FGG co-president Kurt Dahl explained the current proposition of the FGG for renewed talks: “Last month we were pleased to receive a letter from GLISA asking to begin discussions again, which dropped most of their restrictive conditions on negotiations. More importantly, we are listening to our stakeholders and members, who have strongly urged us to re-open discussions.”
A motion proposed by the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF), a member organization of the FGG to do so was approved by members at the FGG Annual General Assembly that concluded 9 October in Cleveland, OH, host city for Gay Games 9.
Armin Lohrmann, the FGG at-large board member leading the FGG 1QE group, summarized the contents of the letter sent on 10 October: “We feel that one reason for the failure of earlier negotiations was a rush to move forward on one model of a solution for a single event. We believe that discussions should include all options, and involve all major stakeholders concerned by this matter, including regional organizations like EGLSF and major international sports such as IGLFA (football) and IGLA (aquatics).”
The FGG rejected timetables that failed to take into account the FGG need to focus for the moment on the success of the 2014 Gay Games. But as a sign of good faith and a means to begin preliminary discussions, it has proposed two meetings of stakeholders prior to Gay Games 9, namely at January 2014's Sin City multi-sport tournament in Las Vegas, and the EGLSF Annual General Assembly to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in March.
For information about the Federation of Gay Games including full text of the letter mentioned above, visit www.gaygames.org.
The ninth edition of the quadrennial Gay Games will be held in Cleveland + Akron, Ohio, USA 9-16 August , 2014. For information about Gay Games 9, Cleveland + Akron 2014, visit www.gg9cle.com.
