Peter was fired for competing in the first Gay Games. Here’s what’s changed since then
The first ever Gay Games was held in San Francisco in 1982, in the midst of the AIDS epidemic and at a time when homosexuality was still a crime in parts of Australia.
Fast-forward 36 years and gay marriage is legal in Australia and the US — and the 10th Gay Games is kicking off in Paris.
Peter B Todd recalls the first Games well. He was the captain of the team of 20 Australians who competed.
"I was there to participate in physique. I had been very successful in competition in straight company in both body building and power lifting, and so that's what I competed in," Mr Todd recalled.
He took home a gold medal, and says the Australian team also performed well in other sports, like power lifting, tennis, golf and swimming.
"Australia, although it was small, did remarkably well in the medal tally," he said.
Mr Todd says competing in the Games was an act of protest against the treatment of LGBTIQ people — including the use of gay conversion therapies, a now discredited practice.
"My personal outrage about being subject to this torture masquerading as treatment was transformed into the activism expressed in the participation of [the first] Gay Games," Mr Todd said.
Mr Todd returned home triumphant — but then had to deal with the aftermath of coming out in such a public way.
"That's how my family found out about my homosexuality, much to the shock of many," he said.
Professionally, there was a lot at stake for Mr Todd too.
"I had been warned by my employer that if I … dared to participate in this Gay Games then my resignation would be required when I returned to Australia," he said.
"And that's how it happened."
The Games had initially been called the Gay Olympics, but the name was challenged in the Supreme Court.
"The United States Olympic Committee obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court to prohibit the use of the sacred word Olympic in relation to the Gay Games," Mr Todd said.
All of the publicity material for the games was quickly changed, removing the word Olympic.
Visibility and inclusion
Australian Danielle Warby is currently in Paris, where she will compete in her second Gay Games.
Back home she plays for the Flying Bats — the world's oldest and largest lesbian soccer club.
"For me it's all about visibility, and it's about having a go," she said.
"The theme of the game is participation, inclusion, personal best. It's very much about that."
Sport brings everyone together, and Ms Warby says the sense of community is the most important aspect of the Games.
She recalls meeting a lesbian team from South Africa during the 2010 Games in Cologne, Germany.
"These women come from a country where things are pretty terrible for lesbians," she said.
"They are in real danger of their lives a lot of the time.
"To hang out with these women in a safe place, in an environment where we could just be ourselves, it's just incredible."
The Paris Gay Games starts today and runs for eight days, with athletes from more than 90 countries competing in 36 sports.
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