Aug. 29, 1982: 40 years ago, Aug 28 1982, opening ceremonies were held for the first day [...]

40 years ago, Aug 28 1982, opening ceremonies were held for the first day of the Gay Olympics Games, Gay Games I, in San Francisco’s Kezar Stadium, kicking off of a week of participation in 17 sports by 1,350 athletes from 12 countries, and attended by over 10,000 people

The first day’s ceremonies, attended by thousands of people, included several speeches from founding organizers, and performances by Tina Turner, the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps, Stephanie Mills, and Meg Christian, who sang a “Gay Anthem”

The Federation of Gay Games (FGG), the organizing body of the Gay Games, was founded in earlier that year by Olympic athlete Tom Waddell, among others, in response to discrimination in sporting events for opening gay athletes. The games have been organized ever since

Modeled on the Olympic Games, events are held every four years, and for the first games a torch was carried to SF from the Stonewall Inn in New York City, where the games were held in 1994 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots https://t.co/ZAtaCO42Bo