CLEVELAND COOL
KEPH SENETT FINDS THAT CLEVELAND IS THRIVING LIKE NEVER BEFORE AS IT GEARS ITSELF UP FOR THIS SUMMER’S GAY GAMES
Cleveland is thriving like never before
Here’s something to try: Tell your friends that you’re going to Cleveland and see how many respond, “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” I bet you bat 1,000. Cleveland’s not known for much — mostly the aforementioned Rock Hall and a triumvirate of perpetually defeated major league teams, so you’d best brush up on your sports metaphors — but it’s a city looking to shake its middling reputation.
And in 2014, it looks like it just might succeed. This coming summer, Cleveland and neighbouring Akron will host an estimated 10,000 international LGBT people (and allies) for the ninth quadrennial Gay Games. Previous host cities of the week-long multi-sport tournament and culture event have included New York, Sydney, Amsterdam, and San Francisco (twice), so when Cleveland was chosen, more than a few eyebrows were raised — but it would be foolish to dismiss the vote as a fluke. The Gay Games have always been based on the principles of inclusion, participation, and personal best, and right now there is no better city than Cleveland to embody this sentiment.
Ohio is one of the north eastern states comprising America’s Rust Belt, so named after the region descended into economic decline in the 1980s. Previously prospering in the steel, coal, and automotive sectors, the entire state is currently experiencing a postindustrial hangover, but Cleveland has found a way to reinvent itself. Surprisingly verdant, culturally complex, and long led by a progressive local government (in 2008, Mayor Frank Jackson led City Council to vote for a domestic partnership registry; Ohio state has yet to legalise same-sex marriage), C-Town is thriving again, and it’s eager to show itself off.
On arrival, almost certainly the first thing you’ll notice is an enormous guitar. There are hundreds of these individually unique sculptures scattered around the city from the airport into downtown. Guitar Mania is a public art project that raises money for charity, and persistently reminds you of Cleveland’s claim that it’s the Rock and Roll Capital of the World, a title that it comes by honestly. American disc jockey Alan “Moondog” Freed is credited with coining the phrase “rock and roll,” using it for the first time on Radio WJW Cleveland in the early 1950s — a music factoid that may have clinched the city’s Rock Hall bid.
And by all means, you’ll want to check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., rockhall.com), if only to marvel at some of the most fantastic stage outfits ever assembled. Sartorial notables include Bootsy Collins, Björk, and Sir Elton John. The first few floors house permanent exhibits on the genre’s idols from the overblown (Elvis) to the obscure (Jimmy Yancey).
The building is shaped like a pyramid, and the top contains special collections —“Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction” runs until March 2014— leading to the inevitable exit through the gift shop.
Once you’ve gotten your fill of sung heroes, walk 500 metres east along the waterfront and consider some unsung ones. The International Women’s Air and Space Museum (1501 North Marginal Road, iwasm.org) is a free exhibit occupying the corridors of the Burke Lakefront Airport, and is the only collection of its kind in the world. Displays include uniforms, artifacts, and imagery relating to Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman, and lesbian astronaut Sally Ride, among many, many others.
From former stagecoach stop, the Dunham Tavern Museum (1300 Ontario Street, dunhamtavern.org), to the Dittrick Medical History Center (11000 Euclid Avenue, case.edu/ artsci/dittrick/museum), Cleveland is home to an unusual concentration of facilities dedicated to the minutiae. In other words, it’s a great place to geek out.
Pick up your guides at the office of the city’s destination marketing organisation, Positively Cleveland (334 Euclid Avenue, positivelycleveland.com), and while you’re at it, get directions to University Circle, one of the most concentrated areas of arts and culture in the nation. Attracting around 2.5 million visitors annually, the Circle is the site of the Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, and the Western Reserve Historical Society which, in addition to an exhibit featuring dresses by Dior, also has a collection of LGBT archives, available to view by appointment only.
There is no gay village in Cleveland (locals are
“The Gay Games have always been based on inclusion, participation, and personal best, and there is no better city than Cleveland to embody this sentiment”
fond of saying that the entire city is gay-friendly), but there is a gay bar—multi-room Bounce Nightclub is surprisingly diverse in both patronage and entertainment. Expect performances from drag queens and kings, and to share the dance floor with folks with a variety of genders and identities. There’s also a leather bar (and an annual fetish event called CLAW), an LGBT community centre, and several sports leagues representing LGBT-friendly organisations in softball, bowling, flag football, volleyball, tennis, and more. In a city this sports-mad, it’s not surprising to see such broad representation on Gay Games host Team Cleveland.
You may be forgiven for passing Cleveland over in the past. There are far more exoticsounding places than the “Rust Belt”, and the American Midwest isn’t known for cottoning on to strangers. But it would be a mistake to ignore it now. The efforts and genuine desire of the government, businesses, and residents to build a more welcoming and diverse city are the very incarnation of “personal best,” and they have a real chance of affecting change.
Remember, Ohio is a swing state, regularly having a decisive impact on American election results, and the Gay Games have long been called “the games that changed the world”. Cleveland is welcoming us; perhaps it’s time that we welcomed them.
Besides, Clevelanders are friendlier and funnier than you think. About winning the bid, a local man was heard to say, “We can finally say we won a sporting event!”
The Gay Games run from August 9 to 16, 2014. Find more information on the Cleveland Gay Games 9 website at gg9cle.com.