A message from Kevin Boyer:We often talk about the powerful impact the Gay Games has on individuals, but the impact on the host city is almost always discussed in economic terms. Now 4 years beyond my experiencing helping to manage the 2006 Gay Games, my perspective on "legacy" has evolved a bit.
One of the things that drove the Federation of Gay Games to feel comfortable about selecting Chicago as the host of the 2006 Gay Games, even knowing that we would have an abbreviated planning period, was the strength and vibrancy of our local LGBT sports, cultural and business community. In many ways, our city's LGBT community had progressed at a pace similar to that of the Gay Games movement. As in most American cities, the 1980s were marked by the fight against HIV/AIDS and the government inaction and public antipathy the helped the disease ravage our community in that decade.
But the 1990s were a decade when LGBT Chicagoans successfully fought for greater measures of equality, inclusion, and integration into the fabric of the city. We were finally able to engage more fully in a broader set of goals. Sports and cultural organizations grew and flourished, community organizations matured and expanded, and we were no longer seen as a angry special interest group that got attention only on Pride Sunday. We became, and now are, a full fledged part of the city at all levels.
By 2004, the community was more than ready to plan, fund and execute a successful Gay Games, a more forward-looking celebration of everything that makes us unique and yet the same as everyone else. The history books now show that from 2004 to 2006, Chicago not only put on an organizationally - and financially - successful Gay Games, but did it at the same time as the city was also raising funds for a $20 million community center that broke ground in 2005 and opened in 2007. It was a tough time for the Gay Games movement, and Chicagoans of all flavors stepped up in ways that few outside of the leadership circle will ever really understand.
When we talked about the ultimate impact of the Gay Games to our city, we often talked about how we would enhance the credibility of our community as an economic engine, and increase the capacity of our community to do even more. Since 2004, I think there has been a palpable change in our community. Whereas before a fairly small group of community leaders helped guide much of our direction - a successful strategy when we struggled for our lives and for basic equality - now the community is able to take on projects that represent the full breadth of our lives. The legacy of the Gay Games in Chicago feels like Chicago's LGBT community recognizing what was already there. We can reach beyond what we thought was our grasp, and we can do a lot more than just one or two things at a time. I hope that Cologne's LGBT community is now beginning to feel the same level of empowerment and that Cleveland will experience the same liberation.
In 2010, we hosted the North American Gay Volleyball Championships, using the successful Gay Games volleyball venue - Navy Pier. And in 2011, the Gay Softball World Series will come to Chicago. The world's largest LGBT sporting event outside the Gay Games, the GSWS will bring as many as 2500 softball players to the Windy City (or, more accurately, to the three high-quality suburban ballparks that will host the 100+ teams.) Read that last "aside" again - yes, suburban ballparks where we will be welcome not only because of our money, but because even in Chicago's suburbs the LGBT community is becoming an integrated part of everything. Remember Crystal Lake and the drama around rowing during the 2006 Gay Games? We already fought that battle, and won. Big time.
The GSWS organizing committee includes many Gay Games sports veterans, and some new folks who have already proven themselves to be great at their work. They'll need several hundred volunteers and something tells me that out of the many thousands in Chicago impacted by the 2006 Gay Games, they won't have any trouble finding people to happily step forward.
If you want to support the 2011 Gay Softball World Series in Chicago, visit the Facebook page.
Kevin Boyer
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