Games Gays Play

By Sam Baltrusis

There’s more than mere sour grapes in Boston’s bitter disappointment in losing to Cleveland in its bid to host Gay Games 2014

When a crew of local representatives made the trek to Cologne, Germany last September to convince the Federation of Gay Games that Boston was the ideal place to host the ultimate LGBT sporting event in 2014, they thought the odds were in their favor.

Boston—when compared to its bid competitors Washington D.C. and Cleveland, Ohio—had it all. The athletic venues and cultural institutions were top-notch and easily accessible to the thousands of international athletes slotted to compete in 2014 and, besides, it was home of the marriage equality struggle in the United States.

Gay Games 2014 in Boston? It was a no-brainer.

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Gay Games IX Bid and Beyond

By Fred Kuhr

No other state is marketing to LGBT tourists as aggressively as Massachusetts

For Ken Brissette, bringing LGBT travelers to Massachusetts is personal.

The director of creative marketing for the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT), Brissette is openly gay, and his accent quickly reveals his local roots.

“I am so proud of Massachusetts,” Brissette said during a recent interview. “We were the pioneers, we made history when we became the first state to allow same-sex couples to marry. And we want to continue making history.”

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