 2nd World Outgames, a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community, was hosted by Copenhagen, Denmark from July 25 to August 2, 2009. It was one of the largest international sports and cultural events ever held in Denmark, with 8,000 people from around the world expected to participate. The World Outgames addressed itself primarily, but not exclusively, to the LGBT community. The aim was that, once it was underway, the event would be perceived as relevant and welcoming for all inhabitants of Copenhagen.
The Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA) is a not-for-profit international organization that manages and sanctions the gay tennis circuit around the world. The goal of the organization is to promote access to tennis and diversity and acceptance within the sport. GLTA-sanctioned tournaments provide a safe space for LGBT players to have fun playing competitive tennis in an environment where all who share the value of diversity are welcome.
The 2010 Gay Games were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and musicians. It was held from July 31 to August 7, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.
The New York Ramblers are a soccer club based in New York City, operated by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of the same name. They were founded in 1980 when an ad was placed in the Village Voice looking for gay men interested in playing soccer in an area of Central Park known as the Ramble. This was the birth of the New York Ramblers, the world's first organized openly gay soccer club. The Ramblers provided a space for gay men who enjoyed the sport to meet and socialize outside of the traditional settings of bars and clubs.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.
The North America Outgames were a multi-sport event held every three years by the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association for LGBT athletes in North America. They were a regional derivation of the World Outgames, which is also held by GLISA, and they are held on different years than the World Outgames. GLISA was dissolved after the cancellation of the 2017 World Outgames IV.
Pride House is a dedicated temporary location which plays host to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes, volunteers and visitors attending the Olympics, Paralympics or other international sporting event in the host city. The first was organized for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Athletes and artists who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, queer, and/or intersex, and/or who have openly been in a same-sex relationship (LGBTQI+) have competed in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, either openly, or having come out some time afterward.
The 2018 Gay Games, also known as Gay Games 10 or Gay Games X, were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and musicians. It was held from August 4 to August 12, 2018, in Paris, France. Approximately 10,000 athletes from 91 nations participated in 36 sports and cultural events. It was the first time they took place in a French-speaking city. The motto was All Equal.