3 to Know: Legacies of the Gay Games

Panel from left to right: David C. Barnett, ideastream senior reporter and producer; John Grafton, board member, Gay Community Endowment Fund of the Akron Community Foundation; Phyllis Harris, Thomas Nobbe and Michelle Tomallo

As snow swirled outside and below zero temperatures enveloped the town, the City Club of Cleveland bell rang once again. Just more than six months after the closing ceremonies of Gay Games 9, a panel met Feb. 19 to discuss the lessons and legacies of the Gay Games. For our August 2014 cover story, we did the same, examining the impact and difficulties of the LGBT community on Cleveland, centered around the games. Economically, the Gay Games were estimated to have had a $52.1 million impact. Nearly 75 percent of games attendees came from outside of Cleveland.

Safety was a top priority, said Phyllis Harris, executive director of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. Her organization conducted 40 trainings at the Cleveland Police Department academy over 40 weeks before the games. Harris led some of the classes herself, teaching 40-50 police officers at a time. "It was scary and it was life changing," she said. "In a way I think it set the tone for much of the training that continued to happen throughout the year."

The community center is in the process of purchasing a new headquarters building with an anonymous $1.8 million donation, announced during the games. The center has been located in a Gordon Square storefront since 1999. The network established during the games was instrumental to their move, said Harris. "People listen if I call now," she said. "They want to collaborate now, they had a good experience."

Here's three things you need to know from the discussion:

1) The 2014 Gay Games were the most profitable in the history of the organization, finishing with a surplus of $150,000. "From the outset of planning the games, our board and staff were really determined to see that these games finished in the black," said 2014 Gay Games executive director Thomas Nobbe.

2) The $150,000 surplus will be donated, with 80 percent going to form a new Gay Games legacy fund at the Cleveland Foundation, and 20 percent to the Gay Community Endowment Fund of the Akron Community Foundation.

3) Though the Gay Games were certainly a symbol of progress, both the panel and attendees were quick to emphasize that Ohio does not provide legal protections for same-sex couples. "We had all this grand success and there was all this celebration. It literally was palpable, all the energy, vibrancy and love," said Michelle Tomallo, president of the board of directors of Plexus, the LGBT chamber of commerce. "All of that happened in the context of a state where we don't have any protections for the exact people that we're celebrating."

Radio Show Host Ken Schneck Says Cleveland is So Gay

It's been seven years since Ken Schneck's radio show, This Show Is So Gay aired its first episode in Brattleboro, Vermont. Two hundred and eighty episodes later, the associate professor and director of the Leadership in Higher Education Program at Baldwin Wallace University is hosting the show in Cleveland. "The central theme of the show is, 'How can you use your voice in your own unique way to make a difference?' " says Schneck, whose show is broadcasted online and on iTunes. "I wanted to reclaim the idea of something being 'so gay' and actually have it be so gay."

His next guest coming up, 19-year-old Caleb Laieski, is a former commentator on the show. At 15 years old, he was trying to build transitional housing for homeless LGBT youth, but now he's returning for the 281st episode after he filed the first ever federal lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration to fight the ban on gay men donating blood. "I can't think of a guest on the show who hasn't had the most incredible experience," Schneck says, having hosted everyone from emerging indie-pop stars A Great Big World to openly gay comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer.

We asked Schneck to give us three things that make Cleveland so gay, and he delivered.


1. The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland is stealing the spotlight after receiving a $1.8 million donation and a $500,000 matching grant from the Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation to relocate and expand its facility. "Everyone should be keeping their eye on what's going on there, because they're going to continue to take an even greater role in building community here in Cleveland," says Schneck. "They already do incredible work, but I think they're on the cusp of just upping the ante even more."

2. Cleveland welcomed LGBT visitors and allies from all over the world in August to participate in the Gay Games 9 by flying rainbow flags all over the city — and some of them are still flying. "[These] visual artifacts make such a difference for visitors and for people who live here, and it sends a really strong message in a state that is in the minority right now," he says, noting that Ohio does not have marriage equality and employment protection.

3. Sometimes it's all about the good vibrations — and Cleveland is still roaring with pride months after the Gay Games left. Just next month, on Nov. 2, the LGBT center is hosting an event to keep that momentum going. "There seems to always be some sort of rally or book reading or drag show where you can go and meet new people," he says. "It's one of those things that you can easily take for granted, but given the larger umbrella of the lack of equality in Ohio, Cleveland is definitely so gay."