Gay Today: Entertainment

Gay Games 2002:
New Dates & New Leadership

Compiled By GayToday

New dates for Gay Games VI and a change in Federation of Gay Games leadership highlighted the Federation's mid-year meeting in Montreal, Canada from 21-26 April.

"Gay Games VI and Cultural Festival - Under New Skies" will now be held in Sydney, Australia between November, 2 and November 9, 2002.

Although the original September dates were to coincide with the end of the northern hemisphere summer, Sydney organizers cited warmer local weather and longer daylight hours as the deciding factors in changing the schedule.

"At the Gay Games last summer in Amsterdam, the streets were filled with people having a great time late into the evening," said Tom Seddon, Sydney 2002 board member.

"In September the sun goes down in Sydney around 5:30 p.m. (1730 hours), but by November there are an extra two hours of daylight. We're convinced this change is the right thing to do, and we're happy the Federation Board has approved it enthusiastically."

Sydney 2002's representatives announced ambitious outreach goals for the Asia/Pacific region, an area of the world underrepresented at previous Gay Games.

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They also described their staffing structure, with many volunteers already in place, and their plans for obtaining government support and corporate sponsorships.

Sports competitions will be clustered in two main zones, one at the Olympic Park in Homebush and the other downtown at Sydney Harbour, making it easy for participants to attend a number of different events in close proximity. Sydney 2002 also plans to bring some cultural events directly to the athletic sites.

In a separate development, the Federation of Gay Games Board of Directors replaced its Executive Committee when the officers stepped down to permit a change of leadership.

Dr. Thomas Wadell founded the Gay Games in the 1980s

"The Federation is a very different organization now than when it was founded 10 years ago," said Acting President Gene Dermody.

"We have more and more sports and cultural groups joining the Federation Board and fewer individuals. The groups have taken an increasingly active interest in the day-to-day business of the Federation, and that's requiring us to examine our internal management structure."

"Over the next several months we're going to look at improving communication between the Acting Executive Committee officers, the other directors and the Federation's various committees," Dermody said.

"It's a tribute to the commitment of our former officers that they have remained on the Board to help us go forward with the Federation's work."

The Acting Executive Committee consists of Dermody (San Francisco, California, USA; International Wrestling Alliance), Vice President Derek Liecty (Oakland, California, USA; Individual Federation Director), Treasurer Joseph E. Pasquarella Smith (Seattle, Washington, USA; Team Seattle), Recording Secretary Charles Carson (New York, New York, USA; International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics), and Corresponding Secretary Roy Vestal (Denver, Colorado, USA; Lesbian & Gay Bands of America).

The acting officers will serve until regular elections are held at the Federation's Annual Meeting in Berlin from 18-22 October. The meeting organizer will be Team Berlin, which had one of the largest contingents at Gay Games V in Amsterdam.

"Our transition team has a lot of work to do over the next six months," said Dermody. "We got a good start in Canada last week thanks to our host, Equipe Montreal. It will be great to take the Federation back to Europe for its next meeting."

For information about the Federation of Gay Games and its ongoing committee projects, go to its website at www.gaygames.org.