The corupt, homophobic Olympics still has a queer audience

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The Olympics

I really feel that the "modern" games have more to do with nationalistic posturing than sport. I lost all intrest in the event when I found out they sued the gay olympics to protect their "image" when they let other groups like, the special olympics, jewish olympics and boy scout olympics use their name, royalty free and unfettered. In choosing to single out gay and lesbian people, the organization has shown themselves to be homophobic hipocrytes. I was not surprised when news of the bribary scandal rocked their organization. In the wake of such scandal, it's become even more apparent that The Olympics are basically run for the benefit of their corporate masters and have very little to the athletic ideals they espouse.

The Gay Olympics had to change their name because of a court order, but that didn't stop them from being really fun. The Gay Games have more competitors than it's straight counterpart and several world records were broken at the 1994 games in New York and the 1998 games
in The Netherlands.

The 1998 Games were held in Amsterdam and they were very fun. I originally intended to go as a competitor with a volleyball team in London, but I moved back to the states and didn't have time to join another team, so I just went as a spectator. I met many people from around the world and made many friends with the locals.

The 2002 Gay Games will be held in Sydney, using many of the same facilities as the straight olympics.

What were they like?

I asked my friend Dean to tell me his first person account of the Sydney Games. He is Australian and he was there; but be warned, if you think I have a predilection for hyperbole it's only because you've not met Dean.

"The whole city has gone into a very strange Post Olympic depression of sorts. It was a truly a magical time in Sydney while the games were on. Everyone got RIGHT into it, and massive surges of patriotism swept through the city. As you can see from the photo, I was not immune to this hysteria!! Finn and I went to this Aussie-type shop to buy an Aussie flag to take to cheer on our stupendously marvelous athletes (if you base the medal tally on "per capita population-wise", we won the games overall by a huge margin!!) as I didn't want to sit in the crowd feeling unpatriotic and not waving a flag or an ensign of some sort!!"

Fynn (rt) and Dean (lft) show their patriotic pride "As you can see, we ended up getting slightly more than just a flag!! We were a pair of corny fans of Olympia, and we had the most fantastic time!! SO many people went to similar extremes as we did, and all the foreigners just loved it, and we spent the whole time being photographed (at least 500 times.... I kid you not!) and fawned over!! My image will rest forever in photo albums from Norway to Nicaragua, from Bangladesh to the Bahamas!! From Argentina to Angola!! Yes, we had a really amazing night, and never have I felt more proud to be an Aussie!! Seriously, the phenomenal patriotism was felt by even the most unsentimental of souls!! In the train out to Olympic Park, the whole carriage was singing Waltzing Matilda and I Still Call Australia Home, and Advance Australia Fair etc. It was so amazing to be caught up in it.... It's impossible to describe. I was so proud of Sydney, and our fine athletes and the amazing success of the games that I really felt I would burst!! So caught up is Finn in the whole Olympic thing that he wants to get the Olympic rings tattooed on his back!! I said to let the fervour die down a bit, as I explained to him that I really used to LOVE Cyndi Lauper back in the 80s and am glad I didn't rush out and get something permanent done at the time to honour that fan-ship!! I've convinced him to give it a 2 week cooling off period, but he seems determined to get it done! Still, we are belatedly overflowing with the Olympic Spirit (to the point where I'm actually going to the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics!!) and wishing it could just happen all over again!! ~Love Dean O'Malley"