In 1994 I was one of the organizers of the fourth Gay Games, in NYC. Nearly 20,000 athletes and over 200,000 spectators joined us in the hope that Games Can Change the World. At that point there were exactly two world-class athletes who joined us to endorse our world: Martina Navratilova and Greg Louganis. 20 years later, I see the Olympics become a platform for protest against LGBT persecution and out lesbian Ireen Wüst winning a gold medal, I see world class athletes such as Matthew Mitcham - Olympian, Tom Daley and robbie rogers serve as high-profile role models, I read about Michael Sam poised to become the first out gay man in the NFL, and every week another high school or college athlete stands up to be counted. And I realize that many of them were not even born at the time of our games! Heres to all my friends who worked on GGIV in NYC -- including Jay Hill, Dan Baker, Roz Quarto, Rich Sands, Steve Boyd (right now in Sochi!), Tom Dolle, Bob Nelson. I guess that games really can change the world!
Posted on: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 11:29:07 +0000
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