Local

Cleveland Gay Games organizer may be ousted

Rumors swirl over whether 2014 competition will move to D.C.

Published

16 years ago

July 21, 2010

The international LGBT sports organization that chose Cleveland over D.C. and Boston for the 2014 Gay Games has taken steps to oust the non-profit foundation it selected last fall to organize the quadrennial sports competition.

The Federation of Gay Games’ decision to begin a process to revoke the license it awarded last year to the Synergy Foundation to organize and operate the 2014 Gay Games fueled speculation about whether Federation officials might seek to move the multi-million dollar athletic competition to D.C., which was deemed the runner-up city for hosting the event.

Cleveland city officials and an FGG spokesperson sought to dispel the speculation this week, saying they expect the Gay Games to take place in Cleveland as planned, although they would not comment on which entity would organize the event.

The Gay Games usually draws thousands of athlete participants and spectators from Europe, Latin America and all parts of the U.S. and Canada for two weeks, generating several million dollars in revenue for the host city. The Olympic-style competition includes sporting venues ranging from soccer and swimming to track and field events, among many others.

Last September, the FGG stunned officials with the Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, Inc., the group that organized D.C.’s bid for the Gay Games, when it announced its selection of Cleveland as the host city for the 2014 games.

The D.C. group, which had the full support of Mayor Adrian Fenty, the City Council and local business, tourist and sports groups, expected to win the bid, saying it had put together an unprecedented proposal for the games that included the use of the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium.

FGG officials said D.C., Boston and Cleveland each submitted equally impressive and acceptable bids from a logistical and organizational standpoint. They noted that they chose Cleveland because it represented a region less advanced in LGBT rights and acceptance than D.C. and Boston and that holding the Gay Games there would have a greater impact on LGBT equality.

Recently, though, the LGBT sporting news blog, Out Sports, and the Cleveland-based LGBT news publication, Gay People’s Chronicle, have reported learning from inside sources that the FGG is dissatisfied with the work performance of Synergy Foundation, the Cleveland-based group it licensed last September to organize and operate the games.

A July 7 letter from Traci Nichols, director of Cleveland’s Department of Economic Development, which was leaked to the media, says the FGG was “exercising its right to terminate the license agreement with Synergy for the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland.”

The letter says the FGG had also agreed to “pursue voluntary mediation within fourteen days to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues.” The letter does not disclose the issues.

However, it says that Synergy failed to submit to the city a required project report due June 1.

“In light of the notice given to Synergy by the FGG, the City hereby notifies Synergy that it is suspending any further payments to Synergy until the outstanding issues between the FGG and Synergy are resolved and Synergy continues to hold the license for the 2014 Gay Games,” Nichols says in the letter.

Andrea Taylor, a spokesperson for the city, said officials would have no further comment on the matter. She noted that any additional information would have to come either from the FGG or Synergy.

Spokespersons for the two groups did not immediately return calls this week seeking comment. In a statement released on its web site, Synergy said it was optimistic that the “issues” between itself and the FGG would soon be resolved and organizing for the 2014 Gay Games would proceed as scheduled.

With the selection of a host city made more than four years in advance, the organizers and representatives of the host city of the next Gay Games traditionally appear at the current year’s games to promote the future event.

But this tradition is expected to create an awkward situation for the FGG and Cleveland officials as the FGG grapples over whether to oust Synergy Foundation from its role as organizer of the 2014 games.

Gay People’s Chronicle reports that “financial irregularities and reporting issues” appear to be among the reasons the FGG has taken steps to revoke Synergy’s license to organize and run the 2014 Gay Games.

Vince Micone, president of Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, said a member of the FGG board informed him about a week ago that the Synergy Foundation’s license to operate the games was in “mediation.” According to Micone, the board member gave no further details, saying only that bidding organizations in D.C. and Boston were being notified of the matter as a “courtesy.”

“Our first priority right now is to make sure the 2010 Gay Games are successful,” said Micone, who noted that a contingent of LGBT athletes from D.C. will be participating in the games set for July 31 through Aug. 7 in Cologne.

“We continue to be very supportive of the FGG and the Cologne games,” he said. “We don’t know what the situation is in Cleveland. All I know is what I’m reading about this in the media.”

Asked if D.C. could put together all of the components of its bid for a D.C.-based Gay Games if the FGG should choose to move the event to D.C., Micone said that would be possible.

“But it’s a moot point since we have not been asked,” he said. “If we were asked, we would consider it.”

Related Topics:2014 Gay Games Boston Cleveland Federation of Gay Games Gay Games Metropolitan Washington Gaymes Inc Out Sports

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Cameroon

Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now

Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality

Published

19 hours ago

March 13, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Competitive gamer Ludovic Mbock, left, with his sister, Diane Sohna. (Photo courtesy of Diane Sohna)

By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.

The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.

“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

District of Columbia

Bowser appoints first nonbinary person to Cabinet-level position

Peter Stephan named Office of Disability Rights interim director

Published

2 days ago

March 12, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

The Wilson Building (Bigstock photo by Leonid Andronov)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower has named longtime disability rights advocate Peter L. Stephan, who identifies as nonbinary, as interim director of the D.C. Office of Disability Rights.

The local transgender and nonbinary advocacy group Our Trans Capital and the LGBTQ group Capital Stonewall Democrats issued a joint statement calling Stephan’s appointment an historic development as the first-ever appointment of a nonbinary person to a Cabinet-level D.C. government position.

“This milestone appointment recognizes Stephan’s extensive expertise in disability rights advocacy and marks a historic advancement for transgender and nonbinary representation in District government leadership,” the statement says.

The statement notes that Stephan, an attorney, held the position of general counsel at the Office of Disability Rights immediately prior to the mayor’s decision to name him interim director.

The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Bowser plans to name Stephan as the permanent director of the Office of Disability Rights. John Fanning, a spokesperson for D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said the office’s director position requires confirmation by the Council.

Stephan couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“At a time when trans and nonbinary people ae under attack across the country, D.C. continues to lead by example,” said Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats. “This appointment reflects what we have always believed that our community is always strongest when every voice is represented in government,” he said.

“This is a historic step forward,” said Vida Rengel, founder of Our Trans Capital. “Interim Director Stephan’s career and accomplishments are a shining example of the positive impact that trans and nonbinary public servants can have on our communities,” according to Rangel.

District of Columbia

Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary

Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event

Published

3 days ago

March 11, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Mayor Bowser is expected to attend the Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th gala. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50^th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.

A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8^th St., N.W. in D.C.

“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.

Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.

Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.

He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.

Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.

Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.

“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”

The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.

Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.

Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th