Host city | Cleveland Akron |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Motto | Go all out |
Nations | 50 |
Athletes | 8,000 |
Events | 37 sports |
Opening | August 9, 2014 |
Closing | August 16, 2014 |
Main venue | Quicken Loans Arena |
Website | www |
The 2014 Gay Games, also known as Gay Games 9, were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and musicians. [1] It was held from August 9 to August 16, 2014 in Cleveland, with some events being held in the nearby city of Akron, Ohio. An estimated 8,000 athletes from more than 50 nations participated in 37 sports and cultural events.
Bids |
---|
Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
Washington, D.C., United States |
Cleveland-Akron, Ohio, United States |
Cancelled |
Miami, Florida, United States |
According to the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), fourteen cities expressed interest in hosting the event. During its annual meeting in Cape Town on October 28, 2008, the FGG announced that four American cities made the deadline and were thus in the running to host the games: Boston, Cleveland, Miami, and Washington, D.C. Of these cities, Boston, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C. submitted bid books by the deadline. The FGG selected Cleveland as the host city on September 29, 2009 during its annual meeting in Cologne, Germany. [2] [3] [4]
On April 13, 2013, the Cleveland Foundation announced a US$250,000 grant as the presenting sponsor of the event, which was to be known as "The 2014 Gay Games presented by the Cleveland Foundation," marking the first time the Gay Games had had a presenting sponsor. [5] In addition to local support from sponsors such as the Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Cleveland Indians, the Games saw major corporate sponsorship from large companies like Coca-Cola, Marriott, and United.
The United Church of Christ became the first religious denomination to be a major sponsor of the Gay Games as a fourth-tier silver sponsor of the Gay Games in 2014. [6]
Also announced as a major sponsor was Ernst & Young, with cash and in-kind services. [7]
The Opening Ceremony began at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 9, at Quicken Loans Arena. Featured stars at the ceremony included singer, dancer and radio host Lance Bass, Broadway actress Andrea McArdle, Alex Newell from Glee, former Olympian Greg Louganis, and The Pointer Sisters. President of the United States Barack Obama made a surprise video appearance. [8] [9]
The Games featured 37 disciplines of sport and cultural events throughout Cleveland-Akron region.
Event | Venue | |
---|---|---|
Chorus | State Theatre [31] | |
Closing Ceremony | Cleveland Mall [32] | |
Opening Ceremony | Quicken Loans Arena [32] | |
Team Band Competition | State Theatre [33] |
Event | Venue | |
---|---|---|
Athletics: road races (10k) | Mustill Store Trailhead [10] | |
Football (soccer) | Copley Road Soccer Complex [34] | |
Golf | Firestone Country Club [35] | |
Marathon and Half marathon start/finish | Akron Civic Theatre [36] | |
Martial arts | John S. Knight Center [37] | |
Softball [38] | Cascade Valley Metro Park | |
Colonial Salt Field | ||
Firestone Stadium | ||
Track and field | Lee R. Jackson Track and Field Complex (University of Akron) [39] |
Event | Venue | Location |
---|---|---|
Bowling | The Game of Wickliffe | Wickliffe [40] |
Cycling (Criterium) | Downtown Lakewood | Lakewood [41] |
Cycling (Road Race/Circuit Race) | Cleveland Metroparks Brecksville Reservation | Brecksville [41] |
Cycling (Mountain biking) | Cleveland Metroparks Mill Stream Run Reservation | Strongsville [41] |
Figure skating | Serpentiti Arena | Lakewood [42] |
Flag football | Barton-Bradley Recreation Field | North Olmsted [43] |
Ice hockey | OBM Arena | Strongsville [44] |
Pool billiards | Dave & Busters | Westlake [45] |
Rock climbing | Kendall Cliffs Climbing Gym | Peninsula [46] |
Rodeo affiliated event | Summit County Fairgrounds | Tallmadge [47] [48] [49] |
At 99 years old, Ida Keeling set an international sporting record at the 2014 Gay Games, becoming the first person in the 95-99 age category to run the 100 meters in an internationally certified race, running the race in 59.8 seconds. [50]
Brian Jacobson, at age 40, lowered the Masters long course world record in the 50 free to 23.31. [51]
Kinnon MacKinnon, at age 28, became the first openly transgender man to earn a gold in powerlifting at the Gay Games. [52]
Akron is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Cleveland. At the 2020 census, the city proper had a total population of 190,469, making it the 136th-largest city in the United States. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had a population of 702,219.
The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals.
WUAB is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD and Shaker Heights–licensed CBS affiliate WOIO, the latter station whose full-power spectrum WUAB transmits over via a channel sharing agreement. WUAB, WOIO and WTCL-LD share studios on the ground floor of the Reserve Square building in Downtown Cleveland, with WUAB and WOIO sharing transmitter facilities at the West Creek Reservation in Parma.
The Rubber Bowl was a stadium located in Akron, Ohio, that was primarily used for American football. From its opening in 1940 until 2008, it served as the home field of the Akron Zips football team of the University of Akron prior to the opening of InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field. Throughout its history, it also hosted concerts, professional football, high school football, and other events. It was named after the predominance of the tire industry in Akron. The stadium had a seating capacity of 35,202 and was located in southeastern Akron next to Akron Fulton International Airport and Derby Downs, about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of downtown.
WTAM is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and carries a news/talk/sports format commonly known as "Newsradio WTAM 1100". Owned by iHeartMedia, WTAM serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, and is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range. WTAM is also Northeast Ohio's primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System.
WKNR – branded as 850 ESPN Cleveland – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flagship station for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network; the Cleveland affiliate for the Ohio State Sports Network, and the radio home of Je'Rod Cherry and Tony Grossi. The WKNR studios are currently located in the East Bank of The Flats in Downtown Cleveland, while the station transmitter resides in the Cleveland suburb of North Royalton. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKNR is available online.
The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged according to the skill levels of the competitors. The Outgames brought together athletes and artists from all over the world, many from countries where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden.
WHKW is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and is known as "AM 1220 The Word" featuring a Christian format. Owned by Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region. WHKW's studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence while the transmitter site is in neighboring Broadview Heights.
WTCL-LD is a low-power television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with Telemundo. It is owned by Gray Television alongside two full-power sister stations: Shaker Heights–licensed CBS affiliate WOIO and Lorain–licensed CW affiliate WUAB ; WTCL-LD also functions as an ultra high frequency (UHF) repeater for WOIO and WUAB. All three stations share studios at Reserve Square in downtown Cleveland; WTCL-LD's transmitter is located in suburban Parma.
The Outgames are a set of series of multi-event sporting competitions for the LGBT community, which is open to all competitors regardless of sexual orientation, or qualification standard. They are sanctioned by GLISA, the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association. They derived from the original 2006 World Outgames, when the Montreal organizing committee split with the FGG over the organization of the 2006 Gay Games, and created their own sanctioning body and series of Games, with the cooperation of the EGLSF, the sanctioning body of the EuroGames. After the creation of the World Outgames, regional Games were created to complement the EuroGames, being the North American Outgames and the AsiaPacific Outgames. Outgames editions are accompanied by OutFest cultural festivals and OutRights LGBT rights conventions. The first convention at the 2006 World Outgames developed the Declaration of Montreal.
The 2006 Gay Games, 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."
The Cleveland Guardians Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 39 radio stations for the Cleveland Guardians, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cleveland sister stations WTAM and WMMS serve as the network's two flagships; WTAM also relays its signal over a low-power FM translator. The network also includes 26 affiliates in the U.S. states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York: seventeen AM stations, eleven of which supplement their signals with low-power FM translators, eight full-power FM stations and one HD Radio subchannel that supplements its signal with a low-power FM translator.
Blake Skjellerup is a short track speed skater who competed for New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics; finishing sixteenth.
During the lead-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics, protests and campaigns arose surrounding the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia.
The University Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 24 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cleveland Browns, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL). Jim Donovan has been the lead announcer since the team's return in 1999, but following the 2023 season opener, he went on medical leave to undergo treatment for leukemia, and Chris Rose is serving as interim play-by-play announcer in his absence. Nathan Zegura serves as commentator and Je'Rod Cherry is the sideline analyst/reporter.
WAKR (1590 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Akron, Ohio, and known as "Soft Hits 93.5 FM". Locally owned and operated by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station primarily services the Akron metropolitan area, including both Summit County and Portage County.
The 2018 Gay Games, also known as Gay Games 10 or Gay Games X, were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and musicians. It was held from August 4 to August 12, 2018, in Paris, France. Approximately 10,000 athletes from 91 nations participated in 36 sports and cultural events. It was the first time they took place in a French-speaking city. The motto was All Equal.