Mar 05, 2004  |  By: CYD ZEIGLER JR.  | COMMENTS     

The Federation of Gay Games granted Chicago the right to host Gay Games VII in 2006 on Tuesday. Chicago beat out a competing bid from Los Angeles.

In choosing Chicago, the Federation has set up a July 2006 showdown between the Gay Games and Rendez-Vous Montreal 2006, a similar gay multi-sport event, just one week and 800 miles apart.

Montreal had been the Federation’s original selection to host the 2006 Gay Games at the group’s annual meeting in Johannesberg, South Africa, in October 2001. When contract negotiations broke down last autumn, Montreal organizers announced their plans to carry on with their event without the Federation or the moniker of Gay Games.

The Federation quickly reopened the bidding process to host the 2006 Games, to which organizations from Chicago and Los Angeles applied. Both organizations had been previously edged out by Montreal in 2001. Atlanta also originally put forth a bid for the 2006 Games but organizers there decided not to re-submit for the Games after Montreal was rejected. The bids were submitted Feb. 1. Chicago was announced the winner on Tuesday.

Shamey Cramer, president and CEO of Los Angeles 2006, had led the bids to host the games in Los Angeles both in the first round and again in this latest round. He said he had not known what outcome to expect from the federation vote.

“I will always believe that we submitted a far superior plan than what they got from Chicago, but there are always intangibles that will affect the outcome,” Cramer said. “One thing included the Federation’s fear of another financial failure,” he added. “All they saw was the bottom line.”

Los Angeles’ bid had a bottom-line number of almost $15 million. Chicago’s was about $6 million. One of the biggest bones of contention that derailed original talks between the Federation and Mon-treal had been the size of the event; Mon-treal planned for a larger event than the federation had wanted.

The concern about the scope of the event stems from three straight financial disasters in 1994 (New York), 1998 (Amster-dam) and 2002 (Sydney).

Kevin Boyer, spokesperson for Chicago 2006, said he believes Chicago won the bid for several reasons.

“I think what they saw in Chicago’s bid was an understanding of the mission of the Gay Games, a partnership with the Federation, a sound business plan, and a commitment over time in Chicago to what the Gay Games are all about,” Boyer said.

Now, Chicago faces the daunting task of putting together a multi-sport event with 10,000 attendees in just 28 months.

“I think Chicago has literally walked into a trap because, to do the Games properly, it takes more than two years to get it together,” said Tom Czerniecki, marketing communications director for Rendez-Vous Montreal 2006. The Montreal committee has been planning its event since late 2001.

Cramer, from Los Angeles, said that he and his organization remain particularly concerned about Chicago’s bid. Without citing specifics, he said that his group’s allegiance remains undetermined.“We’re not going to endorse the Chicago bid until we see some changes,” he said.

The Chicago Gay Games will take place July 15 to 22, 2006. While Boyer said that consideration was made to not coincide with Montreal’s, whose event will commence July 29, that leaves only a week separating the two events.

With personal costs for an attendee mounting into the thousands per event, most athletes will have to choose between the two competing events instead of attending both.

“The date had to work with the calendar here and international traditions of vacation time,” Boyer said. “We also didn’t want to do it during our Gay Pride the last couple weeks of June.” New York’s event in 1994 was held at the same time as the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Boyer said that by holding the Games a week before Montreal’s event, European visitors, who often have a four-week summer vacation, will be able to attend both events.

“That sounds nice. It sounds like the right thing to say, but it’s not true that people can fly from Amsterdam to Chicago, from Chicago to Montreal,” said Czerniecki. “I don’t believe the vast majority can afford both.”

Czerniecki added that lesbians, who on average don’t have the same levels of income as gay men, would have more difficulty attending both events.

Boyer dismissed the notion floated by some critics that, by planning their event so close to Montreal’s, his group is trying to interfere with Montreal’s event.

“We’re having the Gay Games in Chicago,” he said. “We have nothing to do with Montreal’s event. It’s not about Montreal, it’s about the mission of the Gay Games.” That mission, according to Boyer, focuses on the importance of “personal best, inclusion and participation and the Games themselves being used as a beacon to the world to end stereotypes.”