- The Gay Games are no laughing matter.
Boston lost out to Cleveland for the right to host the 2014 International Gay Games, the quadrennial Olympics of the homo world. Based on an article published this month in the gay newspaper Boston Spirit, it appears they’re not taking it well.
“Gay Games 2014 in Boston? It was a no-brainer,” the article proclaims in typically whiny New England prose. It quotes numerous Boston gay dignitaries who claim that Cleveland cheated during the bidding process by loosely interpreting various guidelines, from the number of events offered to distance between venues. The deal was locked up for Cleveland when it was noted that Akron’s vast athletic facilities lie just beyond the outfield grass at Progressive Field.
More damning was the suggestion that Cleveland may have bought the games for the mere price of an Ohio City condo. The article points out that the selection committee’s lead judge, Darl Schaaf, was so impressed by a visit to Cleveland that he bought a property here. Schaaf defended his decision in the Spirit, saying it wasn’t the condo but the envelopes stuffed with hundred-dollar bills from county commissioners that tipped the scale in Cleveland’s favor.
