Chicago, IL -
Chicago Games, Inc., announced today that it will bid to host Gay Games® VII in 2006. A quadrennial athletic and cultural event that brings together people from around the world, the Gay Games was founded in 1982 on the principles of Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best. The event is coveted by cities around the globe because of the opportunity to showcase the city to GLBT tourists worldwide, infuse the local economy with millions of dollars, and strengthen the local GLBT community’s capacity and visibility. Approximately 11,000 athletic and cultural competitors participated in the most recent Gay Games held in Sydney, Australia, in November of 2002. Chicago and Los Angeles met the December 31, 2003, deadline to declare intent to bid to the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), the organizing body of the Gay Games. Bid documents are due February 1, 2004, with a decision expected by early March, 2004.
Chicago originally bid to host the Gay Games in 2006, competing against Atlanta, Los Angeles and Montreal. The FGG chose Montreal at its 2001 Annual Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, and spent two years trying to negotiate a licensing agreement with that city. Those negotiations ended in an impasse in early November and the FGG re-opened the bidding process to the three cities that had originally bid for the 2006 Gay Games. The FGG has posted full details regarding the negotiation process at its website, GayGames.org. Montreal has indicated they will hold a sports and cultural festival in 2006 also.
Chicago Games, Inc. issued a short statement: "We are grateful to the many members of our community - both here in Chicago and beyond - who have stepped forward in the past two months to support our vision for the 2006 Gay Games®. Organizations representing thousands of Chicago GLBT athletes have expressed full support for our bidding effort as have athletes from all over the world. We are also grateful to those who identified the challenges before us. We are confident that our draft budget, marketing and implementation plans, improved by this feedback, will help ensure that our proposal to the FGG will be even more thorough and complete, ensuring a Gay Games in Chicago in 2006 will be exciting, fulfilling for Chicagoans and visitors alike, and financially stable. We wish our competitors in Los Angeles the best of luck as they prepare their bid materials. We want to say to our brothers and sisters in Montreal that we also wish them only the best as they prepare for their own event in the summer of 2006. The worldwide GLBT sports movement is enhanced by a spirit of cooperation and we commit ourselves to a relationship that is constructive and forward-thinking.”
Support Strong for Chicago Bid
Chicago’s umbrella sports organizations have indicated strong support for the Chicago bid. The Women’s Sports Association, Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association, Team Chicago and the Windy City Athletic Association are each already contributing volunteers and expertise to the bid effort and/or strong letters of support. “Chicago MSA stands proudly with you,” writes Mel Ferrand, President of Chicago MSA. The Women’s Sports Association’s Board of Directors writes of “wholehearted support and admiration.” Team Chicago writes they will be “enthusiastic supporters of this effort.”
Team New York, one of the world’s largest delegations to past Gay Games, has written to Chicago to indicate their support for the Gay Games, noting they will work to expand their participation if Chicago is awarded the 2006 Gay Games. “Chicago Games, Inc., its sponsors and supporters, the City of Chicago, and anyone else involved in the upcoming bid preparation process should know that Team New York is fully committed to the Gay Games movement … Athletes and artists from Team NY have attended all six of the previous Gay Games; in Amsterdam we fielded a team of over 350; in Sydney that number grew to almost 500. If Chicago was selected to host the next Gay Games, this trend of continuously increasing participation would undoubtedly be extended.” Copies of letters of support are available at ChicagoGamesInc.org.
"Should the Federation award the Gay Games to Chicago, The Mayor's Office of Special Events and other city agencies look forward to working with Chicago Games, Inc. in executing a successful Gay Games in 2006," said Michael Segobiano, Director of Marketing for the City of Chicago.
Community Leaders Join Chicago Games, Inc., Board of Directors
Since the 2001 Johannesburg FGG meeting, Chicago Games, Inc. has managed several Chicago-based projects designed to enhance the mission of the Gay Games movement in the Midwest. These projects include the financial support, with Team Chicago, of a women’s soccer team from Namibia to attend a women’s soccer tournament in South Africa; support of the 2002 and 2003 Midwest GLBT Sports and Culture Festival; and hosting the November 2003 FGG Annual Meeting. Effective January 1, 2004, several original members of the Chicago 2006 Board of Directors have rejoined the CGI Board of Directors. Now serving on the Board of Directors are R. Sue Connolly, Senior VP at Northern Trust Bank; John Paquet, planning executive with local transit agency; Christopher Pries, Vice President - Global Internal Audit at Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.; Tracy Baim, Publisher at Windy City Media Group; Kurt Dahl, VP at Harris Bank; Rob Hunden, Director - Hospitality Practice at Johnson Consulting; Kevin Boyer, Managing Partner at Third Coast Marketing; Mona Noriega, Midwest Regional Director at Lambda Legal; Renae Ogletree, Director of Youth Services, City of Chicago; and Dennis Sneyers, Relationship Manager at Computershare Investor Services. The Board is still in formation and interested individuals are encouraged to email Volunteer@ChicagoGamesInc.org.
Volunteers Needed
Chicago’s bid is due February 1, 2004, and volunteers are needed to help prepare sports, marketing and venue sections of the bid document. Volunteers are also needed to help secure letters of support from organizations, civic and corporate leaders, political representatives and to identify prospective donors and underwriters should Chicago’s bid be successful. Volunteers should send an email with their interests and experience to Volunteer@ChicagoGamesInc.org.
About the Gay Games
From the FGG website: “The Gay Games is a quadrennial athletic and cultural event which brings together people from around the world. Based on the principles of inclusion and participation, the Gay Games welcomes all people without regard to their sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political belief(s), athletic/artistic ability, age, physical challenge, or health status. There are no minimum standards to qualify for the Gay Games; the only requirement is the desire to support the ideals of the Games. When accepting the Gay Games' challenge to reach for one's personal best in sporting, artistic, and cultural activities, all Gay Games participants become winners.”
By creating a safe and accepting environment, the Gay Games offers participants the opportunity to express themselves openly and to experience the camaraderie and validation of sport, culture, and art. The experience can be a highlight in one's lifetime.
While, individually, participants celebrate personal achievement collectively, we experience the solidarity of community and celebrate the diversity and scope of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Through the athletic and arts/cultural events of the Gay Games, stereotypes are challenged and barriers broken down.”
Chicago Games, Inc. is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization. Gay Games® is a registered trademark of the Federation of Gay Games. For more information about the FGG, visit www.gaygames.org.
365gay.com Coverage: Chicago Bids For 2006 Gay Games
Chicago originally bid to host the Gay Games in 2006, competing against Atlanta, Los Angeles and Montreal. The FGG chose Montreal at its 2001 Annual Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, and spent two years trying to negotiate a licensing agreement with that city. Those negotiations ended in an impasse in early November and the FGG re-opened the bidding process to the three cities that had originally bid for the 2006 Gay Games. The FGG has posted full details regarding the negotiation process at its website, GayGames.org. Montreal has indicated they will hold a sports and cultural festival in 2006 also.
Chicago Games, Inc. issued a short statement: "We are grateful to the many members of our community - both here in Chicago and beyond - who have stepped forward in the past two months to support our vision for the 2006 Gay Games®. Organizations representing thousands of Chicago GLBT athletes have expressed full support for our bidding effort as have athletes from all over the world. We are also grateful to those who identified the challenges before us. We are confident that our draft budget, marketing and implementation plans, improved by this feedback, will help ensure that our proposal to the FGG will be even more thorough and complete, ensuring a Gay Games in Chicago in 2006 will be exciting, fulfilling for Chicagoans and visitors alike, and financially stable. We wish our competitors in Los Angeles the best of luck as they prepare their bid materials. We want to say to our brothers and sisters in Montreal that we also wish them only the best as they prepare for their own event in the summer of 2006. The worldwide GLBT sports movement is enhanced by a spirit of cooperation and we commit ourselves to a relationship that is constructive and forward-thinking.”
Support Strong for Chicago Bid
Chicago’s umbrella sports organizations have indicated strong support for the Chicago bid. The Women’s Sports Association, Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association, Team Chicago and the Windy City Athletic Association are each already contributing volunteers and expertise to the bid effort and/or strong letters of support. “Chicago MSA stands proudly with you,” writes Mel Ferrand, President of Chicago MSA. The Women’s Sports Association’s Board of Directors writes of “wholehearted support and admiration.” Team Chicago writes they will be “enthusiastic supporters of this effort.”
Team New York, one of the world’s largest delegations to past Gay Games, has written to Chicago to indicate their support for the Gay Games, noting they will work to expand their participation if Chicago is awarded the 2006 Gay Games. “Chicago Games, Inc., its sponsors and supporters, the City of Chicago, and anyone else involved in the upcoming bid preparation process should know that Team New York is fully committed to the Gay Games movement … Athletes and artists from Team NY have attended all six of the previous Gay Games; in Amsterdam we fielded a team of over 350; in Sydney that number grew to almost 500. If Chicago was selected to host the next Gay Games, this trend of continuously increasing participation would undoubtedly be extended.” Copies of letters of support are available at ChicagoGamesInc.org.
"Should the Federation award the Gay Games to Chicago, The Mayor's Office of Special Events and other city agencies look forward to working with Chicago Games, Inc. in executing a successful Gay Games in 2006," said Michael Segobiano, Director of Marketing for the City of Chicago.
Community Leaders Join Chicago Games, Inc., Board of Directors
Since the 2001 Johannesburg FGG meeting, Chicago Games, Inc. has managed several Chicago-based projects designed to enhance the mission of the Gay Games movement in the Midwest. These projects include the financial support, with Team Chicago, of a women’s soccer team from Namibia to attend a women’s soccer tournament in South Africa; support of the 2002 and 2003 Midwest GLBT Sports and Culture Festival; and hosting the November 2003 FGG Annual Meeting. Effective January 1, 2004, several original members of the Chicago 2006 Board of Directors have rejoined the CGI Board of Directors. Now serving on the Board of Directors are R. Sue Connolly, Senior VP at Northern Trust Bank; John Paquet, planning executive with local transit agency; Christopher Pries, Vice President - Global Internal Audit at Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.; Tracy Baim, Publisher at Windy City Media Group; Kurt Dahl, VP at Harris Bank; Rob Hunden, Director - Hospitality Practice at Johnson Consulting; Kevin Boyer, Managing Partner at Third Coast Marketing; Mona Noriega, Midwest Regional Director at Lambda Legal; Renae Ogletree, Director of Youth Services, City of Chicago; and Dennis Sneyers, Relationship Manager at Computershare Investor Services. The Board is still in formation and interested individuals are encouraged to email Volunteer@ChicagoGamesInc.org.
Volunteers Needed
Chicago’s bid is due February 1, 2004, and volunteers are needed to help prepare sports, marketing and venue sections of the bid document. Volunteers are also needed to help secure letters of support from organizations, civic and corporate leaders, political representatives and to identify prospective donors and underwriters should Chicago’s bid be successful. Volunteers should send an email with their interests and experience to Volunteer@ChicagoGamesInc.org.
About the Gay Games
From the FGG website: “The Gay Games is a quadrennial athletic and cultural event which brings together people from around the world. Based on the principles of inclusion and participation, the Gay Games welcomes all people without regard to their sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political belief(s), athletic/artistic ability, age, physical challenge, or health status. There are no minimum standards to qualify for the Gay Games; the only requirement is the desire to support the ideals of the Games. When accepting the Gay Games' challenge to reach for one's personal best in sporting, artistic, and cultural activities, all Gay Games participants become winners.”
By creating a safe and accepting environment, the Gay Games offers participants the opportunity to express themselves openly and to experience the camaraderie and validation of sport, culture, and art. The experience can be a highlight in one's lifetime.
While, individually, participants celebrate personal achievement collectively, we experience the solidarity of community and celebrate the diversity and scope of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Through the athletic and arts/cultural events of the Gay Games, stereotypes are challenged and barriers broken down.”
Chicago Games, Inc. is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization. Gay Games® is a registered trademark of the Federation of Gay Games. For more information about the FGG, visit www.gaygames.org.
365gay.com Coverage: Chicago Bids For 2006 Gay Games
