In August 1986, 3,482 athletes from 17 countries gathered in San Francisco for Gay Games II. The AIDS crisis was at its peak. Friends and teammates were dying. And yet they came. They competed. They celebrated. Forty percent of the athletes were women. The games ran for ten days and proved something the world was trying very hard not to see: that queer people were not going anywhere.
A Personal Note from Kris
I was struck by the sheer scale and the international participation in 1986, right in the middle of the AIDS crisis. It wasn't just a local gathering; it was a global declaration that we were still here, still thriving, and still competing. I want people watching in the future to understand that joy and athletic competition were acts of resistance then. It wasn't just fun; it was survival. It proves that even when the world is trying to erase you with silence or disease, the drive to celebrate life and community is unstoppable.