Gay Today: World

250,000 At Gay Games V

Britain's House of Lords Has First Openly Gay Member

By Rex Wockner
International News Report

250,000 at Gay Games V

Fifteen thousand participants from 88 countries and more than 250,000 partiers flooded Amsterdam Aug. 1-9 for Gay Games V.

Speaking to 35,000 people at the closing ceremonies at Arena Stadium, Operations Director Niek van der Spek said: "Most important are the experiences of the participants: the woman from Vanuatu, an island where only three women know each other's secret, or the Zimbabwean soccer player and all others who in daily life fear to be out and open about their identity.

They all shared for eight days sports and culture, parties and celebration. The friendship they expressed, walking hand-in-hand in an open, accepting city, is what Gay Games is about.
tomwadell.jpg - 10.39 K Gay Games Founder Dr. Tom Wadell, participating in the first Gay Games in 1982.

"The international gay and lesbian community has shown its diversity and has been very visible," van der Spek said. "Visibility gives inspiration, breaks down stereotypes, leads to respect, gives us a place in this world and, in the end, will change laws."

Forty-two percent of participants were women and 238 came from non-Western nations. The 29 sports events, 14 artistic workshops, two marching bands and 32 gay choirs filled 56 venues across Amsterdam. Sixty-two employees and 3,042 volunteers kept the massive program running.

Peter Prijdekker from London's Out To Swim broke European Master records in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle for his age category (50-54). More than 100 meet records, national Master records and gay records were broken in swimming and track and field.

The opening ceremonies were viewed on live TV by 1 million Dutch. More than 1,000 media representatives covered the Games, including from such unexpected places as Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, Poland and Turkey.

There were a few sour notes. The ice-skating competition was cancelled because of disagreements with the International Skating Union. Several tour operators reported problems with hotel bookings.

And as the Games began, the board of directors fired the executive director for financial mismanagement. The Amsterdam City Council came to the rescue with a $2.5 million bailout so the Games would not be disrupted.

Britain's House of Lords Has First Openly Gay Member

lords.gif - 5.32 K Britain's unelected House of Lords, the upper chamber of Parliament, has its first openly gay member.

Waheed Alli, co-director of one of Britain's top TV-production companies, was appointed a "life peer" earlier this month.

According to Gay Times, "his function will be to vote for the first phase of [Prime Minister Tony] Blair's 'modernisation' of the House of Lords, the abolition of the voting rights of hereditary peers."

"Both Waheed Alli's absorption into the quangocracy and his peerage are payback for his loyal and munificent support for the governing party," the magazine said.

"Quangocrats" ("quango" stands for "quasi-autonomous non- governmental organization") are government-appointed bureaucrats who operate public programs in areas such as health care, housing and recreation yet are not officially part of the government. "Munificent" means lavish or very generous.