2023 Tom Waddell Award recipient Roger Brigham (along with Emy Ritt of Paris, France) is a retired journalist who authored a regular sports column ("Jock Talk") in the Bay Area Reporter newspaper for 15 years.

Despite some serious health issues, Roger has just returned from Guadalajara with a new appreciation for the Gay Games, which was delayed a year due to COVID and was also simultaneously held in Hong Kong. Despite media reports leading up to the events that focused on low attendance and other issues, Brigham writes that once the Games actually started, volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make the athletic and cultural events happen were filled with pride.

"These Gay Games were not numerical failures; they were successes built on shared values and commitments,” he writes. “They were testaments to the value and strength of the inclusive sports movement even in the face of overwhelming global challenges.”

To read the entire excellent article, please click HERE.