Gay Games 9

     Page Two Hundred Eighty.
     Many months ago I mentioned that the 9th International Gay Games are coming here to Cleveland. Well, they're here now and the place just isn't the same.
     The gay games are similar to the Olympics. Indeed, some of the competitors have been, or will be, in the Olympics. But unlike those games, the gay games are open to anybody of any ability and are extremely inclusive. Gay men, lesbians, straight people, transgendered individuals... anybody, and the post man, are invited to participate. And they do. In the past, the games have been in gay meccas like New York; San Francisco; Stuttgart, Germany and so forth. The 10th games will be in Paris, France. So why are they in Cleveland now?
     Cleveland rolled out the best red carpet 4 years ago for the search committee. That's why. We were up against Boston and Washington D.C. and when Cleveland got it, the other cities' reactions were "are you kidding? Cleveland? What sort of joke is this?" You see, only slowly is the international community of tourists coming to realize that Cleveland has a lot to offer travelers. But they are nevertheless coming to realize it now. That's also one reason why the 2016 Republican National Convention will be here.
     Now to be sure, another reason that the games are here is because the organizers wanted to go a little more mainstream. The days of the novelty of homosexuality are numbered. By having the games in Cleveland, they're making a statement of "we're everywhere, not just on the coasts and not just in big obvious cities". Which is also to say that the Republican National Convention, 2016, is going to be in the most blue county in Ohio. Literally. Clevelanders haven't voted Republican for much of anything in years. Cleveland's last Republican mayor was Voinovich in the '80's. The RNC just wants to be in Ohio, the most purple state in the USA. Don't be surprised if the Democrats hold their convention in Columbus or Cincinnati for the same reason. (Does everybody on the planet openly acknowledge that Ohio picks the president?)
     But back to the games: It's being featured in the daily news and I see the visitors during all my shifts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It's nice for the city and for the visitors (9,000 visiting participants; 20,000 visiting observers). But, ultimately, it's like having a teacher's convention in town. It really is.