We were founded in 1985 as a sports club for gay men – with volleyball as our first sport. The intention was to enable gay sports enthusiasts to practise sports in an environment free of prejudice and discrimination in Frankfurt am Main.
The minutes of the inaugural meeting read as follows: “On the basis of a personal invitation, eight persons appeared today, Sunday, 13 October 1985 at 9 p.m. in Restaurant Traube, Rosenberger Straße 4, in order to decide on the founding of an association for sporting activities with special emphasis on the game of volleyball. The statutes were unanimously adopted by all present in an open vote. The chairman of the meeting then declared that the “Frankfurter Volleyball Verein is founded …”.
The deliberately neutral choice of name came from the need of many members at the time to be perceived as a completely “normal” sports club. As a founding member of the EGLSF, the club was an important part of the European gay and lesbian sports movement from an early stage, working to reduce discrimination against homosexual athletes in Europe. The European commitment of the FVV became particularly clear when it decided to organise the EuroGames 1995 in Frankfurt – the first games of this size in Europe.
The club is not only active in recreational sports, but also takes part in competitions, championships and tournaments in the regular leagues of the different sports associations. It also participates in larger competitions with other LGBTIQ* sports clubs, e.g. the Gay Games and EuroGames.
The FVV organizes the annual XMAS Tournament, which attracts international participants and is attended by over 1,500 athletes from all over Europe every year. In addition to the Christmas tournament, the FVV also organizes numerous other sports and leisure events.
Today, we live in a cosmopolitan and liberal city that respects the rights of queer people and promotes understanding of pluralism, diversity, equal opportunities, and democracy. However, as an association with many queer members, we are also very concerned: Acceptance of queer rights is crumbling, backward-looking ideas and organizations are gaining extraordinary popularity, and in fact, the reversal of hard-won rights is already becoming a legal reality in neighboring EU countries.
The FVV is a sports club and not a political organization, but as the queer institution with the largest membership in Hesse, we also want to participate in the social discourse. Even after 40 years and with a now diverse and colorful membership, we will never forget our roots as an LGBTIQ* sports club and will continue to oppose social inequality, demand fair participation, break down prejudices, promote mutual understanding, and offer a safe and discrimination-free place to all who want or need it.