Out and About

Amsterdam can, and does, have many web sites devoted to it. This page illustrates just a very small sampling of the sights on offer during the week of the Games.

	A shot of the Friendship Village - the nerve centre of the Games during the week.
The "Homomonument" located at the Westerkerk. This photo actually only shows one corner of the design, which is a gigantic triangle traced out on the ground of the open space by the church. It's become a place where flowers are often left as memorials to friends and lovers taken from us.
The Homomonument was designed by Karin Daan and was officially opened in September 1987. It is made up of three pink marble triangles, one raised, one sunken in the ground and one forming steps down into the canal (the Keizersgracht), the three triangles are joined together with what look like brass strips that are also sunken into the Westermarkt. The three triangles are therefore joined together to make one large triangle forming The Homomonument. Three of the tips of the different triangles seem to point in prominent directions, one of them points to the COC building (the Dutch Gay liberation movement), another one points to the Anne Frank House (a reminder of previous persecution) and the third one dips into the tranquil Keizersgracht.
	Many of the bars and cafes had set up stalls outside, and the atmosphere was of a week-long street party.

During the week there were many open-air events going on, including free concerts at a stage built right in front of the Dam Palace, with a giant video screen fixed to the palace itself.

There were a number of cheerleader groups who strutted their stuff during the Games, the pictures below are of one group who put on a show at Friendship Village.

The "Alternative" Gay Games were held in the Vondelpark. This game was a variation on a traditional fairground favourite.
Also in the Vondelpark was a small selection of the many thousands of panels that now make up the quilt of the Names Project. This group of panels comes from the UK. I remember Jack Babuscio - he was a journalist who worked on the original Gay News when it started in the 1970s.