Gay Games
Year No Host City
1982 1 San Francisco , United States
1986 2 San Francisco , United States
1990 3 Vancouver , Canada
1994 4 New York City , United States
1998 5 Amsterdam , Netherlands
2002 6 Sydney , Australia
2006 7 Chicago , United States
2010 8 Cologne , Germany
2014 9 Cleveland - Akron , United States
2018 10 Paris , France
2022 11 Hong Kong , Special Administrative Region of China
2026 12
Host nations and cities
The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes and artists. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was started in the United States in San Francisco, California, in 1982, as the brainchild of Olympic decathlete (Mexico City 1968) and medical doctor Tom Waddell, Rikki Streicher, and others, whose goals were to promote the spirit of inclusion and participation, as well as to promote the pursuit of personal growth in a sporting event. It retains similarities with the Olympic Games, including the Gay Games flame which is lit at the opening ceremony. The games are open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation, and there are no qualifying standards. Competitors come from many countries, including those where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden. The 1994 Gay Games, held in June in New York City to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the modern start of the LGBT movement in the United States, overtook the Olympics in size with 10,864 athletes compared to 9,356 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 10,318 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The Federation of Gay Games (FGG) is the sanctioning body of the Gay Games. From its statement of concept and purpose: