The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) is a sporting body for homosexuals in Europe. It was founded by German and Dutch LGBT sport clubs in 1989 after being inspirated by the first Gay Games in San Francisco, United States. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Today, EGLSF has more than a hundred LGBT sport clubs from all over Europe as members, representing more than 10.000 European athletes.
Since 1992, the EGLSF celebrates a huge European gay sport event once a year: the EuroGames, the European Gay & Lesbian Championships. There are two levels of EuroGames: large-scale EuroGames which are held every 4 years and small-scale EuroGames which are held annually (except for years in which Gay Games or Outgames take place).
For the large scale EuroGames no limitations apply. Small-scale EuroGames are limited to a maximum of 3,000 participants in order to enable small clubs to bid for, and host, the EuroGames.
Besides offering a high-quality sport event to the gay and lesbian sports community, the EGLSF wishes to promote the following goals:
- fight against discrimination in sport on grounds of sexual preference
- stimulate integration in sport and emancipation of lesbians and gays
- enable and support the coming out of gay and lesbian sports men and women
- support the founding of new gay, lesbian, straight and mixed groups
Famous quotes containing the words european, gay, lesbian, sport and/or federation:
“I should think the American admiration of five-minute tourists has done more to kill the sacredness of old European beauty and aspiration than multitudes of bombs would have done.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“KRUMPACKER: Yes London’s a little too gay for us
Don’t think I mean anything coarse
But I’m afraid we couldn’t stand the pace.
What about it Klip?
KLIPSTEIN: You said it, Krum.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“It is the lesbian in us who is creative, for the dutiful daughter of the fathers in us is only a hack.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“What sport shall we devise here in this garden
To drive away the heavy thought of care?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Women realize that we are living in an ungoverned world. At heart we are all pacifists. We should love to talk it over with the war-makers, but they would not understand. Words are so inadequate, and we realize that the hatred must kill itself; so we give our men gladly, unselfishly, proudly, patriotically, since the world chooses to settle its disputes in the old barbarous way.”
—General Federation Of Women’s Clubs (GFWC)