European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation

EGSLF at the EuroGames Bern 2023 opening ceremony

The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) is a sporting body in Europe. It was founded by West German and Dutch LGBTQ sport clubs in 1989 after being inspired by the first Gay Games in San Francisco,[1] and has since expanded in scope to cover the broader LGBTQ+ athletic community.[2] Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Today, EGLSF has more than a hundred LGBT sport clubs from all over Europe as members, representing more than 20.000 European athletes.[3]

Since 1992, the EGLSF celebrates a European gay sport event once a year: the EuroGames, the European Gay & Lesbian Championships. There are two levels of EuroGames: large-scale EuroGames which are held every 4 years and small-scale EuroGames which are held annually.

  1. ^ EGLSF. "History". EGLSF.info. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  2. ^ Wachter, Annette; Torrance, Hugh (2022). "The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation: Advocacy work in Europe". Sport, Identity and Inclusion in Europe. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003196761-5. ISBN 9781003196761.
  3. ^ Hartmann-Tews, Ilse (2023). Sport, Identity and Inclusion in Europe : The Experiences of LGBTQ People in Sport. Taylor & Francis. doi:10.4324/9781003196761. ISBN 9781003196761. S2CID 249027105.