A pact struck late last month abruptly ended Cleveland’s Gay Games controversy, but it may also have short-circuited some wonderful municipal comedy in the courtroom.
The problems started a couple years back when news broke that Cleveland was in the running to host the 2014 Gay Games, an international competition among people who do sports just like everybody else but have sex differently.
In 2009, the Federation of Gay Games chose Cleveland to host the event. The Synergy Foundation, a local nonprofit charged with promoting all things gay, was tapped to run the show.
But a year later, the Federation cut its ties with Synergy, claiming discontent over how things were going. A new, seemingly less queer organization was handed the reins, with Mayor Frank Jackson appointed its chairman. In response, Synergy sued the Federation and its co-promoters: the city of Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, among others.
This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2011.
Childish and allot of wasted money. With leadership like this Cleveland will never be ‘World Class’.
I’m glad mess is over. Shame on Mayor Jackson as well as the Sports Commission! If they expect credibility with the LGBT community before and during the Gay Games, they need sensitivity training. We consist of a often-maligned minority group. It’s time to move beyond junior high tittering and be mature, 21st-century business people.