2006 Gay Games

VII Gay Games Chicago 2006
Games logo
Host city	Chicago
Country	United States
Motto	Where the World Meets
Nations participating	70
Athletes participating	11,500
Events	30 sports
Opening ceremony	July 15, 2006 (2006-07-15)
Closing ceremony	July 22, 2006 (2006-07-22)
Main venue	Soldier Field (Opening Ceremonies) and Wrigley Field (Closing Ceremonies)
Website	gaygameschicago.com
<  Gay Games VI Gay Games VIII  >

The 2006 Gay Games (Gay Games VII), colloquially called the Chicago Gaymes, was part of a family of international sports and cultural festivals called Gay Games, sanctioned by the Federation of Gay Games and organized by the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community of the host city of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The competition took place July 15– July 22, 2006. The official Gay Games VII slogan was "Where the World Meets."

Actual athletic events were played in venues scattered throughout Chicago and its suburbs, all participating in the Gay Games through special permissive votes in their respective town or village councils. Cultural events included concerts and performances by the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Margaret Cho, Megan Mullally, among others added to the festival's feel and charm. Contemporary artists also provided exhibitions as part of the Gay Games.

Corporate sponsorship was key in planning Gay Games VII, garnering support for global advertising from large companies like Absolut Vodka, American Airlines, Ernst & Young, Fleishman-Hillard and Walgreens. Media relationships were created with the Chicago Sun-Times, New York Times, ChicagoPride.com and the National Broadcasting Company. Advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign offered substantial funding for the event, as well.

Bidding Process

Four cities submitted bids. Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Montreal. The decision was made in 2001 in Johannesburg, South Africa.^[1][2][3]

Originally awarded to Montréal, Canada

The seventh edition of the Gay Games was originally planned for Montreal, Canada in 2006, but the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) removed its sanction after differences arose between it and the Montréal 2006 organizing committee. For more information on the change of host cities, see the Schism in LGBT sports communities over Gay Games VII section of the Gay Games article.

Reopened Bidding

After Montreal lost the right to host the Gay Games, Chicago, Atlanta, and LA were invited to submit re-worked version of their earlier bids. LA and Chicago both opted to bid in late January 2004, and Chicago won the right to host the games by March 2004. Three weeks later Chicago had signed the licensing agreement for the game. A downsized Chicago 2006 group had already been meeting with plans to bid for a future Gay Games before these games became reopened to bid on. Chicago's re-submitted bid, in comparison to their original 2001 bid, had a downsized budget, was more focused on the central sports and cultural components of the game, put emphasis on safer revenue, and also proposed a more volunteer-organized event.^[1]

Organization

The games were organized by Chicago Games Inc. Due to the change in host cities, the games were planned in only a one-and-a-half year period.

Outreach Program

Chicago Games Inc organized a successful Outreach program which enabled 120 scholarship athletes from South Africa, Croatia, United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America to attend the games.

Opening Ceremony

Soldier Field hosted the opening ceremonies of Gay Games VII.

The ceremony took place on July 15, 2006 in Chicago's Soldier Field. 40,000 attended.^[4]

Program

The concept for Opening Ceremony, conceived and directed by Kile Ozier [kileozier.com], was to tell the parallel stories of the evolution of the GLBT Community as community and as individuals; giving it a global context and relevance. The four acts represent the four stages of this evolutionary process as envisioned by the Director: Exclusion - that moment when we discover that we may not fit into the world as we might have thought, growing up...the moment of discovery of difference; Oppression - the manifestation and formalization of the dynamic initiated in Exclusion...homophobia, gay bashing, contemplation and execution of suicide out of despair...ending with the embracing of self and the beginnings of hope; Expression - the power of community and standing up for oneself, of coming out of the closet, finding Like Others, celebration of individuality and difference within even our own communities; Ignition - the taking of all this powerful energy and philosophy and lighting the world with the ideals of enlightenment and acceptance.

At the midway point of the Ceremony was the "Exhortation to a Weary Army," a reinvigoration to the community in the worldwide fight against AIDS, given from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and tribute to Tom Waddell, the founder of the global Gay Sports movement and the Gay Games.

The ceremony consisted of five parts:^[5]

Prologue

• DJ Frankie Knuckles, the “Godfather of House” (a genre of music which originated in Chicago) played music for the prologue
• The Procession of over 11,000 Athletes and Participants of Gay Games VII in a record 46 minutes
• Oath to the Athletes and Participants led by David Kopay
• The National Anthem of the United States of America - Christy Fairbairn Hasselson, Windy City Gay Idol 2006
• Oath to the Officials - Billy Bean, Saskia Webber
• Welcome by Chicago Games Inc. - Co & Vice Chairs: Sam Coady, Suzanne Arnold, Tracy Baim, Kevin Boyer
• Responsibility for Change - Megan Mullally
• Welcome by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley

Act I “Exclusion”

• Choreography by Iega Jeff
• Special appearance by Erasure’s Andy Bell
• Presentation by Kate Clinton
• Welcome - Co-Presidents of the international Federation of Gay Games: Kathleen Webster and Roberto Mantaci
• Legends of Women’s Music: Holly Near, Barbara Higbie, Nedra Johnson, Teresa Trull

Act II “Oppression”

• Choreography by Joel Hall
• Special Appearance by Erasure’s Andy Bell
• Presentations by Staceyann Chin, George Takei, Jorge Valencia
• Rainbow Run for the End of HIV and Cancer: Brent Nicholson Earle, Rob Hadley, Renae Ogletree, Modesto "Tico" Valle
• Tribute to Tom Waddell, founder of the Gay Games Movement
• Tom Waddell Award- presented by Greg Louganis and Jessica Waddell Lewinstein
• Performance by Jody Watley
• Keynote address by United States Ambassador James C. Hormel
• The Quilt - Keith Boykin delivering the “Exhortation to a Weary Army”

Act III “Expression”

• Choreographed by Michele Lynch
• Performance by the cast of “Avenue Q”
• Presentations by David da Silva Cornell who read from "Knocking On Your Closet Door; Come Out and March With Us" and by Margaret Cho
• Erasure’s Andy Bell sings "A Little Respect"
• “Proud” - Heather Small
• Presentation of the Federation of the Gay Games Flag
• “Take the Flame” the Official Anthem of the Gay Games, performed by Esera Tuaolo

Act IV “Ignition” and the Lighting of the Flame

• Choreographed by Christopher Harrison
• Introduced by Suzanne Westenhoefer
• Ignition of the flame
• Exit

Mayor Richard M. Daley's Remarks

"On behalf of all the people of Chicago, I’m delighted to welcome you to the seventh Gay Games. I want to acknowledge the Co-Chairs of Chicago Games, Suzanne Arnold and Sam Coady, Vice Co-Chairs Tracy Baim and Kevin Boyer, as well as their staff and all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make these games a reality. I would also like to thank the Federation of Gay Games, for choosing Chicago as the 2006 host City and for carrying on the vision of Tom Waddell. Chicago is pleased and honored to have been selected to host this historic event, and you could not have chosen a more appropriate site."^[6]

Venues

Wrigley Field hosted several field events and the closing ceremonies (note: this photo is of an unrelated, Chicago Cubs baseball game).

• Badminton: Oak Park High School and River Forest High School ^[7]
• Basketball: UIC Physical Education Building ^[8]
• Beach Volleyball: North Avenue Beach ^[9]
• Bowling: Waveland Bowl and Diversey Bowl^[10]
• Cycling (Criterium, Road Race, Time Trial, Mountain Bike): Sherman Park, Washington Park and Palos Forest Preserve^[11]
• DanceSports: Hilton Chicago^[12]
• Darts: Hilton Chicago ^[13]
• Diving: Norris Aquatics Center ^[14]
• Figure Skating: McFetridge Park ^[15]
• Soccer
• Flag Football: Washington Park ^[16]
• Golf: Jackson Park Golf Course ^[17]
• Half-Marathon: Lakeshore Marathon Course ^[18]
• Ice Hockey: American Heartland Ice Arena ^[19]
• Marathon: Lakeshore Marathon Course^[18]
• Martial Arts: Gerald Ratner Athletics Center ^[20]
• Physique: Welsh-Ryan Arena^[21]
• Pool Billiards ^[22]
• Power Lifting: Welsh-Ryan Arena ^[23]
• Racquetball: Lakeshore Athletic Club ^[24]
• Road Races 5/10K
• Rowing: Crystal Lake^[25]
• Rugby
• Sailing: Lake Michigan^[26]
• Softball
• Squash
• Swimming: Gerald Ratner Athletics Center;^[27] 1.5k Open Water Swim: Lake Michigan
• Synchronized Swimming^[1]
• Tennis: Northwestern University and Waveland Tennis Center
• Track and Field: Hansen Stadium
• Triathlon:Lakefront Triathlon Course
• Volleyball Navy Pier
• Water Polo^[1]
• Wrestling: Northwestern University^[1]

Other Events

• Band Concerts: Millennium Park ^[28]
• Cheer Exhibition: Millennium Park^[28]
• Choral Concerts: Millennium Park^[28]
• Closing Ceremony: Wrigley Field^[28]
• Color Guard Exhibition: Millennium Park^[28]
• Medal Ceremonies: Millennium Park^[28]
• Opening Ceremony: Soldier Field^[28]
• Sports Equality Day conference: Roosevelt University

Sporting events

Lake View East Chamber of Commerce advertised Gay Games VII throughout its neighborhood.

Results ^[29]

Closing ceremony

The Games' closing ceremony was held July 22, 2006 at Wrigley Field. 25,000 spectators attended. Mayor Richard M. Daley handed over the flag to the Deputy Mayor of Cologne, host of the next Gay Games.^[6][30] Performers included, amongst others, Cyndi Lauper.

Broadcast and Coverage

The games were originally to be exclusively aired on the Q Television Network after they signed an exclusive deal with the Chicago organizers worth $3.2 million.^[31] QTV had agreed to make their broadcasts available in over 150 markets worldwide.^[32] This deal later fell through though,^[33] and the games were instead covered through a number of media outlets.^[1][34] Major media sponsors of these games included Sirius XM Radio, Logo TV, New York Times, Out.com and Gay.com.^[1]

These games benefited from its leadership's media connections, with Baim being the founder and producer of the Windy City Times and Boyer being a prominent Chicago PR manager.^[1]

The 2006 Gay Games received an unprecedented level of media coverage, both ahead of and during the Games.^[1]

Early into the planning of the games, media sponsorship from 67 companies and media outlets secured $7 million USD of advertising and editorial space.^[1]

Fleishman-Hillard donated time and expertise to make sure that stories were published in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and the US.^[1]

700 media representatives from 250 different outlets were awarded credentials during the games. Local papers featured front-page coverage of the Games.^[1]

The games were covered on CNN, NBC's The Today Show, and The Weather Channel.^[1]

Sponsors

The Gay Games received an unprecedented level of corporate sponsorship for its 2006 edition. Among the hundreds of sponsors pouring cash and in-kind support into the Games are Alming its over 300 sponsors were American Airlines, Walgreen, PepsiCo, Glaxo, Orbitz, Viacom's Logo TV channel, Sirius XM, Disney's ESPN, Ernst & Young, and Chicago-based companies such as Kraft.^[35]

Individual sponsorship ranged from between five-hundred dollars to over a million dollars.^[35]

See also

• Gay Games
• Federation of Gay Games
• 1st World Outgames

References

External links

• Gay Games VII official site
• Federation of Gay Games