Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton officially supported the recently-completed Gay Games, held in Cologne, Germanyand she even sent a video-taped message, endorsing the eighth sports and cultural extravaganza.
Clinton's message was to be aired at the Closing Ceremony on Saturday, August 7; however, the facility did not have a video screen projection.
"The Closing Ceremony was a very successful event that people did not want to leave. It was really well executed and attended. It was short on speeches, big on celebration," said Kelly Stevens, spokesman for the Federation of Gay Games ( FGG ) .
The governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, asked Clinton's office for a video, Stevens said, and her message to Cologne attendees included this message: "please come to the U.S. in 2014," when Gay Game IX is held in Cleveland.
"We were very incredibly pleased to see support from such a high level of government of the USA," Stevens said. "Secretary of State Clinton holds the equal position to German Foreign Minister [ Guido ] Westerwelle, [ who is gay and spoke at the Opening Ceremony ] , so her message post-Gay Games VIII was a good choice.
"We played the video at the very well attended annual meeting of the assembly of the FGG. It played after the inspiring roll call of diverse global representatives of the FGG. Co-President Emy Ritt announced a short video and the assembly went quiet and cheered when it was completed. Some were teary-eyed to see this high level support of the Gay Games."
So, does this bode well for Clinton to attend the Cleveland Games?
"I am not sure," Stevens said. "Many people think we should also ask Michelle Obama [ to attend ] . It would be fantastic to get a high-level U.S. Government person to speak at the Opening Ceremony at Gay Games IX in Cleveland in 2014.
"This type of support is important to highlight the importance of our mission of changing the world through LGBT sport and culture via the Gay Games. She understands the human rights issues we address through Gay Games."
Clinton's video-tape message has not received media attention yet, nor been seen by many, yet.
"We will convert the big file and YouTube it, and place it on our home page," Stevens said. "It is inspiring. We are working on technically converting the file and loading it.
"Hillary Clinton again shows her support of LGBT people and shows she is a true friend to our community."
Stevens added: "I must thank our 2010 host city, Cologne, Germany, the city government, the Games-Cologne Team, and all the volunteers. They produced an event that raises the bar for all future cities hosting the Gay Games. They provided an emotionally full, technically well executed Gay Games. Veilen Dank! ( Much Thanks. )
"I personally want to thank the press, especially the German press, print, radio and national television. The press told the stories of real people [ who ] worked hard to get to the Gay Games, and those people enjoying friendly, tough competition. The press was also 'Part of It' at Gay Games VIII. Journalists from all over the globe were on site all week."