Remembering Roger Brigham
It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of our dear colleague and friend, Roger Brigham.
Roger receiving the Tom Waddell Award in Guadalajara at Gay Games XI, 2023
Roger Brigham is remembered by the LGBTQ+ sports and culture community for his decades of service as a professional journalist and directly by the FGG, where he created communications initiatives, served on the Strategic Planning Committee, and helped develop the FGG’s anti-doping policy. Not only a Honorary Life Member of the FGG, Roger also received the Tom Waddell Award at Gay Games XI in Guadalajara in November 2023.
An online memorial will be held on Saturday March 29 at 1pm Pacific Time, USA. You can join this memorial online by tapping here. NB: You may be asked for a passcode to access the memorial. This is 456265.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.
“It was an honor to present Roger the Tom Waddell Award at Gay Games XI in Guadalajara and see him treated like a rock star by everyone in attendance. It took nearly an hour to leave the Opening Ceremony with Roger stopping to take pictures with everyone offering congratulations.”
Sean Fitzgerald, Vice-President of Member Services
“Roger’s unstinting support and guidance in encouraging us to set up from scratch the LGBT Powerlifting Union will never be forgotten.”
Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, Vice-President of External Relations
“I had the pleasure of introducing my partner to Roger in Guadalajara at the Wrestling event. Her immediate thoughts were that he was a kind and gentle soul.
On a personal level, Roger has supported me in many capacities, since I became part of the Gay Games. We had a great respect for each other, even when we had a differing of opinions.
He will be missed.”
Kimberly Hadley, Officer of Sport
“I had the honor of working closely with Roger leading up to the 2014 Gay Games Cleveland + Akron, then as the FGG Officer of Communications 2014-2018; his guidance, integrity and dedication to the FGG mission continues to be enjoyed to this day and will contribute beyond our years.”
R Tony Smith, FGG Honorary Life Member
I first met Roger in 1982 when he showed up at Kesar for Gay Games-1 Wrestling, and he was supposed to be in my 136# bracket. The match never happened…. but his competitive spirit fueled a deep friendship. In 2005, Roger returned to San Francisco, and he joined my Golden Gate Wrestling (GGWC). Although on 2 artificial hips, Roger was a beast once on the mat, and became a great coach for wrestlers who were not great on their feet... e.g.. novices.
Roger was a known sports journalist for many mainstream newspapers, so I immediately enlisted him to serve in the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), which was in need of professional strategic writers. His contributions to the FGG spanned decades in various official roles: technology, media, sports, and general Mission spokesman. He was the decisive vote that moved 2006 Gay Games-7 from Montreal to Chicago, and the journalist whose work saved the Gay Games Brand from being subsequently stolen.
Roger was my best friend for 30 years, and we accomplished many Gay Games Mission specific tasks as a team: Strategist & Badger. Specifically, Drug Testing, RedBooks, Web Site, and News Letters. His greatest contribution to Gay Games was solidifying the Mission that Gay Games was to always be an athletic event run by the athletes. Roger went on then to coach locally at Mission HS in San Francisco where he turned a basement team into City Champs.
Given all his surgeries (heart, kidney, hips), Roger was the toughest person I ever knew. However, in the end they ran out of replaceable parts. I loved him dearly, and I will miss his free psychotherapy now every day. But I know he will still always be here whispering in my ear to calm me when I over react.
Gene Dermody, FGG Honorary Life Member
I met Roger Brigham in 2004 at the AGA in Cologne. I knew then that Roger could and would be impactful. His love and devotion to Golden Gate Wrestling, and Gay Wrestling in general was deep. His care and concern for FGG, in many ways, was unrivaled. We debated heavily on a number of topics when we both served on the FGG Board, but we each had a profound respect for each other's opinions. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to meet Roger's partner, Eddie and a couple of his dogs and to count him as a close friend and it pleased me to no end when I and Roger, together with Gene Dermody, had the opportunity to dine together during Gay Games in Guadalajara. I will miss Roger considerably, but I know he will be an angel among angels looking over us, even if it means providing a discerning word up in heaven. Roger, my brother, you will be sorely missed.
Charles King, FGG Honorary Life Member
My deepest condolences to Gene Dermody and to all who knew Roger Brigham. I met Roger at my first FGG Annual Meeting in Chicago in 2003. We were both attending as FGG Delegates representing our local clubs. Over the years, I appreciated our conversations and interactions very much as we each became more involved in the Federation of Gay Games. I admired Roger’s dedication to the Gay Games movement. His initiatives, such as the Equality Coaching Alliance, helped to raise the visibility of the Gay Games and LGBT+ sport in general. Roger’s crowning glory as winner of the 2023 Tom Waddell Award was well-deserved. Roger served as a stellar role model for us all.
Emy Ritt, FGG Honorary Life Member
I met Roger when I was brought in as a consultant with with Debra Kent to help reorganize the FGG in the early 2000's after the Montreal debacle rolled out. Roger was initially skeptical of the efforts (that was a special talent of his to be skeptical) but in the end was the one who came up with the idea of the FGG Assembly. We worked together to develop that idea into a proposal. vote. His endorsement pushed the proposal forward in a close vote of the Board. After that, he was the champion of making sure the new roles and responsibilities of the Board and Assembly were implemented.
As a SF resident, I took for grant that the BAR queer newspaper had a sports column. When John Manzon-Santos and I were kicked out of an ice rink for skating hand-in-hand as we prepared for the Chicago Gay Games, Roger was the first to pick up the story. He used his column to highlight the sports achievements of so many individuals and teams. He was a dogged journalist following through on claims by the FGG and its competitors and mixed advocacy with factual reporting.
I have always known a Roger that was challenged by health issues. I have always known a Roger that never let those challenges stop him. When I saw him on the stage of the aquatic center in Guadalajara to receive his award, as always, he used the time as a history lesson of queer sport, reminding us all of our potential and what we can accomplish in life.
Alan Lessik, FGG Honorary Life Member
I was there when Roger attended his first AGA in Chicago in 2003. This was just as negotiations between the FGG and Montreal reached the breaking point. He joined the Communications Committee like a breath of fresh air, with so many new and radical ideas it was breathtaking. His impact was felt immediately and led directly to many changes in how the FGG operated. Not many people could have done that.
Roger taught me an important lesson in those early years, one I carry with me to this day. This was while he was leading Communications and I was leading Marketing for the FGG. He explained to me why rainbow imagery really did not belong at the Gay Games, at least in communication & marketing messages the FGG was putting out. Roger explained that rainbow imagery was associated with pride events, but that the Gay Games were about more than that. The Gay Games was about equality in the world of culture and sports. The Gay Games has its own iconic logo and THAT is what we need to be featuring, not rainbows. Of course, we cannot (and should) stop participants from bringing their own rainbow items to the Gay Games. But, the FGG should focus on its own logo and identity. Thank you, Roger, for stating that situation so clearly for me. I have repeated it many times to hosts and fellow FGG Board members.
Much more recently, Roger was excited about working with me on converting the series of 40 "Passing The Torch" web posts (commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Gay Games) into a book that would be sold to raise funds for the FGG. Alas, his health would not allow him to devote his limited energy to that project. With Roger's input, I'm sure this book would have been amazing.
Most personally, Roger and I both grew up in the same era as huge baseball fans. As a former sportswriter for mainstream newspapers, he would regale me with stories about his hometown Cincinnati Reds and their championship "Big Red Machine" teams of the 1970s. I think he was a big fan of Pete Rose, a true bulldog of a player and manager. Roger was the same way for the most part, although he had a huge heart to go with his convictions.
It was my distinct honor to coordinate the nomination of Roger Brigham to the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame (https://www.nlgja.org/awardsinfo/nlgja-hall-of-fame/) in previous years. Alas, that nomination was not successful. I think the FGG should re-nominate Roger for this honor. Perhaps it will be awarded posthumously.
Doug Litwin, FGG Honorary Life Member
I was one of three tri-chairs of the Strategic Planning Committee, along with Roger Brigham and Paul Savard of Toronto. The committee carefully considered the FGG's then current status (with sport and cultural organizations being Directors of the board and Members of the organization). The Committee recruited consultants (Alan Lessik and Deborah Kent), who helped the FGG consider alternative organizational structures. There were SO many meetings, which Roger helped lead with careful attention to risks and rewards.
Roger was a wonderful guide for that process, as well as a gifted writer. The success of this major organizational change owes him an eternal debt.
We will miss Roger, as will I.
Paul Oostenbrug, Honorary Life Member
If you would like to share a short quote or reflection about him—whether it’s a meaningful moment, words of appreciation, or something you will always remember about him - please send it to duncan.campbell@gaygames.net and we’ll include it in this post
Roger Brigham representing Gay Games Cologne in San Francisco. 2009