8 celebrities and Olympians who have won medals at the Gay Games
There are several famous people who have tasted success at the Gay Games, which begins its 12th edition in Valencia, Spain, this week. Here are 8 notable medal winners.
Mark
As we build up to Gay Games XII which begins in Valencia, Spain, this weekend, it’s an ideal time to reflect on the history of the quadrennial LGBTQ multisport event, which has changed the lives of so many people.
Founded by Olympian Tom Waddell in San Francisco in 1982, the Gay Games has provided a valuable arena for athletes and allies from around the world, for more than four decades.
Once a grassroots movement, now a cultural phenomenon, the focus has always been on participation — but there has been a sprinkle of stardust from time to time, and not just in elite sports.
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Gay Games head to Spain with over 9,500 athletes and one enduring message: We belong
More than 9,500 athletes from 81 different countries have registered for the Gay Games in Valencia, Spain, which begin June 27.
The likes of Greg Louganis, Billie Jean King, Matthew Mitcham and Martina Navratilova have all had associations with the Gay Games, as ambassadors, supporters and attendees.
For this article, we’re taking a look at some important folks who have collected medals at one or more of the 11 previous editions. Thanks to LGBTQ sports historian Tony Scupham-Bilton, whose Queerstory Files blog remains a valuable resource.
As thousands of athletes prepare to chase podium places, here are 8 celebrities and Olympians who are part of Gay Games medal-winning history.
Amini Fonua
A three-time Olympian and flagbearer for Tonga at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, Fonua won Gay Games gold in the 200-meter freestyle 25-29 age group category at Cleveland 2014, representing Team New York Aquatics. It was a year after he came out publicly as gay. “I found new inspiration at the Gay Games,” Fonua told the Washington Blade in 2020. “There is a huge community out there that is passionate about gay sports and swimming.”
Bruce Hayes
Almost certainly the only athlete to have won both Olympic and Gay Games gold medals, Hayes was a member of the U.S. 4 x 200-meter relay team that triumphed at Los Angeles 1984 and then came out publicly six years later, at the third Gay Games in Vancouver. He was still only 27, and won 50-meter backstroke gold. He went on to compete at several more editions of the Gay Games, setting multiple Masters records.
Chuck Palahniuk
Palahniuk’s first novel “Fight Club” was published in 1996, and the movie adaptation that followed three years later is one of the most important films of that decade (it’s currently 13th in the all-time IMDb Top 250 Movies list). Before the Washingtonian found fame, Palahniuk won gold in the discus 18-29 age group at Gay Games III in Vancouver, and it was through talking about the famous “pink flamingo” finale to the swimming event in 1990 that he met Mike, the man who would become his husband.
Esera Tuaolo
Tuaolo played for the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999, retiring from the NFL later that year after nine seasons as a defensive tackle. Three years later, he became only the third player in NFL history to come out publicly as gay. Tuaolo was part of “Team Outsports” that won flag football gold at the Chicago 2006 Gay Games — he’s also a very talented singer, who made it to the playoffs on Season 13 of “The Voice” in 2017.
George Takei
Best known as Sulu from “Star Trek,” the actor and activist says he competed as part of a relay team at Chicago 2006 and came away with a gold medal. Takei told MSNBC: “I was in the senior category, and we organized four guys… we were the only team competing, as it turned out!” Now 89, Takei met his husband, Brad Altman, through the Los Angeles branch of the International Frontrunners club.
Glenn Burke
The trailblazing outfielder for the L.A. Dodgers and Oakland Athletics is famously the first MLB player to ever come out as gay and co-inventor of the “high five.” Pushed out of pro sports by homophobia, Burke competed at the inaugural 1982 Gay Games in track and field, winning medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Four years later, he played in the basketball tournament at Gay Games II.
@todayshow Nearly forty years ago, #GlennBurke made the momentous decision to come out publicly as gay — making him the first @MLB player to do so.“It came to the point where I was uncomfortable,” Burke told Bryant Gumbel on TODAY in 1982, three years after he retired from the MLB. “I thought the world should know how I felt.” #pride ♬ original sound – TODAY Show
James Hormel
The first out gay man to represent the U.S. as an ambassador, Hormel was a handy tennis player and won a handful of Gay Games medals, including a men’s doubles bronze at the age of 61 in New York City in 1994. He was a huge supporter of the Gay Games and lived an incredible life, serving as the American ambassador to Luxembourg from 1999 to 2001. He died in 2021, at the age of 88.
Rhona Cameron
The Scottish comedian, actress and author took part in the first series of the original British version of the survival TV reality show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here” (which never really took off in the U.S. but remains a ratings behemoth in the U.K. after 25 seasons). TV moments didn’t go viral in 2002, but her epic, eloquent “sometimes…” rant was huge at the time, believe me. Cameron won a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke 30-34 age group at Gay Games V in Amsterdam in 1998.
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