IGLA+ (formerly known as the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Association) is the international governing body for predominantly LGBT+ aquatics clubs, representing the sports of swimming, diving, artistic swimming, water polo, and open water swimming.Gay News Network, "Eurogames Stockholm to host 2015 International Lesbian and Gay World Aquatic Championships, by Cec Busby, 20 June 2014Curve, "Make your next stop Stockholm", by Lisa Tedesco, 16 July 2014Davidson, Judy. "Sporting homonationalisms: Sexual exceptionalism, queer privilege, and the 21st century international lesbian and gay sport movement." Sociology of Sport Journal 30.1 (2013): 57-82.Jakubowska, Honorata. "From Keeping Silent to Coming Out-the Status of Sexual Minorities in Sports." Kultura i Spoleczenstwo 58.1 (2014): 155-167. Member clubs are from 16 countries, with the majority of clubs in the United States and Canada. Past presidents of the association have included Scott Kohanowski (of Team New York Aquatics) and Gareth Johnson (of Out to Swim London).
IGLA+ is one of the key organizations involved in the licensing of the Gay Games, which are held every four years.Hargreaves, Jennifer, and Eric Anderson, eds. Routledge Handbook of Sport, Gender and Sexuality. Routledge, 2014.Skúladóttir, Auður Olga. "Íþróttaviðburðir og ferðamennska í Vestmannaeyjum." (2011).Pogam, Yves Le, et al. "Homophobie et structuration des jeux sportifs homosexuels." Corps et culture 6/7 (2004). In years in which the Gay Games are not held, IGLA+ holds an international competition open to its member clubs. The organization is a part of the larger movement of a niche travel industry, LGBTQIA sports tourism.Pitts, Brenda G. "Sports tourism and niche markets: Identification and analysis of the growing lesbian and gay sports tourism industry." Journal of Vacation Marketing 5.1 (1999): 31-50.
History
IGLA+ began as the West Coast Gay Swim League in 1987 with teams from Berkeley, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and West Hollywood. Members of these teams had participated in Gay Games II and wanted to continue competing annually. After the first West Coast Gay Swim League Championship, hosted in March 1987 by the Different Strokes Swim Team in San Diego, the Seattle team hosted the Northwest Gay & Lesbian Sports Festival. At this festival, it was decided that the League would be renamed the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics Association in hopes to grow beyond the US and Canada.Symons, Caroline. "Challenging homophobia and heterosexism in sport." Sport and Gender Identities: 140. By Gay Games III, IGLA was officially a part of the Games organizing.Symons, Caroline. "Challenging homophobia and heterosexism in sport." Sport and gender identities: Masculinities, femininities and sexualities (2007): 140-159. In 2024, International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics rebranded as IGLA+ to better represent the wider LGBTQIA+ community.
Championships
The host cities for the championships have been: 1987: IGLA I (Then known as the West Coast Gay Swim League Championship), San Diego, California 1988: IGLA II, San Diego, California 1989: IGLA III, Vancouver, British Columbia 1990: Held in conjunction with Gay Games III, Vancouver, British Columbia 1991: IGLA IV, Los Angeles, California 1992: IGLA V, Seattle, Washington 1993: IGLA VI, Chicago, Illinois 1994: Held in conjunction with Gay Games IV, New York, New York 1995: IGLA VII, Montreal, Québec 1996: IGLA VIII, Washington, D.C. 1997: IGLA IX, San Diego, California 1998: Held in conjunction with Gay Games V, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1999: IGLA X, Atlanta, Georgia 2000: IGLA XI, Paris, France 2001: IGLA XII, Toronto, Ontario 2002: Held in conjunction with Gay Games VI, Sydney, Australia 2003: IGLA XIII, San Francisco, California 2004: IGLA XIV, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2005: IGLA XV, Atlanta, Georgia 2006: Held in conjunction with Gay Games VII, Chicago, Illinois 2007: IGLA XVI, Paris, France 2008: IGLA XVII, Washington, D.C. 2009: IGLA XVIII, Copenhagen, Denmark 2010: Held in conjunction with Gay Games VIII, Cologne, Germany 2011: IGLA XIX, Honolulu, Hawaii 2012: IGLA XX, Reykjavík, Iceland 2013: IGLA XXI, Seattle, Washington 2014: Held in conjunction with Gay Games IX, Cleveland, Ohio 2015: IGLA XXII, Stockholm, Sweden 2016: Edmonton, Alberta 2017: IGLA 30th Anniversary - Miami 2018: Held in conjunction with Gay Games X, Paris, France 2019: IGLA XXXI, New York City 2020: IGLA XXXII, Melbourne, Australia 2021: IGLA XXXIII, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States - Cancelled due to Covid-19 2022: IGLA XXXIV, Palm Springs, California 2023: IGLA XXXV, London, United Kingdom 2024: IGLA XXVI, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2025: IGLA XXVII, Washington, D.C.
References
External links
IGLA Water Polo