Code of Ethics

This segment contains our code of ethics, policy statement and rules of Mr Gay Europe. Last updated 17. July 2021.

§1 Mr Gay Europe (established 2005) is a non-profit, independent and non-political competition and organization. Its objective is to organize and deliver international events that are inclusive and that are of benefit to the gay community all over Europe.

§2 The Mr Gay Europe competition strives to be a mentor in promoting gay role models that will advance gay human rights both locally and throughout Europe. As a delegate to Mr Gay Europe, the delegates signifies his intent to be honour-bound by the following code of ethics:

A. To treat contestants, staff, judges and associates with respect and dignity;

B. To conduct himself with honesty, integrity and fairness and respect to the people around him;

C. To not discriminate based on race, colour, creed, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation;

D. To be responsible at all times for the truthful and non-deceptive promotion regarding Mr Gay Europe’s visions;

E. To support the goals of Mr Gay Europe, as well as support the LGBTIQ+ community in general, in a constructive and positive manner;

F. To conduct business with strict adherence to the laws of their respective legal jurisdictions, the business or professional codes existent in such jurisdiction, and the particular business or profession, and in accordance with generally accepted business practices.

§3 Mr Gay Europe is a network of equals. It is a competition that draws delegates from all over Europe and sometimes specially invited countries and reinforces the cultural bonds of the gay communities into a positive European network for raising awareness, promoting visibility, offering support to the wider LGBTIQ+ community for human rights, and acknowledging the active citizenship of gay people throughout Europe.

§4 The delegates, as national winners or national representatives, possess many qualities. The delegates will have a unique combination of intellect, confidence, awareness, self-esteem, looks and charm.

§5 During the stages of the competition, and particularly in the personal interviews, the juries will focus on a man who:
A. shows an understanding of the world and people around him;

B. of how he can help contribute to a more equal and respectful society for all;

C. has respect for a range of views, but has confidence in expressing his own, when pursuing justice and well-being for gay people in all societies;

D. embraces cultural, linguistic, ability, gender, age, faith and sexual orientation diversity as norms to be promoted in a respectful world;

E. can learn, articulate his thoughts and conduct an intelligent conversation with people both gay and straight and even with people who do not share his views or values;

F. could be the man any group or company would like to have as their spokesperson;

G. is at ease in any social setting, being formal or informal;

H. can articulate his opinions and knowledge and without effort convey it to an audience, media outlet or interviewer;

I. is involved in his local LGBTIQ+ community (taking into account legal constraints in certain countries);

J. can be an ambassador of goodwill between all communities, by being visible, inspiring confidence and reinforcing understanding of the richness of cultural difference globally;

K. is confident in his own values, attributes and opinion.

L. is intelligent – with a reasonable general knowledge and a good knowledge of LGBTIQ+ rights, issues and recent LGBTIQ+ events worldwide.

M. is respectful and careful of his appearance and wellbeing.

Countries and producers

§6 Each Mr Gay Europe finale is held in a European host city. The finale is either produced by the MGE Team, or by a local producer awarded the assignment by the Mr Gay Europe President.

§7 The following European countries, regions and states can participate with contestants to Mr Gay Europe: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle Of Man, Italy, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (FYROM), Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Sápmi, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Vatican City (Holy See), Wales, Åland.
Other countries may participate by invitation of the Mr Gay Europe President.

§8 The Mr Gay Europe organization strides to work and connect with official Mr Gay competitions and producers in each country.

§9 Regarding Mr Gay Europe, a national Mr Gay competition and/or producer is official when certified in writing by the Mr Gay Europe organization. The national competition does not necessarily need to include the name “Mr Gay” or the name of the country.

§10 Only contestants elected in national competitions named “Mr Gay <name of country>” and which hold the rights to legally use the name “Mr Gay <name of country>” in the respective countries will be titled “Mr Gay <name of country>”. Other contestants will be titled “The contestant representing <name of country>”.

§11 If a country does not have an official Mr Gay competition and/or producer, any organization or person can come to an agreement with the Mr Gay Europe organization to arrange a national final with the aim to find a national representative to Mr Gay Europe.

§12 Should a country or a local Mr Gay decline an invitation to enter the Mr Gay Europe competition, the invitation will be extended to other possible partners wishing to enter a contestant who will represent their country in the competition. They will be referred to as official contestants for their country, but not title-holders.

§13 If for any reason one year the number of delegates has to be limited for practical or economical reasons:

A. A country that participates in the event one year, is not granted automatic entry into the finale the following year.

B. Likewise if the country is not included one year, it does not prevent it from being invited another year.

C. Mr Gay Europe will prioritize diversity in race, age, faith, region, ability, language, appearance and if a country has a well-functioning Mr Gay competition/production in selecting the finalists.

D. A country who wins the finale has the right to compete the following year.

E. The host country has the right to compete the current year.

§14 Mr Gay Europe is about organizing international competitions and events. It has no role in selecting or interfering in national contests or their organization. It does not promote rival or competitive national competitions, where a national transparent event exists. It seeks to co-operate with these well run, value driven, national contests where possible.

§15 Every effort will be made to ensure participation by the legitimate national winner, provided that the national contest is established and has been held at least once in the previous two years. In the event of no national event having been held in the previous two years, then Mr Gay Europe may accept a nomination from a new contest in that country.

§16 In exceptional circumstances, if a country does not have an official Mr Gay competition and an organization and no other national partners or organizers want to appoint, select or nominate a delegate, any gay man with a passport from a given country can register as a delegate. The final decision as to whether to accept an independent application or the number of these allowed rests with the Mr Gay Europe President.

§17 If due to time and schedule a country selects a new Mr Gay candidate between a regional competition and Mr Gay Europe, it is up to the local producer to determine which of the delegates in question is to go to Mr Gay Europe.

§18 Mr Gay Europe does not ask any producer or delegate to pay any fee in order to be able to register or take part in the competition.

A. Expenses regarding traveling to and from the competition is expected to be covered by the national producer, and where there is no producer by the delegate himself.

B. Transfer to and from airports, train stations and bus stations, pocket money, alcoholic beverages, room service, lunch on arrival day, snacks between meals and personal expenses are expected to be covered by the delegates.

Competition

§19 All the delegates will be included in all parts of the finale week, and segments will be tailored if necessary to respect differences in ability, language or culture where possible. Mr Gay Europe commits itself to ensure that all elements of the competition will be appropriate, will not enhance negative stereotypes, and will be appealing and comfortable for all delegates.
§20 The competition consists of several challenges and the delegates are rated and given points according to the result in each challenge.

§21 One delegate will be named Mr Gay Europe. Two other delegates will be second place and third place, and in the event of the winner not fulfilling his duties satisfactorily or resigning, then the next in line will be invited by the Mr Gay Europe President to succeed to the title.

§22 The adjudication process is open and transparent. The Mr Gay Europe President will appoint at least one comptroller who will be approved by the adjudicators on the first day of the competition. The comptroller(s) cannot address or be part of the adjudicator panel. They will collect the marks of each preliminary jury in advance of the finale and maintain them confidential until after the finale.

§23 Any jury member who has reasonable doubts as to the transparency of the marking or assessment system can ask for access to the tallied results but must agree to retain their confidentiality. In the event of a discrepancy in the announced result and the tallied marks being uncovered, that jury member has the right to call a full meeting of the Mr Gay Europe Team which will be immediately convened. This meeting will examine the marking calculations, and will determine the true result as marked and correctly tallied.

§24 At the conclusion of each final, national producers are immediately invited to register for the next competition and as soon as possible asked to provide the dates for their next local Mr Gay competition and details of their winner. The Mr Gay Europe website welcomes details of these events and will be pleased to promote them on the Mr Gay Europe website.

Delegates

§25 The delegate is at least 18 years old and expected to behave like an adult. He should not require correction or supervision. He is asked to co-operate with all reasonable requests and all requests to be on time. Delegates are required to respect the laws of the country they are in, to respect the cultures of their fellow delegates and to respect the privacy of others. There is no upper age limit.

§26 Delegates who are uncomfortable with any action, decision or behaviour of anyone associated with the Mr Gay Europe event are invited to contact any of the members of the Mr Gay Europe Team who will make every effort to restore the delegates confidence in the standards of the event.

§27 The candidate from each country must be available for the dates listed in the program, and arrive on time as stated in the program. The winner of Mr Gay Europe must be available for interviews and other official duties immediately after the announcement.

§28 The delegates must be reachable by text message, email or social media on a regular basis. It is expected that the delegates and their producers reply to messages and important information within 2 (two) working days.

§29 The delegates must able to understand a minimum of, and communicate in English, which is the official language of Mr Gay Europe. Correspondence with the delegates and producers will be conducted in English.

§30 The delegates will be sharing a double room, twin beds, with one of the other delegates. The delegates will not be allowed to share a room with their producer, partner etc.

The Jury

§31 The jury will consist of at least five people, with the Mr Gay Europe President as head of the jury.

A. More than half of the jurors will represent other countries than the host country.

B. No more than 60% of the jury should contain of one particular sex.

C. Countries outside of Europe may be represented among the judges.

D. No national producers or organizers can be present in the jury as long as they have delegates participating in the current finale.

E. The jury members and the number of jury members can differ from challenge to challenge.

§32 To ensure a fair competition producers, team members, jury members, personal assistants, friends or family are not allowed in the delegates’ hotel rooms at any time. If the delegates want to meet up with his entourage, he has to arrange for this to happen outside the hotel room.

§33 From the time the delegates have checked in to the hotel and until the announcement of the winner, the delegates are not allowed to meet up with anyone in the Mr Gay Europe Team and the jury one-on-one in private. The delegates should always be accompanied by another delegate, or the meeting should be with two or more from the Mr Gay Europe Team. This does not apply in cases of emergencies.

Policy

§34 Smoking is not allowed in hotel rooms.

§35 Any use of recreational drugs is prohibited and automatically disqualifies the delegate from the competition.

§36 Any misconduct, non-observance of rules, use of recreational drugs or disrespectful behaviour by a delegate may result in immediate dismissal from Mr Gay Europe, as determined by the Mr Gay Europe Team.

§37 All delegates must be willing to be photographed, videotaped and interviewed at all times. Delegates understand that the photos, video footage and interviews can be distributed globally, without any limitations, and without any fee to the delegates.

§38 There will be media coverage, interviews and a brief press conference immediately following the announcement. The winner is required to participate in these activities.

§39 Prizes are not exchangeable for a cash value. The sponsors are responsible for prizes, not Mr Gay Europe. The winner will have to request his prizes himself, although vouchers will be supplied where applicable. Mr Gay Europe will all times endeavour that sponsors deliver prizes. However, Mr Gay Europe can not be held responsible for any prizes not delivered or not delivered on time.

§40 The Mr Gay Europe Team will not be held responsible for any loss or damage whatsoever related to the competition before, during or after the competition or for whatever reason. Delegates enter the competition wholly at their own risk, and it is a requirement that the delegates hold a valid travel insurance for the duration of the competition, together with a Covid-19 vaccine certificate.

§41 The Mr Gay Europe Team reserves the right to disqualify any delegate who brings the Mr Gay Europe competition into disrepute in whatever way, refuses to carry out instructions or do not abide by the rules, stated here and/or stated during and after the competition.

The challenges

§42 To become Mr Gay Europe, the delegates have to compete in different categories/challenges, where the delegates get their marks. At the end of the competition the marks are all added up and the delegate with the most points gets to name himself Mr Gay Europe.

A. Personal interview (20% of total points)
A panel of judges will be interviewing the delegates for up to 15 minutes. Delegates with special needs (sign language, etc.) get more time. For more information about this challenge, please check specific info about the interview further down.

B. My Project (15%)
The delegates are to plan a LGBTIQ+ campaign and present how they plan to work on that campaign on an pan-European level in the coming year. The delegates are encouraged to still implement their campaign locally even if they don’t win the title.

This is a challenge the delegates have to work on before they arrive at the competition. The presentation can be made orally, with a power point presentation etc. Delegates who need technical equipment have to inform the MGE Team no later than a week before arriving.

C. Online Vote (15%)
Users on MrGayEurope.com vote for who they believe should win the competition. The voting doesn’t require any apps or televoting; and is free of charge. In the past we have been asked by the public why they can’t have a say in who is going to win. Therefore we have designed an online voting competition so that the public can directly influence the final result. From 1 July until 17 July anyone can vote for their favourite delegate online; you can ask your mother, all your friends and fans to make that “click” once a day!

D. The written test (15%)
This test is conducted in English and the delegates have to answer up to 60 questions in 60 minutes on different topics such as LGBTIQ+ history, general knowledge, politics and current events. Delegates with special needs (dyslexia, etc.) get more time. The delegates are encouraged to pay special attention during the MGE seminars.

E. SoMe Challenge (10%)
The delegates are given a social media challenge. The delegates are judged on their impact on social media. One of the challenges is that the delegates have to produce a short video presentation of themselves before their arrival in Newcastle. The video has to be filmed in landscape mode (wide), and must not be longer than 90 seconds. You don’t need special equipment, use your phone!

F. Photogenic Challenge (10%)
In this challenge the delegates will be judged based on photos taken and professional attitude during a photo session. A photographer will work with the delegates and they are to show off their best angle and confidence.

G. Sports Challenge (5%)
The sports challenge is different from year to year, depending on the local facilities. In this test the delegates are to compete on physical strength and stamina.

H. Mr Congeniality (5%)
Who does the other delegates think is the most likable, friendly and nicest guy among them? The delegates vote for the delegate, other than themselves, they think should win Mr Gay Europe.

I. National Costume (5%)
In this challenge the delegates are invited to use their imagination to present themselves and their country/cultural heritage in an innovative and colourful way.

Points and vectoring

§43 The winner of each challenge gets 12 points, and the rest of the delegates are awarded 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then 0 points.

The points achieved are multiplied by a vector based on the percentage share for each challenge.

If a challenge requires an assessment the judges award the delegates from 0 to 100 points. When added together that will give the results.

Legal matters

§44 The Mr Gay Europe competition, name and trademark are owned and represented by Move On Productions, a Norwegian registered company.

§45 The Mr Gay Europe title remains the property of Mr Gay Europe and can be transferred at any time to another candidate in the event of a breach of contract of co-operation and respect that exists between Mr Gay Europe, the winner and all our delegates.

§46 If for any reason the title-holder, 2nd or 3rd runner up chose to participate in a similar competitions or pageants during the year they hold the Mr Gay Europe titles; they automatically renounce their titles earned at Mr Gay Europe and their titles and positions will be awarded to the person next in line. Exceptions from this rule can be made by the Mr Gay Europe President, and this has to be confirmed in writing.

§47 After a delegate has been awarded the title Mr Gay Europe, the managing director of Mr Gay Europe steps in and acts as the manager and liaison of the title-holder. The managing director acts on behalf of the Mr Gay Europe President and has the responsibility of setting up meetings, booking events and looking after the schedule for the title-holder.

§48 Local Mr Gay producers, organizations, companies or people intending to host the Mr Gay Europe finale must provide the Mr Gay Europe President with a testimony of their shared commitment to the values of the event.

§49 Each applicant must provide a detailed production plan regarding marketing, budget, communications, public relations, evidence of local solidarity with national gay organizations and a professional production proposal for all dates of the event. Mr Gay Europe will reserve the right to approve all final images used and statements made on behalf of the competition.

§50 Interested parties may inquire for a detailed list of requirements needed for hosting the Mr Gay Europe competition via the website. The Mr Gay Europe Finale will be a joint event between Mr Gay Europe and the selected local producer.