Magic Queendom?
Orlando bids to host the 2018 Gay Games
The Orlando Sentinal and Outsports are reporting that Orlando, Florida will be among the main bidders for the tenth Gay Games in 2018. The family-holiday capital will compete with at least three other cities—London, Paris, and an as yet unnamed city in Brazil — for the upcoming sportsfest.
The Orlando bid is part of the work of a new LGBT-focused Orlando visitors bureau called Orlando Gay Travel, which seeks to bring more homo holidayers—beyond the very successful but just once-a-year Gay Days at Disneyworld—to the tourism-driven city.
“I think the LGBT community tends to feel that Gay Days is the only gay-friendly event that is happening in Orlando,” Mikael Audebert, executive director Orlando Gay Travel, told the Sentinel.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is all for bidding for the quadrennial gay sports event. “Orlando has created a reputation for fairness, equality, diversity and tolerance, and would be a perfect locale to host this,” he said.
Outsports points out that Orlando may have a tough time in the 2018 running, since the next Gay Games in 2014 are already scheduled for Cleveland. The USA hasn’t hosted back to back games since San Francisco held the first two in 1982 and 1986.
Never mind, says Audebert. “We are going to work with the entire region to make this happen,” he vowed.
Photo by Jeff Kern
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