Man and woman with medals on the field, 1986 Gay Games; six men embracing from the back, 1986 Gay Games; athletes at Opening Ceremony, 1986 Gay Games; all photographs by Robert Pruzan, Robert Pruzan collection (1998-36), GLBT Historical Society.
EVENT DESCRIPTION
Right off the heels of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, this installment in our program series “Mighty Reels” will focus on remarkable film footage from the first few gatherings of the Gay Games. This worldwide competition for LGBTQ athletes first took place in San Francisco in 1982. Patterned after the Olympics and now held every four years in a different city, the Games were originally called the Gay Olympics until a lawsuit filed by the International Olympic Committee just weeks before the event began forced a last-minute name change. In its early years, which overlapped with the worst years of the AIDS crisis, the Games’ mission of celebrating LGBTQ sports achievement and the queer body was especially vital. Today the Games remain a significant athletic and cultural event that provides queer athletes from around the world a joyous forum to excel.
Highlighting home movies, drag performances, amateur documentaries, and interviews with queer history-makers, “Mighty Reels” is a quarterly program series that provides an intimate look at the LGBTQ past straight from the camera lens. Each program in the series features a screening of footage from the archives, followed by a discussion with historians, community members and activists on the significance of these images.
SPEAKERS
Jim Provenzano (he/him) is the arts and nightlife editor with the Bay Area Reporter and has been a journalist in LGBTQ media for over three decades. He is the author of seven gay fiction novels, including Finding Tulsa, the 2012 Lambda Literary Award-winner Every Time I Think of You, and its sequel Message of Love (a Lambda finalist). He received a BFA in Dance from Ohio State University and holds an MA in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. The guest curator of the GLBT Historical Society exhibition Sporting Life, the world’s first LGBTQ athletics exhibition, he also wrote the award-winning syndicated “Sports Complex” column for ten years.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
This event will take place online. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join.
ADMISSION
Free | $5 suggested donation
Tickets are available online here: https://bit.ly/3iT4mYc
ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of event to leigh@glbthistory.org.
JOIN THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Become a member of the GLBT Historical Society for free museum and program admission, discounts in the museum shop and other perks: http://www.glbthistory.org/memberships.