A total of 1,350 competitors from over 170 cities globally participated in the first Gay Games[1] and the 9 day event attracted an estimated 10,000 people.
[2] Parallel to the Olympics, a torch was carried from New York, at the site of the Stonewall riots, all the way to Kezar Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies were held.
Waddell and his friend Mark Brown then came up with the idea to have a tournament based on the ancient Olympics that showcased many athletic talents and would include anyone despite their age, race, gender, sexual-orientation or ability.
[2] The SFAA developed an approach to fundraising based on the classes Tom Waddell took that emphasized asking for money and then "keeping your mouth shut".
He was quoted saying that he chose the film "not for its minimal political content" but because it was a "paean to the human body and to sports", arguing that the director Leni Riefenstahl was able to capture "will an strength."
This caused an issue among many gay and lesbian Jewish people who passed around leaflets that denounced the film as Nazi propaganda and demanded the SFAA to cancel the screening.
[2] The connection to this film's ideals and the accusation that Waddell, and the Games by proxy, were showcasing and celebrating only one specific view of the white male body continued to follow the Games into the future despite the original intention to welcome everyone and move away from centering young, white male bodies in the Gay Rights Movement.