Local
Gay Games ousts organizer, but event stays in Cleveland
Some say decision violates rules, event should move to D.C.
The international LGBT sports organization that picked Cleveland over D.C. to host the 2014 Gay Games announced Tuesday that it has revoked its contract with the Cleveland foundation it chose to organize the games.
And in an action questioned by D.C. sports groups, the Federation of Gay Games also said it “remains committed” to keeping the quadrennial event in Cleveland, even though some people believe its rules call for awarding the games to the organization and city whose bid it selected as the runner up.
The FGG selected the Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, Inc., a coalition of D.C.-area LGBT sports groups, as the runner up for the games last year, when it announced it had picked the Cleveland Synergy Foundation as the host for the 2014 event in Cleveland.
“As the runner up city, we expressed our hope that they would follow what we’ve interpreted as the accepted procedure, which is if the contract could not be executed [in Cleveland] they would go to the runner up,” said Brent Minor, president of Team D.C., one of the LGBT sports organizations that’s part of Metropolitan Washington Gaymes.
“So this is news to us,” Minor said. “It’s very disappointing.”
Minor and Vince Micone, president of Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, said the Gaymes group would consider whether to question the decision and possibly seek to reverse it when the FGG General Assembly meets in Cologne, Germany later this month.
The General Assembly is the organization’s full governing body and can overrule action by the FGG board, which is believed to have made the decision to stick with Cleveland for the 2014 Gay Games.
The General Assembly meeting is set to take place after the 2010 Gay Games, now being held in Cologne, concludes Aug. 7.
But Kelly Stevens, a member of the FGG board and spokesperson for the organization, issued a statement from Cologne disputing Minor and Micone’s interpretation of the rules related to runner up status.
“The site selection rules were set up to provide a process in case an original license agreement with a host city could not be reached,” he told the Blade. “They are not written to award the games to another city in case of change of management once planning has begun. The FGG will honor the vote for Cleveland as the host of the 2014 Gay Games.
“Naturally, the FGG will discuss the situation at its annual meeting,” he said. “We will not be issuing any further comments. Our time [now] is devoted to Cologne.”
In announcing its decision to oust the Cleveland Synergy Foundation as the Gay Games organizing entity, the FGG reversed an announcement one week earlier saying it would not disclose its decision on the Synergy Foundation until after the General Assembly meeting.
The decision to revoke Synergy’s license didn’t come as a surprise to Gay Games observers, who have read reports coming from Cleveland about the FGG’s and Cleveland city officials’ dissatisfaction with the foundation. Some press reports have noted Synergy faced problems related to financial “irregularities.”
An official with Cleveland’s Office of Economic Development, which was overseeing Cleveland’s pledge of $700,000 in financial support for the Gay Games, said in a letter leaked to the media that Synergy had failed to meet deadlines for submitting required reports to the city.
“The Federation of Gay Games ended its relationship with Cleveland Synergy Foundation, effective 6 July 2010,” said the FCC in its Aug. 3 statement. “The FGG remains committed to the host city of Cleveland, and the State of Ohio to host Gay Games IX in 2014.
“Cleveland city officials and a delegation of regional organizations and supporters will accept the flag of the Federation of Gay Games in Cologne, Germany on 7 August 2010 at the closing ceremony from the city officials of Cologne, Germany.”
It adds, “The FGG, cooperating with its Cleveland partners, continues to work hard to ensure that planning for the 2014 Gay Games progresses at a satisfactory pace.”
Cleveland city officials said they were scrambling to put together a new entity to organize and operate the games. Many of the officials involved with Synergy Foundation’s initial plans for the games were in Cologne this week attending this year’s Gay Games and taking steps to officially launch plans for the 2014 games.
D.C. activists following the developments said it was unprecedented for the FGG to agree to hold the games in a city without first approving a detailed bid by an organization. Many observers familiar with the Gay Games believe the organizations selected to host the event in nearly all previous years have been LGBT groups or coalitions that were picked to hold both the games and LGBT cultural events that traditionally have accompanied the Gay Games.
“Informed speculation and conventional wisdom is increasingly lining up around the [Greater Cleveland] Sports Commission eventually being awarded the license to hold the 2014 Games,” reported Gay People’s Chronicle, an Ohio LGBT news publication.
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission is a non-gay group.
Although Cleveland officials were expected to carry forward the plans submitted by Synergy Foundation and approved by the FGG last year, Cleveland spokesperson Andrea Taylor told the Blade on Tuesday that she could not comment on specific plans or details.
Minor said he would not object to a straight organization getting the license. But he noted that historically, gay groups have won the bids to organize the games because FGG leaders determined they were most sensitive to the cultural, social and civil rights goals of the FGG and the LGBT community.
According to Minor, the FGG General Assembly specifically voted at its 2009 meeting to approve the Metropolitan Washington Gaymes as the runner up for the 2014 Gay Games. He said it was “widely understood” that the Games would go to the runner up group and its home city should the organization winning the bid fail to fulfill its obligations under its licensing contract.
“We certainly support the Gay Games movement. And we think it’s important that they abide by their own rules and that they abide by the general principles of fair play and the will of the General Assembly, which was quite clear,” he said.
“So I think the Federation owes Washington and indeed the whole Gay Games community a real explanation on this,” he said.
Local
Comings & Goings
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Some people are especially inspiring to write about, and one such person is Joseph Poduslo. He is justly proud of his “Luminary of the Year” nomination, which is granted to survivors, caregivers, and researchers, by the Brain Industry Association of America (BIAA). I urge you to take a look at its website, and maybe help Poduslo raise some funds for this incredible organization.
“I have always wanted to share my journey to help and inspire others,” he said. “The brain is the most amazing creation and retraining the brain takes time and effort. But I’m doing it.” You can read his story in his own words. You will find it as inspiring as I did.
After spending time with his family in Texas, he is now back in D.C. He is Senior Vice President, and founding agent, the Poduslo Group. His bio notes, “His work for his real estate clients has garnered him industry-wide recognition. Joseph has been featured in the Washington Post, NBC, CNN, and in 2018, Washington Life Magazine’s ‘Most Influential Business Person Under Forty.’ … When Joseph is not redefining the real estate industry, he has invested in numerous small businesses and restaurants in downtown D.C. over the last 17 years. He founded the D.C. Progressive Dinner, an organization that helps SMYAL, a local non-profit. Joseph formerly served on the Capital Alliance Board in the DC area.”
Delaware
GOP candidate in Del. House race expresses LGBTQ support
Simpler says trans residents deserve protection from discrimination
Early voting is underway in Delaware and one race that has captivated the LGBTQ community is the 14th District House seat being vacated by longtime ally Pete Schwartzkopf. Claire Snyder-Hall, a lesbian, won the Democratic primary and faces Republican Mike Simpler. But Simpler says the LGBTQ community shouldn’t discount him simply because he’s a Republican.
“I was kind of upset that they would even think of me being a Republican, that I would discriminate against the LGBTQ community in general,” Simpler told the Blade. “It’s kind of upsetting knowing that I’m born and raised here, and I’ve had family members that way. I mean the treasurer of my campaign is a lesbian. It’s just upsetting that people feel that way about the gay community in general.”
Simpler, a lifelong resident of Sussex County and the current president of the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company said that his experience in the role has allowed him to work alongside many different types of people, including members of the LGBTQ community.
“We probably have the most diverse fire company in the state of Delaware, when it comes to the LGBTQ group,” he said. “People need to realize that the LGBTQ [community] is no different than the rest of the people in the world.”
Simpler also shared with the Blade that he has had firsthand experience with a unique aspect of LGBTQ culture — drag. He dressed up in drag at a fundraiser held at The Pines, a popular gay venue in Rehoboth Beach.
“I was asked to volunteer for a fundraiser, and next thing you know, I find out I’m going to be in drag at The Pines,” Simpler said. “We had a ball! I mean, I had so much fun.”
Not only did Simpler definitively say he supports the LGBTQ community in Delaware, but he added he supports legislative protections for these communities. He pointed out that providing a safe space for marginalized communities is ingrained in American history.
“Protect them,” he said when asked about the potential of supporting pro-transgender legislation amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ state legislation being passed nationwide. “You’ve got to. They’re trying to escape. For example, they’re trying to escape the process like the Jews did, like the Chinese when they came here. They’re trying to move away from an issue where they’re being prosecuted against to somewhere where they can be free and enjoy their life that they want to live.”
In addition to promising LGBTQ support, Simpler says he backs smarter growth in the region by prioritizing better development and efforts to alleviate traffic. He also pledges to attract high-quality jobs to the region.
Simpler faces Synder-Hall in the Nov. 5 general election. Read the Blade’s profile of her, here: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/09/24/claire-snyder-hall-interview/
Early voting is already underway.
Virginia
New Virginia license plate celebrates LGBTQ diversity
450 applications needed for it to become official option
Diversity Richmond has designed a license plate that allows Virginia drivers to celebrate and raise the visibility of LGBTQ diversity. The Virginia-based LGBTQ nonprofit needs 450 applications by January for the plate to become an official state option.
The license plate design features a group of hands stacked on top of each other in the far left corner, and the Progress Pride flag runs horizontally across the bottom of the plate. The words “Celebrate Diversity” are prominently displayed over the flag.
Rev. Dr. Lacette Cross, executive director of Diversity Richmond, said the design celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community.
“[The design] reflects the diversity of the intersecting identities of our community,” she said.
Applications are available on Diversity Richmond’s website, and the license plate costs $25. Once completed, applicants should email the form to Diversity Richmond, not to the Virginia DMV, as Diversity Richmond will submit both the applications and fees to the DMV on their behalf.
If the organization gathers 450 applications and payments by the start of the 2025 Virginia General Assembly session in January, Del. Betsy B. Carr (D-Richmond) will sponsor the plate through the approval process to make it an official option.
The initiative also serves as a fundraiser for Diversity Richmond, which will receive a portion of the proceeds from the license plate registration fees.
“The ultimate benefit,” Cross said, “is the continual visibility of LGBTQ persons, our allies, and our supporters that are driving around the Commonwealth of Virginia, spreading the message of acceptance and of allyship.”
She described Diversity Richmond as the hub of the LGBTQ community in Greater Richmond, noting the organization’s “really dynamic” work within the community. The nonprofit runs the popular thrift store Diversity Thrift, hosts the annual Virginia Pridefest in September, and exhibits the work of LGBTQ artists in its art gallery.
Diversity Richmond is planning to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a public party at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
‘I don’t want a genocide to be done on queer people’s behalf’
‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’
Avoiding the basement blahs
Biden-Harris must ensure access to HIV prevention drugs
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Asia, Europe, and Canada
Is the Washington Post editorial board asleep?
GOP candidate in Del. House race expresses LGBTQ support
Electing Harris is an imperative for LGBTQ community
Commanders Pride Night Out is back
