Local
Could 2014 Gay Games move to runner-up D.C.?
Organizers in ‘sensitive discussions’ over Cleveland
The international LGBT sports organization that chose Cleveland over D.C. to host the 2014 Gay Games says it’s engaging in “sensitive discussions” with a Cleveland-based foundation that reportedly has faltered in its role of coordinating the quadrennial event.
In a cautiously worded statement issued July 23, the Federation of Gay Games said it was “cooperating with its Cleveland partners” and would make “any further announcements” about the status of the 2014 games following meetings in Germany in August.
The statement said the FGG board and Membership Assembly “must now turn our full attention to supporting our colleagues in Germany as we all celebrate the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne,” which begin Saturday.
The statement follows reports that FGG took steps earlier this month to revoke the license it awarded last fall to the Cleveland Synergy Foundation, a non-profit group that submitted the winning bid for Cleveland and nearby Akron, Ohio to host the 2014 Gay Games.
Kelly Stevens, the FGG’s communications officer, told the Blade this week that the FGG would have no further comment on any aspect of its discussions with the Synergy Foundation until after its meetings in Cologne. He also declined to comment on whether the FGG would consider moving the 2014 Gay Games to D.C. if developments in Cleveland deteriorated to the point where it would be impractical to stage the event there.
The Synergy Foundation fueled speculation about a conflict with the FGG when it suggested in a July 19 statement that the FGG may not have followed proper procedures in beginning the process to terminate its license.
“As outlined in the mutually endorsed agreement, this process should begin with a meeting of the two groups’ steering committees,” says the statement. “If that meeting leaves questions unanswered, the groups’ boards of directors are then required to meet. Only if those first two meetings result in an impasse would mediation [be] an appropriate third step, according to the agreement.”
A letter sent to Synergy Foundation by the head of Cleveland’s Department of Economic Development, which has pledged to help finance the 2014 Gay Games, says the FGG has begun the license revocation process and scheduled a 14-day mediation period aimed at resolving “issues” between the two groups.
Stevens told the Blade he could not comment on the outcome of the mediation.
“There will be a general report explaining the status of the 2014 games when we complete our meetings in Cologne,” he said. “We can’t get into further details now.”
Officials with the Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, Inc., the non-profit coalition of LGBT sports groups that submitted a bid to hold the 2014 games in D.C., have said they were designated as the “runner up” venue to host the games should problems arise with Cleveland.
Gay People’s Chronicle, an LGBT newspaper in the Cleveland area, has reported that “financial irregularities and reporting issues” appear to be the reason the FGG has taken steps to revoke Synergy’s license to organize and run the 2014 Gay Games.
In the letter to Synergy, Traci Nichols, director of the Cleveland Department of Economic Development, said the office had suspended its approval of $38,000 to help finance a contingent of Synergy staffers to travel to Cologne to promote the 2014 Games in Cleveland.
As part of Synergy’s bid to operate the games, Cleveland’s mayor and City Council agreed to contribute at least $700,000 in city funds to help finance the games. LGBT sports observers have said the prospects of holding the games in Cleveland would be seriously jeopardized if the city withheld those funds.
Others familiar with the situation, including high-level city officials in Cleveland, have pledged to set up a new entity to organize and operate the games if the FGG revokes Synergy Foundation’s license.
In a statement released July 30, Synergy Foundation founder Jeff Axberg says his “organization licensed to produce the 2014 Gay Games” remains committed to ensuring that the games remain “an event created by the LGBT community.”
Axberg could not be immediately reached to determine whether he was suggesting that removing Synergy as the coordinator of the games in Cleveland would put the event in the hands of a non-gay entity, such as a city agency.
Axberg’s statement also noted that Synergy was sending its own representatives to Cologne, apparently at its own expense.
“In accordance with the rights and privileges afforded to the Cleveland Synergy Foundation through its licensing agreement with the Federation of Gay Games, we are very honored to send a delegation of four members of our Board of Directors to receive the Federation of Gay Games Flag during the Cologne Gay Games’ closing ceremony,” says the statement. “We very much look forward to helping make the 2014 Gay Games a tremendous success.”
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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