Outsports
Ring Of Honor

Advertise on Outsports.com

Gay Games/Outgames
Continued from Page 1 

Registration Numbers Growing 

When the 12,000 expected athletes and cultural participants take to the streets, pools, and fields of Chicago next summer -- beginning with the opening ceremonies at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears -- it will be to celebrate the seventh edition of the FGG’s Gay Games.  

 As of late July, the number of registrants for the Gay Games stood at almost 3,000.  

A major component of both groups’ marketing plan has been the execution of registration drives. Asked about the status of current registration efforts, Boyer said that they were still expecting “12,000 to 13,000 [athletes and artists] and we’re absolutely on target.” A worldwide registration drive was launched in May that included parties in major cities around the U.S. and the rest of the world. 

The number of paid registrants for Montreal’s Outgames stood at 6,500 in late August, and GLISA’s Rachel Corbett said these registrants come from 87 different countries.  

Even with only 3,000 registrants, the FGG and CGI organizers maintain they are unconcerned about their registration goals and it remains unclear whether the turnout for next summer’s games will be split on nationalistic lines. Gene Dermody, a sports and technology co-chair for FGG, said the numbers would pick up in coming months and that the timeline for American registration, which has always been about 40% of any Gay Games total, was largely determined by travel and housing arrangements. “In Sydney, you had to make your reservations a year and a half out. … In the U.S., Americans don’t have to do that to get to Chicago, a major airline hub,” he said.  

European participation has tended to fluctuate a lot in the past depending on how close the Games are held to the European continent. Next summer, the reasons for higher or lower European participation may be even more complicated. “The thing that upsets me is the blatant anti-Americanism out there,” Dermody said, referring to the foreign reactions to the administration and to the United States’ general stance on gay marriage. 

Dermody, a former FGG president, has also been a member of the San Francisco athlete delegation, called Team San Francisco, since 1986. He said Team S.F. and the Bay Area always bring from 1,000 to 1,100 participants to any Gay Games. Though he informally estimates that there are about 200 registered to date for the Chicago Games, he said there was no big pressure to get people registered now and that at least 800 to 900 more would begin to register in the coming months. 

“We will have some people who will go to both Chicago and Montreal,” Dermody said, “Though most will choose Chicago.” He cited several reasons for why athletes might participate in both games. “IGLA [International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics] is a big supporter of the Gay Games” he said, for example, but some San Francisco swimmers will also go to Montreal on their own because there will be a new synchronized swimming event not offered in Chicago.  

In contrast, Dermody said that he knows German wrestlers who will only get subsidies to attend the Outgames in Montreal. California wrestlers, on the other hand, can only expect bulk airline and hotel vouchers for Chicago. Dermody said that these are the difficult choices made by each local sports organization and driven by the finances of large group discounts, not politics. 

A Year To Go 

With less than 12 months until the Gay Games, Chicago’s local government, financial sponsors, and athletes are defying any concern about CGI’s ability to organize the Gay Games under the restrictions of a shortened timeline. 

“The Chicago LGBT communities are rallying around the event,” said Bill Greaves, the City of Chicago Liaison to the LGBT communities of Chicago. “Mayor Daley is thrilled the Gay Games are coming to Chicago. He’s the honorary Chair.” 

In the 17 months since Chicago was selected, The City of Chicago and CGI have built a private/public relationship based on a model that the city has tested on other projects, such as Millenium Park, a multi-use public space that includes a concert venue, dining, art, and an ice rink. Greaves sees this cooperation as an advantage for the Gay Games because it allows the city to be a close partner in the games. But he stresses that the city is “not a financial sponsor and we are not responsible for the finances of the Games.” 

Dermody has a veteran’s perspective and has seen the organization of the Gay Games over the years, including Games that almost fell apart at the last minute. He said that Chicago’s preparations have been more in line with those of the 1994 Gay Games in New York, which he views as the most well-organized ever. Speaking of CGI, Dermody said, “They are professional, mainstream people who are pro-sports… . The professionalism has never been better than it was in New York.” And now, after three site visits, Dermody says, “I’m not the slightest bit worried about their ability to pull this off.” 

The Montreal organizers also have benefited heavily from government support, and on a much larger scale than Chicago. Czerniecki said that, for Montreal, the Outgames will be “second in magnitude only to the ’76 Montreal Olympics,” adding that he expects 16,000 participants and 250,000 visitors to the city. 

As for the execution of the Outgames, Czerniecki said that all registration and marketing efforts were on track and that, while the final year of preparation would see an increase in activity, everything was on or ahead of schedule. “Three levels of government, community involvement and private corporate sponsorship… an entire city working hand in hand to make the first world Outgames the international event of 2006,” he said.

What About The Athletes? 

With all the fuss over the initial split and the resulting bitterness, it has been difficult to remember that what is at stake is not just winning a spitting match, but rather the experience of thousands of athletes, most of whom are far removed from the political bickering that has consumed much of the attention over the last three years. Dermody, a longtime wrestler, said, “The whole thing is being escalated by people who have nothing to do with sports.”  

So where do the athletes say their headed next summer? 

David (who asked that his last name not be used) is a member of Metro Wrestling, a gay New York wrestling organization that was founded in 1992. Asked if he had a bias toward a particular event next summer, David said he was “trying to get funds to go to both” but thought he would ultimately have a work conflict. David noted that many of the Metro Wrestlers would end up in Chicago because that is where the wrestlers from Team San Francisco, their major rivals, would be competing. He added that the team also had friends in Montreal who they could stay with if it does work out to attend both events. “They [his teammates] don’t really care. They just like competing.” 

“I’m supporting my members,” said Christian West, president of the Team New York, an organization of LGBT sports groups in New York City, which he called “neutral.”  

“I’m trying to get them to whatever event they want to go to.” West, who was a founding member of GLISA, has since taken a step away from the Chicago-Montreal conflict, calling the personal attacks that followed Montreal’s split with the FGG “tiring.” West said that there was no noticeable split within Team New York members and that their decision of where to compete next summer will be based more on other factors, such as convenience, trip expenses, and the ability to take vacation time from work.  

Registration fees for both events are higher than previous Gay Games, ranging from about $200-$400 dollars depending on how many events and what type of events a participant registers for. And because the events fall only a week apart, working people who want to compete in both events will have either to take a full three weeks of vacation or take two weeks off with only one awkward work week and extra travel in between. 

While some athletes are neutral, others feel very strongly about their reasons for choosing one event over the other. 

Ozier has an outspoken loyalty to the Gay Games and said he will compete at swimming in Chicago, as he did in Sydney and in previous Games. Ozier was living in San Francisco in the ’80s when the Gay Games and FGG were founded by Tom Waddle. “The growth they’ve gone through is spectacular.” 

Jeff Kagan, leader of the New York City Gay Hockey Association, said that he plans to attend both the Chicago and Montreal events. While he suggested that several other New York players would do the same, he said they had not yet voted and made no indication that they would endorse one event over the other.  

“NYCGHA hasn't made any decisions about which we're going to participate in.  We will probably poll our players sometime this summer.” Kagan said. “I'd much rather see all of the gay hockey teams together in one city, sharing the same experience.  I don't think they see the big picture here,” he said, referring to the organizers of the Gay Games and Outgames, “that they're doing more harm than good for our community.” 

Charlie Carson, an individual director on the Federation of Gay Games board and a member of the Host Advisory Board,  said that some people will go to both events and that he is optimistic that the split hasn’t turned off athletes to the Games. “I think most people expect there not to be two large-scale events in the same year in the future and realized this was just the unfortunate consequence of two groups failing to come to contractual agreement -- thinking people understand that that sometimes happens. The people turned off are in a decided minority.” 

Replying to an invitation to comment posted on the Outsports discussion board, Chicago resident and softball pitcher Bobby Hoeppner wrote in an e-mail: “Even if I didn't live in Chicago, the obvious choice (if I couldn't go to both) would be to attend Chicago. It is THE GAY GAMES and not a new start-up event.  I am focused more on the 'sport' aspect and less on the cultural and party side - which clearly is a big focus for Montreal.  I believe, for the most part, that the people that are truly motivated and interested in the 'sport' side want to go with tradition and the real thing - take no chances with a new event.  The Gay Games are rich with tradition and personal experiences that many have already experienced (or heard about) at least once, they want to repeat this.” 

The notion that Montreal has been sidetracked by party planning is unfounded, though some of the most bitter criticism of Montreal 2006 has come from Gay Games loyalists who say Montreal is focusing too much on the celebration and parties and not enough on the sport. Parties, a major attraction of past Gay Games, have proven to be losing financial ventures for host committees. But GLISA’s Corbett says the Outgames organizers have sub-contracted out all of the parties so that they have no financial stake in them.  

“We will take no financial risk with the parties,” Corbett said, noting that Chicago was doing the same this time around. “We’re not experts in parties, we are experts in sport.” She did acknowledge, however, that the Outgames stand to benefit from the atmosphere that these parties create, as will Chicago with the parties there. 

FGG’s Dermody warned the parties need to be kept in check. “The thing we have to watch out for is how much we can keep control of the cultural component,” he said. “It gets out of hand.” 

2009 and Beyond 

After next summer’s inaugural Outgames, GLISA says it plans to host a second event in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, offsetting its quadrennial schedule with the FGG by a year. The decision to switch to odd years was made for a number of reasons, said Corbett. As GLISA looks to incorporate itself into the mainstream international sports calendar, it sees 2009 as a relatively quiet year, falling a year after the 2008 Summer Olympics and before the 2010 Winter Olympics. Corbett said that this makes available more corporate sponsorship money in 2009, which becomes tied up faster during Olympic years. 

At an International Board of Directors’ meeting in November in Chicago, the FGG will vote on the host of Gay Games VIII in 2010. “We will be selecting from among three well-prepared city groups,” said Charlie Carson. The candidate cities are: Cologne, Germany; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Paris.  

The Future of the LGBT Sports Movement 

The turmoil of the last few years has left many wondering where the Gay Games and Outgames will be in 10 years, and has even left some questioning the purpose of such events. For now, and likely until both events are complete next summer, consensus over whether there ought to be one or two international multi-sport LGBT events seems a distant reality.

“If both events are successful it’d be great to have two big events,” said West of Team New York. 

“It’d be great if we could go every two years … 2006 is not an ideal situation,” said Corbett, suggesting that the Gay Games and Outgames come to an agreement to stagger their events and schedule them around the mainstream sports calendar. She noted that having the separate major events spaced two years apart would help the local sporting organizations, which now must keep athletes engaged in events for four years between the main competitions.

Each sport typically holds its own annual championship, but many sports organizations originally were created because of the Gay Games and their competition schedule treats the Gay Games as the pinnacle event. “For the local teams it’s hard to keep going for four years,” Corbett said. This is true in many sports, though team sports in major cities thrive from year to year with their interleague competitions and championship events, making them less dependent on the excitement built around the Gay Games. 

“Historically Tom Waddel brought about the Gay Games and there is no denying the fact that historically the Gay Games were an important step in the development of the LGBT sporting movement,” said Czerniecki. “Is the FGG still pertinent today? …The LGBT sporting community worldwide will in time determine what is or isn’t pertinent. Quality and vision and funding will be the determining factors. 

“Is there room for two major events -- I certainly believe so.  GLISA and the FGG are not pursuing the same objectives and do not operate in the same manner. I would go as far as saying that the presence of friendly competition at certain levels between the two organization will guaranty a better future and development for the LGBT sporting movement overall. No one can pretend to ‘own’ the LGBT movement. 

“In my personal opinion [the Gay Games] have definitely lost some of their luster. Will they bounce back? Will they reform? …Some good people are trying to make it work.” Czerniecki added, “Time will tell.” 

And that seems to be the general, and perhaps only, consensus between people familiar with the 2006 events.  

David Secter, speaking on a panel at the NewFest Film Festival in New York in June, where his Gay Games documentary Take the Flame! was debuting said: “The proof will be in the pudding.”

Discuss this article

Sept. 8, 2005