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TheEuroGames are anLGBT+ multi-sport event in Europe, licensed by theEGLSF (European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation) to a local city host each year and organised (most often) by one or more of the federation's member clubs. Similar to theGay Games, EuroGames are a sports-for-all event, open for participation irrespective of sex, age, sexual identity or physical ability. Additionally it often included less prominent non-olympic sports and disciplines catering to interest of LGBT+ communities like same-sexballroom dance,line dance,cheerleading,aerobics,bodybuilding as well synchronised/artistic swimming with male participants, which was historically forbidden.
In terms of scale EuroGames range from 1,5 to cca 4 thousand (or exceptionally more) participants primarily from the West and South of Europe but also elsewhere (often Asian and American diasporic communities), most often with extra outreach support subsidies for less privileged participants.[1][2] The EuroGames is most often an extended weekend event with opening and closing ceremonies, some of the sport, social, policy and cultural activities also happening on the days before.
The official name of the EuroGames is the European Gay and Lesbian Multi-Sports Championships. It is a Dutch initiative inspired by GayGames, first organized in The Hague in 1992.[3]
The EuroGames are a multi-day sporting event. They are organized annually in a European city, except in years when the global Gay Games take place. Since the advent of the World Outgames in 2006, this has been taken into account in determining whether or not a city is assigned to a particular year. In a year in which Gay Games and/or World Outgames take place, EuroGames generally do not take place.
Like the Gay Games as well as the World Outgames, the EuroGames are open to everyone regardless of gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability. When a competitive sport has not yet reached the maximum number of participants, participants from non-European countries are also admitted.
Since 2001, the EuroGames have existed in two versions: the big EuroGames and the small EuroGames. It was planned that these small Games would have a maximum of 1,500 participants and seven sports and would last two days. The "small" EuroGames Utrecht 2005 were an exception to this. Almost 3,000 participants, nine competition sports and three competition days made Utrecht, as the smallest organizing city until then, have the largest 'small' Games compared to Hannover and Copenhagen in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
| Edition | Year | Location | Country | Participants | Countries | Sports | Note | Other bidders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1992 | The Hague |  Netherlands | 300 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 2 | 1993 | The Hague | Netherlands | 540 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 1995 | Frankfurt |  Germany | 2,000 | 13 | |||
| 4 | 1996 | Berlin | Germany | 3,247 | 18 | 17 | ||
| 5 | 1997 | Paris |  France | 2,000 | 18 | 17 | Brussels,Zürich | |
| – | 1999 | Manchester |  United Kingdom | — | — | — | Cancelled | Cologne |
| 6 | 2000 | Zürich |  Switzerland | 4,500 | 19 | Hamburg | ||
| 7 | 2001 | Hanover | Germany | 1,500 | 7 | Small EuroGames | ||
| 8 | 2003 | Copenhagen |  Denmark | 2,200 | 7 | Small EuroGames | ||
| 9 | 2004 | Munich | Germany | 5,050 | 38 | 27 | Vienna | |
| 10 | 2005 | Utrecht | Netherlands | 2,855 | 44 | 9 | Small EuroGames | |
| 11 | 2007 | Antwerp |  Belgium | 3,650 | 38 | 11+1 | Small EuroGames | |
| 12 | 2008 | Barcelona |  Spain | >5,000 | 40 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 2011 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | >3,000 | 26 | |||
| 14 | 2012 | Budapest |  Hungary | |||||
| 15 | 2015 | Stockholm |  Sweden | 4,465 | 71 | 28 | Big EuroGames | |
| 16 | 2016 | Helsinki |  Finland | 1,400 | 40 | 14 | EuroGames | |
| 17 | 2019 | Rome |  Italy | |||||
| – | 2020 | Düsseldorf | Germany | — | — | — | Cancelled | |
| 18 | 2021 | Copenhagen/Malmö | Denmark/Sweden | 2,000 | 22 | |||
| 19 | 2022 | Nijmegen | Netherlands | >2,000 | 17 | |||
| 20 | 2023 | Bern | Switzerland | >2,000 | 75 | 20 | ||
| 21 | 2024 | Vienna |  Austria | 3988 | 31 | |||
| 22 | 2025 | Lyon | France | 5500 | ||||
| 23 | 2027 | Cardiff | United Kingdom | Munich[4] |
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The 2023 EuroGames took place inBern,Switzerland from 26 to 29 July 2023, with 20 sporting disciplines and over 2,000 athletes of various sexual orientations and gender identities participated in the event.[5]
The sporting event included also demonstration sports likequidditch and local recreational hiking.[6] Classic disciplines included tennis and bowling, but also other newer disciplines such asstreet workout, theHyrox challenge and many other activities were scheduled.[7]
For the occasion The city of Bern has had to deactivate itsTwitter comment function followinghomophobic comments, notably from the SwissYoung SVP party. The youth branch of theGreen Liberal Party of Switzerland has indicated that they are considering filing a complaint.[3]
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Jasmine Imboden and Greg Zwygart were co-presidents of 2023 EuroGames association.[8] According to Greg Zwygart, the EuroGames is an inclusive sport event, also for heterosexual athletes. The event includes trans and intersex people even though these categories of people are not present in some sport disciplines.[8]
EuroGames 2023 hosting impacted Bern Pride to have exceptionally big Village and elaborate multi-day and multi-vanue program mostly with local talent and few guests.[9]
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EuroGames Vienna 2024 had its kick-off event as a part ofVienna Pride programs on June 9, 2023 at the Vienna City Hall.[10]
The multi-sport championship took place from July 17 to 20, 2024, and included 4,000 participants from 90 countries, competing in 32 different disciplines.[11] TheCity of Vienna, supported EuroGames Vienna 2024 extensively with a subsidy of 150,000 euros, in addition to the provision of numerous sports venues and infrastructure. The program included an opening ceremony, a closing ceremony and a five-day program at EuroGames village.[12] A financial support program was set up to enable the participation of over 100 people from countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe where the LGBT community is still discriminated against.[11] On the EuroGames opening day sports policy conference named “Out in Sport - How Sport can Unite and not Divide” included many prominent Austrian and few international speakers and was broadcast by national TV.[13]
Julie Nublat-Faure [fr], the deputy mayor of Lyon in charge of sports, announced on Twitter, that the 2025 EuroGames would be held in Lyon from 23 to 26 July 2025. This is the first time the city hosts a European sports competition dedicated to the LGBT+ community, with a plan to bring together 4,000 athletes from over 40 countries in Europe and around the world to participate in over thirty sporting disciplines and cultural program, including tennis, football, rugby, synchronised swimming, pétanque, sailing, dance and choral singing, with the support of fifteen clubs affiliated to the OSL.[14][15] The LGBT+ Sports Federation also pointed out that this event offers the opportunity "to exchange ideas and raise awareness among participants and spectators around themes such as LBGT+ handisport, the fight against serophobia, and notions of gender and sexual orientation".[15]
