Cleveland.
Yeah, that’s why I didn’t put it in the headline.
But I kid. Cleveland is great. I suppose. Still, it is part of Ohio, which was instrumental in swinging the 2004 election toward Bush with an anti-gay ballot initiative. But the mayor of the city says they are “prepared to roll out the welcome mat to the LGBT athletes their families and spectators from around the world.” That’s nice.
The Gay Games actually attract more participants than the Olympics (though the TV coverage is oddly less pervasive). Cleveland’s version takes places in 2014; the next ceremony will be in Cologne, Germany in July and August of 2010. Previous host cities include San Francisco (twice), Vancouver, New York, Amsterdam, Sydney (the same year as the 2002 Olympics there) and the last one, 2006’s in Chicago.
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Cities like Cleveland need the Gay Games more than D.C. or Boston, the other two finalists. From the Washington Blade:
https://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=27403
“Really, what it was is when we look at the mission of the Gay Games and the fact that we want to change the world or further the mission, we felt that in Cleveland we had a good opportunity to change … the Cleveland area and the region,” Dahl said.
Asked if a factor in the selection process was to improve the image of the LGBT community, Dahl said, “Exactly. Improving the image and the hearts and minds of the people that live in Cleveland and live in Ohio.”
You apparently don’t know much about Cleveland. While many states passed anti-gay legislation in 2004, Cleveland has since created a domestic partner registry and a bill to ban gay discrimination for employment and to buy a house is pending in the state senate. Cleveland is also represented in the House of Representative by Dennis Kucinich – hardly the choice of an anti-gay crowd. The reason Cleveland won is because their presentation was about the games, sport, and culture. Boston presented itself as, “we’re Boston. we should host because we’re Boston.” DC took the same approach. 7000 people showed up to a rally in Cleveland when the selection committee came to visit as opposed to just a few hundred when they visited DC and Boston.
It’s particularly sad to read your sarcasism considering you are from Dallas. Are you aware of the perception people have of YOUR city?
Rick, I think you missed the point. This is a quote from an article in the Washington Blade. So if you have a prob with any city, then it should probably be D.C.
Arnold, When you and the rest of the idiots out there who bash Cleveland every chance they get decide to grow up you might see that Cleveland outshines just about every other city out there.Tell me exactly how awesome is the Dallas Orchestra? How is the Dallas theatre district hmmm? How about the Dallas museums? Get a clue and come visit Cleveland and stop being just like those you slam for swinging towards Bush in 2004.thats right,you are the same person on the other side of the coin,join us in the middle and make our country/cities a better place for all.