Good Business. Good Policy: The Economic Impact of Hosting GLBT Sporting Events

Place, Greg, Schmidt, Shawn, Parks & Recreation

In the present economic times, parks and recreation departments are searching for sources of revenue Interestingly, some communities have turned down revenue sources from a particular portion of society, a demographic considered "recession-resistant" and willing to spend its money even in tough times. This portion of society is the gay, lesbian bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) community which continues to travel nationally and internationally to play in various sports tournaments, providing income to host communities. An example of this sort of community resistance occurred with the Gay Games hosted in Chicago in 2006.

The coordinators of the Gay Games were looking for a site to host their rowing competition. After the Games expressed its interest to the park board of a Chicago suburb, several, concerns were raised by park board and community members. These concerns included having the "flamboyancy" often displayed in gay pride parades coming to their community, not wanting to be drawn into a cultural debate, allowing the Gay Games to use their community as a "vehicle to demonstrate their cause" or to push asocial agenda and allowing possible HIV-positive athletes into their community.

Gay residents of this community expressed concerns that if the park board would not allow a gay sporting event in their community, how long would it be before gay residents themselves were no longer welcome in the community? In stark contrast, a number of gay and straight community members (including many young …

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Publication information: Article title: Good Business. Good Policy: The Economic Impact of Hosting GLBT Sporting Events. Contributors: Place, Greg - Author, Schmidt, Shawn - Author. Magazine title: Parks & Recreation. Volume: 47. Issue: 2 Publication date: February 2012. Page number: 13+. © 2009 National Recreation and Park Association. COPYRIGHT 2012 Gale Group.

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