Cleveland in Final Bid for Gay Games

In 2014, the international Gay Games will land in Boston, Washington, D.C., or Cleveland.

Fourteen cities originally expressed interest in hosting the event, which had its beginning in San Francisco in 1982 and draws about 12,000 participants.  Only three submitted detailed bids by this past weekend’s deadline.

Cleveland’s bid for “My Games Rock 2014″ includes opening and closing ceremonies at Cleveland Browns Stadium and 34 sports — 24 required events, including swimming, basketball, figure skating and softball, as well as nontraditional events, such as beach volleyball and, in a first for the games, rodeo — that would take place downtown and in Akron.

“Certainly because Cleveland is smaller, it probably has less of a global reputation in general,” Federation of Gay Games spokesman Kevin Boyer said.

“But I’ve been very impressed with the efforts of the local organization.”

Read more at Cleveland.com!