Scholarship committee member Laura Moore is managing the crowdfunding project. She explained why the FGG was reaching out in this new fashion: “The Gay Games take place every four years, and each time, we receive hundreds of applications for scholarships. We have limited resources to satisfy the needs of the many worthy candidates, and are trying to get the message of the life-changing experience of the Gay Games to a wider audience. We thank Leigh Ann and the volunteers who worked on the campaign, in particular our video editor Raymond Hong, for showing just how important it is to provide the means to bring this men and women to Cleveland and Akron for the 2014 Gay Games.”
Paul Oostenbrug, chair of the scholarship committee, noted that while the Gay Games host committee was working on targeted scholarships in the US, the FGG was responsible for scholarships for the rest of the world, a huge task: “We’ve received so many applications from around the world, from places like Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka in south Asia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia in southeastern Europe, and Chile, El Salvador and Jamaica in the Americas. We’ve had a huge number of applications from Russia, and consider that part of the response to the anti-gay repression in that country is to allow as many Russians as possible to join us for a week when they can be out and proud and more important, safe at gay athletes.”
Doug Litwin, part of the crowdfunding team, explained that private funding was essential for the Gay Games: “We receive minimal government support from our host cities. Participants are not funded by their national governments or sports authorites, and must bear the cost of registration fees, as well as visa fees, airfare and food and lodging. We estimate the full budget for one non-US person to particpate at USD 2000, with registration fees alone accounting for USD 200 of this.”
Oostenbrug expressed the hope that sufficient funds would be found to meet all approved requests, and noted that generous donors had already put up a USD 10,000 matching grant for donations. He added that the deadline for applications for scholarships had been extended to 31 October, due to a technical incident which prevented online submissions from applicants for a period of two weeks.
He concluded: “We have been fortunate to benefit from some major donations in recent Gay Games, and very much welcome such gifts. But crowdfunding is an excellent means for people unable to provide thousands of dollars, to each contribute smaller amounts according to their ability to donate. Thanks to their generosity, we hope that next August in Cleveland and Akron, we’ll be able to welcome participants from around the world, without regretting those left behind, unable to share and contribute to the Games that change the world.”
