Local
2014 Gay Games could vault to D.C.
Cleveland startup faces Dec. 15 deadline to hold onto sporting event
Set in Germany, the 2010 Gay Games concluded Sunday. The next event in 2014 is tentatively slated to occur in Cleveland. (Photo courtesy of Gay Games)
Leaders of an international LGBT sports group, meeting last weekend in Germany, reaffirmed their earlier decision to keep the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.
But the General Assembly of the Federation of Gay Games kept open the option of moving the event to Washington, D.C., if Cleveland fails to meet a set of conditions by Dec. 15, including the creation of a new gay-run organization to produce the games, sources said.
The General Assembly took that action during a closed “in camera” session of its annual meeting Aug. 8, sources said, following the end of the 2010 Gay Games.
That action came 10 months after the FGG selected Cleveland over D.C. to host the 2014 Gay Games and one month after the FGG revoked the license it awarded last year to the Cleveland Synergy Foundation, a non-profit LGBT group, to produce the quadrennial event.
The FGG’s ouster of Cleveland Synergy was reportedly caused by the foundation’s failure to meet its licensing agreement in a number of areas, including financial accountability.
Officials with the Cleveland Synergy Foundation have not returned repeated calls seeking comment. FGG officials have also declined to disclose details as to why they determined Synergy has failed to meet its licensing obligations.
LGBT activists in Cleveland joined city officials there in expressing a strong desire to keep the games in Cleveland and have taken steps to put together a new proposal for producing the 2014 Gay Games. But so far, only non-gay sports groups in that area have emerged as having the capability to produce an event involving thousands of athletes and spectators.
In announcing last week that they planned to keep the games in Cleveland, FGG officials said through a spokesperson that they disagreed with an interpretation of FGG rules by the D.C. LGBT sports group that lost its bid to hold the games in Washington.
Officials with Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, Inc., which was designated the runner-up bidder for the 2014 games, said they believe FGG rules hold that the games should go to the runner up and its host city if the winning bidder fails to fulfill its licensing obligations and responsibilities.
During the General Assembly meeting in Cologne, Germany, FGG officials reportedly said the rules allow the group to keep the games in Cleveland as long as a new entity selected to produce the games meets all of the requirements established for doing so in the original bidding documents.
But one of the conditions imposed on Cleveland, according to sources, is that it must come up with a new LGBT-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that exists for the sole purpose of producing the Gay Games.
Another condition is the new entity must be up and running, meet all of the FGG requirements to operate the games and have a signed license agreement with the FGG in place by Dec. 15, 2010, sources said.
They said the FGG General Assembly agreed that if the new Cleveland organization is unable to enter into such a licensing agreement by the designated deadline, FGG would take steps to move the games to D.C., the runner-up city. The decision reportedly is based on the assumption that the D.C. host organization was still interested and capable of producing the 2014 Gay Games.
Vince Micone, president of Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, and Brent Minor, head of Team D.C., one of the Gay Games-affiliated groups that’s part of Washington Metropolitan Gaymes, said last week that their respective groups would be willing to discuss any offer or proposal brought forward by the FGG.
“We’re reluctant to comment because we haven’t received any official communication from anyone,” said Minor on Tuesday.
But he noted that D.C. officials remain supportive of the Gay Games movement and its leadership. He said he’s “certain” that the apparatus that Metropolitan Washington Gaymes assembled last year in its bid for the 2014 games can be put back together in “short order” should the FGG approach D.C. to host the games.
According to one source, another wrinkle over Cleveland Synergy Foundation surfaced at the FGG General Assembly meeting when word came that Cleveland Synergy might be considering filing a lawsuit against the FGG to reverse the decision to revoke its license. The source said FGG officials have lined up pro bono legal counsel to respond to such a lawsuit and are confident their side would prevail.
The same source said representatives of the General Assembly sympathetic to D.C. chose not to introduce a resolution to move the 2014 games to D.C. before giving Cleveland a chance to form a new LGBT host organization because there was little support for such a resolution.
“It would have failed miserably as many Americans and Europeans are of the current mindset that we need to continue the goodwill that was just established by the Cologne games, and a change while the city of Cleveland so enthusiastically wants these games would incur distrust and ill will in the LGBT sports community,” the source said.
District of Columbia
D.C. Latinx Pride celebrates culture and heritage
Your guide to events throughout June
Organizers with the Latinx History Project have planned a host of events this Pride season with parties, poetry, drag and more.
The festivities begin with the DC Latinx Pride 2026 Kickoff at Crush Dance Bar (2007 14th Street, N.W.) on Friday, June 12 from 6-10 p.m. The party will include a coronation ceremony for the 2026 Royal Court: Ms. DC Latinx Pride Vida Rangel and Mx. DC Latinx Pride Steph Niaupari. RSVP at latinxhistoryproject.org. The event is free, though donations are accepted.
An outdoor event is planned for Sunday, June 14 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Anacostia River Park (1500 Anacostia Dr., S.E.). Cultivating Queer Outdoor Joy is a “peaceful outdoor community event focused on grounding, connection, and queer joy in nature.” The event is free.
A panel discussion is planned for The Festival Center (1640 Columbia Rd., N.W., 2nd floor) on Monday, June 15 from 6-8 p.m. La Plática: The Future of 2 Spirits and Trans Natives will focus upon the “stories, leadership and vision of Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer and Trans Native people.” RSVP to the free event at latinxhistoryproject.org.
A sex-positive poetry workshop, “Hoetry: Writing Erotic Poetry,” is planned for Wednesday, June 17 from 6-8 p.m. at The Festival Center (1640 Columbia Road, N.W.). The event is free.
The workshop So You Wanna Do Drag? is planned for Thursday, June 18 from 5:30-8 p.m. at The Festival Center (1640 Columbia Road, N.W.). Featured guests Ricky Rose and Mari Con Carne will hold a style showcase to discuss the basics of developing a drag persona. RSVP to the free event at latinxhistoryproject.org.
The Latinx History Project is collaborating with Rumba Queer DC to produce an official Latinx Pride Party: Sin Vergüenza. The event is at the multi-level venue, Transmission (1353 H Street, N.E.) on Thursday, June 18 from 7 p.m.-1 a.m. There are dance lessons, vendors and three different music experiences in the sprawling venue. There will also be a drag showcase from 10-11 p.m. The event is 21+ and tickets are available at shotgun.live/en/events/sin-verguenza. Tickets are $15 for entry into the party. Tickets to participate in the dance lesson are $29.98. Participants may choose between a bachata lesson or a salsa lesson from 7-8 p.m.
La Fiesta: Official DC Latinx Pride Party is planned for Friday, June 19 from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. at Bunker (2001 14th Street, N.W.). Serena Morena from “Drag Race México” and “Drag Race UK vs The World” is slated to headline the 21+ event. Early tickets are available for $15 (plus $0.38 service fee) until June 16. The door cover charge without early tickets is $20. Attendees can also purchase a meet and greet experience with Serena Morena for $30. Tickets are available at latinxhistoryproject.org.
The Latinx History Project plans to march in the Capital Pride Parade on Saturday, June 20 and to have a table at the Capital Pride Festival on Sunday, June 21. Visit latinxhistoryproject.org to register to march alongside LGP in the parade or to staff the table at the festival.
The DC Latinx Pride 2026 Closing Event is scheduled for Friday, June 26 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Mexican Cultural Institute (2829 16th Street, N.W.). The free event is a panel discussion “centering the experiences of immigrants who have lived in Latin America and now call the United States home.”
Visit latinxhistoryproject.org for more information.
District of Columbia
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Event organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, Queers for Janeese
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George spoke to a crowd of LGBTQ supporters on June 1 at a meet & greet event held at JR.’s on 17th Street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The event, organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has endorsed Lewis George for mayor, with support from a group called Queers for Janeese, was followed by a “get out the vote” canvassing endeavor in which several of those attending the meet & greet visited the homes of nearby residents known to be Lewis George supporters.
The purpose of the canvassing was to remind Lewis George supporters to return their mail-in ballots or go to the polls on June 16 to elect Lewis George as the city’s next mayor, according to Matthew Kavanagh, one of the leaders of Queers for Janeese who attended the meet & greet event at JR.’s.
Local political observers consider Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member, and former At-Large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, to be the two leading candidates in this year’s race for mayor. The two are among seven mayoral candidates competing in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George told those attending the meet & greet, which was held on the JR.’s outdoor patio, that she has a long record of advocating for and initiating city polices and laws in support of the LGBTQ community. She said large corporate donors were backing her opponents and urged her LGBTQ supporters to help raise funds for her in the remaining days of the campaign.
Among those attending the meet & greet was gay longtime Dupont Circle civic activist Randy Downs who last November opened a nearby eatery called Protest Pizza. “I am queer and I am a Janeese supporter,” Downs told the Blade.
Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats, who also spoke at the meet & greet event, said his group would organize events in support of Lewis George in the remaining days of the campaign. Among them, he said, was an LGBTQ bar crawl in which supporters of Lewis George, including the candidate herself, would visit LGBTQ bars to promote her candidacy.
Virginians for Marriage Equality on Monday launched a campaign in support of repealing Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman, former state Sen. Adam Ebbin, former state Del. Mark Sickles, and American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer are among those who spoke at the launch that took place in Richmond. State Del. Kirk McPike (D-Alexandria), who co-chairs the campaign, also participated.
“This amendment is about making clear that the government has no business deciding which marriages or which families are worthy of recognition,” said Bauer. “The ACLU of Virginia has been fighting for Virginians’ right to marry who they love since the landmark case, Loving v. Virginia, which struck down the ban on interracial marriage. Now we are proud to carry that legacy forward by standing with our coalition partners in the fight to pass this amendment and finally enshrine the right to marriage equality in the commonwealth’s constitution.”
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is a Republican, in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in February signed a bill that finalized the referendum’s language.
The referendum will take place on Nov. 3.
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