Stories from the Gay Games
By Glenn Gullickson

Stacy Louis brings home medals for billiards

Participating in the Gay Games is becoming a habit for Stacy Louis. On his third trip to the games, the Phoenix man collected two medals in billiards events.

Louis won the gold medal in nine-ball and, along with a partner, won the bronze medal in eight-ball at the games, which were staged from July 31 to Aug. 7 in Cologne, Germany.

Gay Games VIII attracted about 10,000 participants from more than 70 countries for about 35 events ranging from badminton to wrestling.
In the nine-ball competition, Louis said he won six games to get into the finals of the double-elimination tournament.

He was paired with a German woman in the eight-ball event, which included a match against the woman’s partner, Louis said. While the teammates had not met before, Louis said, “We were like chums, we discussed every shot.”

Louis said about 45 people participated in the billiards events.

There are no qualifying events for the Gay Games, Louis said. Participants register for the games on the Web and pay a registration fee.

The first Gay Games were conducted in 1982 and, like the Olympics, the Gay Games are held every four years. Louis went to his first event in 2002 in Sydney, Australia, where he didn’t medal, but “had an amazing time.” In 2006, he got a bronze medal in nine-ball at the games in Chicago.

In previous years, Louis said there have been 40 to 50 participants from Arizona. He blamed the bad economy for reducing the state’s delegation to just a handful of people among the estimated 1,900 Americans at this year’s games.

“The atmosphere of the games is one of such excitement,” Louis said. He said he enjoyed meeting people, attending parties and touring the city, which was filled with posters welcoming the gay visitors.

Louis estimated that there were more than 45,000 people at the Gay Games’ opening ceremony, which was staged at a soccer stadium. He marched behind the American flag as the athletes entered. He also attended closing ceremonies, then spent a few days in the Netherlands. He visited Berlin before the games opened.

Louis, 59, moved to Phoenix in 1999 from Richmond, Va. He is a bartender at Bar 1 and sings with the Men’s Chorus.

He’s already planning to attend the 2014 Gay Games when they’re held in Cleveland.

Ping Wei collects two golds in martial arts events

Ping Wei said he went to the Gay Games in Cologne with no expectations. He returned home to Phoenix with two gold medals in martial arts events.

In his first Gay Games, Ping medaled in martial arts weapons and empty hand form competitions. He competed against about 10 others in the 35-46 year old category. Winners were determined by points awarded by judges.

Wei, 45, said he has been practicing martial arts for almost 30 years and has achieved black belt status. “I didn’t really need to train,” Wei said. “For me, it’s to go to participate.”

About 120 people participated in the martial arts events, Wei said.

“The experience was really great,” Wei said. He said the opening ceremony, featuring singer Taylor Dayne and a fireworks show, was “a really fabulous show.”

Besides the competition, Wei said he enjoyed meeting other athletes from all over the world and watching other events, including swimming, diving and synchronized swimming. He toured Europe for two weeks after the games, with stops in Prague and Amsterdam.

Wei has lived in Phoenix for 14 years. He teaches chemistry part-time at Paradise Community College and is a massage therapist. He also studies ceramics and sculpture at Phoenix College and has several martial arts students.

Volleyball player Fernardo Kitchehyan attends sixth Gay Games

Fernando Kitcheyan’s volleyball team just missed getting a medal in Germany, but he still found his sixth Gay Games an “incredible experience.”
Kitcheyan registered as an independent player, making himself available for a team that needed players, and ended up playing with a team from Paris.

Playing in the top A-AA indoor division, the seven-member team lost to a team from Switzerland in the match that determined the bronze medal winner, Kitcheyan said. “It was a pretty tough competition overall,” he said.

He said 14 teams in the division played for a week from preliminaries to the championship matches. He said volleyball is one of the larger events at the Gay Games, including several divisions and a women’s competition.

Kitcheyan, 43, an Arizona native, said he has been playing volleyball since his college days at Ohio State. He plays the setter position. He’s been participating in Gay Games since 1990, when the event was in Vancouver and the team he played with lost in the gold medal match. Four years later, his team won the gold in New York.

Kitcheyan said the Gay Games show “there are gay folks out there who function well and need to be acknowledged for their accomplishments.”

For more information about the Gay Games, visit www.gaygames.com.