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White Games wouldn't go over well and shouldn't. We are talking about minority groups which white people aren't. I don't see the problem.
Hate to take us off the topic of the White Games (), but how exciting - the favorable national press coverage has arrived! Regardless of your feelings about the Gay Games, I think this is going to be a multi-year PR boon for Cleveland, particularly if we can segue this into coverage of our increasingly progressive civic policies ... the completion of the Towpath Trail, which if complete in time for the games, would give participants the option of riding between the site locations through a National Park; a massive planned investment in bike lanes; the conversion of the Shoreway; a downtown bike station and bike rental; an offshore wind farm; Amtrak service from three directions; creative re-use of vacant lots; a burgeoning local/organic food scene and an urban farming movement; door-to-door strategic foreclosure prevention, etc., etc. We just have to be proactive and make sure the recurring story isn't "Cleveland, rocked by decades of industrial decline and devastated by foreclosures, still managed to secure the Gay Games".
Hate to take us off the topic of the White Games (), but how exciting - the favorable national press coverage has arrived! Regardless of your feelings about the Gay Games, I think this is going to be a multi-year PR boon for Cleveland, particularly if we can segue this into coverage of our increasingly progressive civic policies ... the completion of the Towpath Trail, which if complete in time for the games, would give participants the option of riding between the site locations through a National Park; a massive planned investment in bike lanes; the conversion of the Shoreway; a downtown bike station and bike rental; an offshore wind farm; Amtrak service from three directions; creative re-use of vacant lots; a burgeoning local/organic food scene and an urban farming movement; door-to-door strategic foreclosure prevention, etc., etc. We just have to be proactive and make sure the recurring story isn't "Cleveland, rocked by decades of industrial decline and devastated by foreclosures, still managed to secure the Gay Games".Interestingly, I think this is also going to be a PR boon for the Games themselves. I think they'll get a lot more coverage for choosing a city that's perceived as being an unusual choice, rather than if they had gone with DC or Boston and a lot of credit for reaching into a (perceived) non-traditional location when it comes to gay population.
Hate to take us off the topic of the White Games ( ), but how exciting - the favorable national press coverage has arrived! Regardless of your feelings about the Gay Games, I think this is going to be a multi-year PR boon for Cleveland, particularly if we can segue this into coverage of our increasingly progressive civic policies ... the completion of the Towpath Trail, which if complete in time for the games, would give participants the option of riding between the site locations through a National Park; a massive planned investment in bike lanes; the conversion of the Shoreway; a downtown bike station and bike rental; an offshore wind farm; Amtrak service from three directions; creative re-use of vacant lots; a burgeoning local/organic food scene and an urban farming movement; door-to-door strategic foreclosure prevention, etc., etc. We just have to be proactive and make sure the recurring story isn't "Cleveland, rocked by decades of industrial decline and devastated by foreclosures, still managed to secure the Gay Games".Interestingly, I think this is also going to be a PR boon for the Games themselves. I think they'll get a lot more coverage for choosing a city that's perceived as being an unusual choice, rather than if they had gone with DC or Boston and a lot of credit for reaching into a (perceived) non-traditional location when it comes to gay population.
Cleveland was selected to hold the Gay Games in 2014. Boston and Washington D.C. were the other contenders. The following link provides further details:http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/09/28/daily19.html?ana=tt3245
Quote from: kg on October 02, 2009, 01:55:09 AMCleveland was selected to hold the Gay Games in 2014. Boston and Washington D.C. were the other contenders. The following link provides further details:http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/09/28/daily19.html?ana=tt3245Welcome to the boards kg. We actually already know this and have been posting about it since Tuesday, if you go back to previous pages.
Replace White with Irish, Italian, German, etc. and I don't think that people would bat an eye. Even the majority can be subdivided into minority groups. I think it would have to do with the perception that events exists that are all inclusive and if you try to create an event to exclude the minority then it is bigoted, etc, however if you create an event to exclude the majority (meaning here not of whatever minority is sponsoring the event) that's OK.I guess another way to put it is it that most people find it is OK to celebrate what you are Gay, Christain, Irish, etc.Whatever makes you unique.Along those same lines is not OK to celebrate what you are not, which is inferred by the "White Games" meaning not Black, Hispanic, etc. I gave explaining this rational a shot. Let the flames begin. I am ready.
IF the larger society had been more inclusive in the first place the discussion would probably be moot.
What about the fact that Akron played a big roll in winning this gig and will be a part of the event. I can see now how Cleveland will treat Akron...like a suburb at best and in all likelihood as though it doesn't exist. That fact is that Cleveland and Akron got the gay games and not just Cleveland.
The obligatory 'river fire' comment was also mixed into this article. Thanks PD!
They didn't want to preach to the choir, its a good strategy
^You probably don't want to read the comments either. Just more gay bashing from suburbanites.The point of the article is actually a valid one though. They basically say that there's no point in going to place that's already been changed (D.C. and Boston) when they could go to a Midwestern city in a state that doesn't yet recognize gay marriage. They think they can more effectively change the perception of the gay community by having Cleveland and the state of Ohio as the back drop.
Quote from: punch on October 07, 2009, 01:12:56 AMThey didn't want to preach to the choir, its a good strategyI agree that that's what the article implied, although I do have to wonder if the FGG used the same line of reasoning when the games were held twice in San Francisco, and in NYC, Chicago, Amsterdam, Vancouver... (not directed towards you, but rather to the PD's interpretation.)The first time I heard this "we're going someplace we can make a difference" line was in an interview this guy gave a reporter from DC. The reporter basically fed him the idea, and Dahl said something along the lines of, "we always strive to improve the community's image." I guess he's decided to run with that since then.Regardless, I would think that a more valid reason for having the games in Cleveland would be to show that we're just as accepting as any other major city, and to defy the stuffy, conservative Midwestern stereotype. I mean, look at the community support (and not just from the gay community) that Cleveland demonstrated during the site-selection process compared to the other candidate cities. To me, that's evidence that it's the "conventional wisdom" about Cleveland, about Ohio, and the rest of the Midwest that needs changed, rather than ourselves. (Disclaimer: I do think we as a city, state, and region could be more tolerant of diversity, but that's true of the whole country. Even most areas that are stereotyped as "liberal" aren't as tolerant as they could or should be, but I think we're making progress.)
Quote from: Hootenany on October 07, 2009, 12:32:06 AM^You probably don't want to read the comments either. Just more gay bashing from suburbanites.The point of the article is actually a valid one though. They basically say that there's no point in going to place that's already been changed (D.C. and Boston) when they could go to a Midwestern city in a state that doesn't yet recognize gay marriage. They think they can more effectively change the perception of the gay community by having Cleveland and the state of Ohio as the back drop. I read the comments and unless your clairvoyant, how do you know where each poster resides. I see equal comments on both sides. You labeling people as "suburban haters" is just as offensive as some of the posts.
Quote from: MyTwoSense on October 07, 2009, 02:30:56 AMQuote from: Hootenany on October 07, 2009, 12:32:06 AM^You probably don't want to read the comments either. Just more gay bashing from suburbanites.The point of the article is actually a valid one though. They basically say that there's no point in going to place that's already been changed (D.C. and Boston) when they could go to a Midwestern city in a state that doesn't yet recognize gay marriage. They think they can more effectively change the perception of the gay community by having Cleveland and the state of Ohio as the back drop. I read the comments and unless your clairvoyant, how do you know where each poster resides. I see equal comments on both sides. You labeling people as "suburban haters" is just as offensive as some of the posts.Easy now... several of the comments indicated that they no longer lived in the city of Cleveland. Phrases such as "glad I moved out of that city 20 years ago" and "good thing I moved out when I did" tend to make me think these are people that presumably live in Northeast Ohio, but not in or close to the city of Cleveland. I know too many families that have moved to the suburbs to get away from anything that makes them uncomfortable and their ignorance has left a sour taste in my mouth. That's all...
My only objection to this square city concept is the repeated description of Cleveland as "the Heartland." That makes me bristle so bad. The Heartland is like "the Orient"- a lazy grouping of everything you don't know to be like you into a giant catch-all category. If the point is purely PR (the country thinks of Cleveland as the Heartland, so gay rights are advanced if the City pulls this off), fine, but if the promoters really think Cleveland is broadly representative of inland US, then they're idiots.
Quote from: StrapHanger on October 07, 2009, 03:21:49 AMMy only objection to this square city concept is the repeated description of Cleveland as "the Heartland." That makes me bristle so bad. The Heartland is like "the Orient"- a lazy grouping of everything you don't know to be like you into a giant catch-all category. If the point is purely PR (the country thinks of Cleveland as the Heartland, so gay rights are advanced if the City pulls this off), fine, but if the promoters really think Cleveland is broadly representative of inland US, then they're idiots.And anybody who knows anything about our history knows that we are actually New Englanders because we were part of Connecticut!I'll take Rustbelt over Heartland. Heartland makes me think of Kansas and Iowa.(Not that there is anything wrong with those states)
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Topic: Cleveland: 2014 Gay Games IX News & Discussion (Read 39606 times)
