ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses one of the few arenas of sport that was organized on a specifically political basis. Attempting to overcome the homophobia of the traditional world of sports, gay and lesbian athletes organized the Gay Olympic Games in 1982. The chapter provides an account of the history of the Gay Games that highlights both how sport can be used to highlight progressive, inclusive politics and how, even within such a context, struggles may ensue about whether and how politics and sport should mix. In the early 1980s when Tom Waddell and others first began organizing the Gay Games, the principle of inclusion had different connotations—different for Waddell, a closeted gay man for much of his athletic career, and for most lesbian and gay athletes. In the extensive lesbian and gay media coverage, there is a clear emphasis on using conventional sporting practices to counter homophobic stereotypes and to achieve lesbian and gay visibility and empowerment.
