They dance the rumba, the tango, the quickstep. The couples at the beautiful Concertgebouw De Vereeniging at Nijmegen, the Netherlands, are smiling. Their moves are graceful and hopefully well judged, because they are in a dance competition. With same sex couples, which is unique for a dance event. It’s the Euro Games 2022.
Seventeen sports. About 2.000 participants. Men, women, non binair. An important category at the Euro Games, a multi-sport festival in Nijmegen, a city in the Netherlands. Sport is a means to celebrate the inclusiveness and the lhbtiq+-community. Consider it as the European version of the Gay Games, held at the last days of July.
Most asked question to organizer Joost van Wijngaarden? “Why is it necessary for gay people to have their own sporting event?” A question asked out of negativity, with maybe even a bit of aggressive connotation in it. “Why do students have their own events?”, replies Van Wijngaarden. “At this moment the World Police and Fire Games are being held in the Netherlands. Why are they being held? Is the question formulated to competitors at that event in the same way?” Probably not. “Strictly, this event is probably not necessary to let people be active together in their sport, but it is needful to stress out that it is not for the fully 100 percent accepted for lhbti+-people and -athletes to be yourself at your sportclub or at a sporting event.”
The Euro Games is not just about sport. It’s a about life. With sport, entertainment and meeting each other as a means to live that life. For some people it’s difficult to live that life as a gay man or as a queer. For example participants from some countries in the east of Europe. Van Wijngaarden: “They are here, but some of them don’t want their name in the results or have pictures taken of them, because back at home homosexuality is prohibited and you can be prosecuted. Try to think about that! At a country not that far away, on the same continent.”
The same sex dance competition is well attended and some couples reach a high level. Other sports at the Euro Games are mostly the usual suspects as athletics, swimming, volleyball, but there also more obscure ones like pickleball (tennis type of sport) or bridge. In team sports not every member is part of the lhbtiq+-community. To find a complete field hockey squad with non-binary people, that’s impossible. “But that is not the goal”, says Van Wijngaarden. “Everyone can join, we want inclusiveness. In that same hockey squad, not everyone is gay. You can join as a heterosexual. It’s just: sometimes you want to share the same things you run into with equal minded people. Remember being a student? You want to join a student sport club to be part of the same culture, having the same sense of humor. It’s the same with lhbti+-ers. They can share their humor and some of their funny or harsh experiences with each other and talk about how they live their lives. Sometimes that’s very pleasant.” And sometimes it might be necessary.