LGBTIQA athletes from around the world who have traveled to Miami for the OutGames were shocked on Friday to discover the majority of the events were cancelled a day before the event was scheduled to kick off.
“It is with deep regret that due to financial burdens, World OutGames must cancel opening and closing ceremonies and sports programming with the exception of aquatics, country western dance and soccer.
“The Human Rights Conference and cultural programs will continue as planned. We thank everyone who has supported the effort and apologize to those who will be impacted by this difficult decision.” a statement from the organisers posted on Facebook read.
By Friday night the police and State Attorney’s office had announced they were opening an investigation into the potential misappropriation of funds.
Organisers had predicted that 2,500 athletes would be attending the games and over 3000 spectators were also expected to arrive in Miami.
Mark Gristock, who lives in Melbourne was expecting to compete in the Badminton. He found out the event had been cancelled while he was in transit at Los Angeles airport.
“At first I thought it was a hoax and their email account had been hacked”, Gristock told OUTinPerth from Miami.
“We spent 30 hours travelling from Melbourne and have spent about $10,000 in this holiday, so were not impressed to find out hours before”
For Gristock its not the first time he’s been let down by OutGames.
“We were scheduled to go to Auckland for the Asia pacific OutGames and that also got cancelled, but at least with enough notice to make other arrangements
“The OutGames and GLISA seem to have let the whole community down, arriving here has shown how little had actually been organised, and it would have been clear to anyone involved that it couldn’t go ahead weeks or months ago.
Gristock said the silver-lining of the experience was seeing community members come together and create their own activities and events to make their journey worthwhile.
“Everyone is of the opinion that Outgames and GLISA are fatally damaged. Everyone has said they would never sign up for another event.” Gristock said.
The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA), which awarded Miami the Games, said that it was “shocked and disappointed to learn today that World OutGames Miami 2017 could not obtain permits to allow many of the planned activities to proceed”.
GLISA noted that the host city “had sole and full responsibility for all planning and execution related to delivery of the event”.
It’s the first time the event has been held in the US, the event was schedule to go for 10 days.
Since the events were cancelled local community groups and the city’s tourism board have been working to put on as many of the planned events as possible.
OIP Staff, 30-05-17 Updated to include interview with Mark Gristock.
