Surviving on little sleep after a whirlwind trip to Cologne, Germany, Cleveland’s winning Gay Games bid team joined hundreds of supporters at a Sunday welcome-home party that was all giddy hugs and congratulatory toasts.

In a town that often gets a bad rap (if not from foreigners, at least from other Americans), the event had a ring of “Hey! We are good enough, smart enough, and doggonit, people like us.” (Or at least, “damnit, sometimes the shitty news fades for a bit and good things happen.”)

It was also an event in which the mainstream Cleveland media finally discovered there’s an LGBT community in town. (Welcome, WKYC, WEWS and WJW! Now don’t forget about us when it comes time for the transgender-rights bill this fall.)

Piling into Bounce were numerous glowing politicos, from Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson to City Councilfolk Joe Cimperman, Matt Zone and Mamie Mitchell (as well as former Councilman Roosevelt Coats). Plus, Rep. Marcia Fudge and a surprise appearance by Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.

But the evening belonged to the Cleveland Synergy Foundation (especially founders Doug Anderson, Brian Tavolier and Jeff Axberg), whose early belief that landing the Gay Games was possible appears to have inspired an entire community. As they changed banners from reading “candidate city” to “host city,” the roaring crowd indicated all of the accolades are deserved.

Stay tuned for a helluva next five years.

Spangler John Farina delivered exclusive photos of the event; you can find the gallery here.

And Spangle is excited to launch its special Gay Games 2014 section. You can find all of our coverage in the new drop-down menu at the top of the page, or by clicking here.

 

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