Looking Back on 25 Years of Against the Rules – Lesbians and Gays in Sport

On 28 September 28, we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the opening of
Against the Rules – Lesbians and Gays in Sport at the German Sports and Olympic
Museum in Cologne. Launched in 1999, it was the world’s first exhibition dedicated to
queer visibility in sport. The project was initiated to celebrate the 20th anniversary of
SC Janus, Germany’s first queer sports club, and was developed in collaboration with
the Cologne Center for Gay History.

Initially met with limited public attention—even within the queer community—the
showcase has since gained widespread recognition. Over the years, it has been
translated into multiple languages and presented in more than 50 cities across
Germany and Europe.

In addition to the original German version, which has undergone several revisions,
the exhibition is now available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Slovenian,
and Hungarian. These international editions feature translated texts and include
profiles of queer athletes from each respective country.

The first revision began shortly after its debut, aiming to transform the exhibition into
a mobile format suitable for touring. This included updating the content and adapting
the design. Funding and support came from the Acceptance Campaign Office at the
Ministry of Youth, Family and Health of North Rhine-Westphalia. The first travelling
version was shown in Düsseldorf and Mannheim in 2004, followed by Frankfurt and
Trier in 2008.

In Frankfurt, former professional footballer Tanja Walther-Ahrens discovered the
presentation while attending the symposium The Ball is Square – Young Lesbians
and Gays in Sport. As a member of the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation
(EGLSF), she advocated for an English-language version and for EGLSF to take over
its management and distribution. The showcase was subsequently revised, with
updated graphics and expanded content—particularly the section on football and
athlete portraits.

The English version premiered at the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne. That same year,
a newly reworked German edition was unveiled in Berlin, attended by DFB President
Theo Zwanziger and Berlin’s openly gay mayor Klaus Wowereit. Media interest
peaked at this point.

Thanks to the dedication of the Football for Equality project, affiliated with the Vienna
Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation, and financial support from the
EU Commission, further translations were made possible. In the following years, the
exhibition toured cities including Paris, Ljubljana, Wroc?aw, Warsaw, Budapest,
Modena, Bratislava, Alicante, Lleida, Malaga, Sabadell, London, Canterbury, Vienna,
Boom and Helsinki.

Spain became a particularly active host country. In 2013, the Andalusian Rainbow
Federation, in collaboration with various institutions and organizations reproduced
the panels in large format, enabling widespread display across the region. It was shown
by the Andalusian Institute of Sport (IAD), an organization of the Ministry of
Culture and Sport based in Malaga on the occasion of the International Day Against
Homophobia and Transphobia, among other events. The latest revision, initiated by
Barcelona’s queer sports club Panteres Grogues, has been shown in several Catalan
cities since 2023. Reflecting current developments in the queer community, the title
was updated to Contra les regles. Persones LGTBIQ+ a l'esport (Against the Rules.
LGTBIQ+ People in Sport).

The exhibition has been featured at numerous events organized by the queer sports
movement, including the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne and the EuroGames in
Rotterdam in 2011 and 2012. It was also presented during the 2012 Olympic Games
in London and at various club anniversaries. In 2021, it was shown at the HSV
Museum in Hamburg to commemorate Heinz Bonn, Germany’s first known gay
professional footballer, who was murdered 30 years ago and having never come out.

Organizers have included student groups, women’s and LGBTQ+ counseling
centers, youth associations, and political education institutions. Local authorities in
Germany and Spain, the Protestant Church, and the German Academy for Football
Culture have also played key roles. In 2011, the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern hosted
the exhibition for six weeks to coincide with the premiere of Seitenwechsel (Change
of Sides), a play about a gay football coach.

The exhibition has received widespread recognition. In addition to financial backing
from governmental and non-governmental bodies and EU institutions, it has been
incorporated into educational materials by Germany’s Federal Center for Health
Education (BZgA) and cited in a Bundestag motion by the SPD parliamentary group
advocating for openness toward homosexuality in sport. In 2011, it was honored in
the national competition Active for Democracy and Tolerance, organized by the
Federal Ministries of the Interior and Justice. In the 2020/21 Federal President’s
history competition themed Turbulent Times. Sport Shapes Society, a student group
won an award for their project on the visibility of homosexuality in Cologne’s queer
sports scene, partly based on the showcase.

These milestones underscore the exhibition’s vital role in raising awareness about
sexual minorities in sport and combating homophobia. It has helped bring queer
athletes and their stories into the public eye and continues to highlight the relevance
of LGBTQ+ issues in the world of sport.

Klaus Sator