On the Money

Chicago's 2006 Gay Games Declared a Financial Success
At one-year anniversary, Chicago closes books on international sports and
cultural festival

One year after Chicago hosted nearly 12,000 sport and cultural participants at
the 2006 Gay Games, Chicago Games, Inc., (CGI) the host organization for the event, announced today that it has completed the post-Games fundraising and wind down process and that the 2006 Gay Games broke even. Such a positive financial result reverses a 20-year trend, having not been achieved since Gay Games II in 1986. CGI accomplished the result with 2 fewer years planning time than most Gay Games.

"We are extremely grateful to our many donors, sponsors, volunteers, partners and vendors whose commitment and contributions made today’s announcement possible," said Tracy Baim, CGI board Co-Vice Chair and leader of the wind-down efforts. "Each deserves the appreciation of our city and the worldwide LGBT sports community."

"Looking to the future, we’re proud to have helped inspire our great Mayor Richard M. Daley to launch a bid for the 2016 Olympic Games®," said Kevin Boyer, Games Co-Vice President. "Our experience has demonstrated that Chicagoans come together in support of great and important civic endeavors, and we know that almost 3,000 Gay Games-trained volunteers and 400 business sponsors stand ready to help Chicago host the 2016 Olympics."

"At the Gay Games VII Closing Ceremony on July 22, 2006, Chicago passed the symbols of the Gay Games to Cologne, Germany, the host of the 2010 Gay Games," said Tracy Baim. "Today, we give to Cologne an even more important legacy - a Gay Games movement that is stronger and more vibrant. We look forward to coming together once again in just three years in celebration of the fundamental principles of Dr. Tom Waddell and the Gay Games - Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best(tm). See you in Cologne!"

More at the article here.


So, while Montreal still remains in a bitter financial mess, being millions in debt, as OutGames "organizers" continue to either hide under rocks or arrogantly blame the Quebec government for their gargantuan fiasco, the Gay Games have survived the massive Montreal assault on their event.

As you know, I covered this entire controversy in depth for years. In every article, reps from Montreal exaggerated, lied, and attacked the Games, even before the historic failed contract meetings.

I took flack from Bay Area OutGames participants for bias. They didn't like that I exposed the Outgames for what all eventually learned it was; a fraud, and a big one.

Yet, despite this, as the Sporting Life exhibit I curated and designed for the GLBT Historical Society continued through the run of these two events, I designed an updated display case in September 2006 that included images and loaned items from both events. No other exhibit of any kind has done so.


I'm proud to have helped doument this historic aspect of LGBT sports history, and having been proven right about my investigational research. "Bias?" If being informed and having common sense is biased, so be it.

You can't steal something so big, or try to, without a big whopping dose of karma. The OutGames remnants of an organization continue to attempt to survive by parasitically attaching themselves to existing sports events. They even convinced a Philadelphia gay tourism group to try to usurp that city's sports community -which has a rich Games history going back to the first one in 1982- by attempting to bid on an upcoming OutGames.

Allegedly, Copenhagen, the only city in the world that showed interest in hosting the second Games, is going to host OutGames 2. Its board has no sports organizers as yet. It's just a tourism board of a few people.

I don't know how they think they can pull off another hoax of an event. Their government must be quite gullible. We'll see.

For now, I'm happy to see the real Games having shown its true colors -just like Cyndi Lauper's song, performed at closing ceremonies- amid competition over a competition.

Good going, Chicago.