What's Gay got to do with it? (The Gay Games of Chicago)

By Nedd Kareiva

For those living outside of Chicago or those living in Chicago but have been snoozing, the "Gay Games" will be commencing on July 15th and running for a full week. However, the "Games" will be anything but gay.

According to its web site, 12,000 participants competing in 30 sports will be descending on the Windy City with over 70 countries represented and numerous artists, musicians, politicians and other celebrities in tow. So it's going to be a big event.

Further down, the same web page reads:

"The Gay Games are open to anyone. There are no qualifying events, no minimum or maximum requirements, and no mandatory affiliations. The Games are built on the founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and promote a supportive environment, free from bigotry, where participants achieve success by their own measure."

There are two problems I have with this paragraph. First of all, what is there to aim for by having this event if it is open to all? The group's slogan is "Participation, Inclusion & Personal Best." Fair enough, though the word "inclusion" has certain connotations of which I will not elaborate. But isn't there supposed to be some goal one should reach?

Towards the bottom of the page, there will be gold, silver, bronze and "Participation" medals awarded. From what I glean, it appears that everyone will win an award. Anyone not winning the gold, silver or bronze will earn a "Participation" award. If everyone wins something, then competition is really irrelevant. True, some athletes may be better than others. But it appears there are no real losers in this event.

Hmmm, I can only imagine what it would be like if the Olympics or the recent World Soccer Cup which Italy won awarded medals to everyone. The events would be essentially worthless since everyone is guaranteed a prize.

I played in numerous Scrabble tournaments across the country for 14 years. I took first place in my division a few times and lower places other times. Sometimes I would win money, other times nothing. I would occasionally win a trophy if a tournament awarded them. But if my win-loss record didn't cut the mustard, I didn't win anything. Though there is an element of luck in Scrabble, if my board strategies and word knowledge weren't up to snuff, I went home empty.

That does not appear to the case here at the "Gay Games." Everyone wins something, which really serves no purpose to any athleticism of this event.

Secondly, the statement that the games are open to all and there are no minimum or maximum requirements raises a question — why call the games "gay"? Aren't the participants defined by whom they choose to have sex with, hence the word "gay" (proper word "homosexual"). If competition is open up to anyone and there are no qualifiers, then the word "gay" should be eliminated, no?

I'm aware I may be scorned for the following but if I'm going to run an event of this caliber and define such competition by the word "gay," I think there ought to be some proof of the individual participants being whom they are. As for what might qualify to pass for being "gay" (or homosexual), well, I'll leave that to the imagination. But yes, what can be conjured in the mind can be, if true to definition, a requirement for participation.

What about an Olympic-like event for adulterers? Or pedophiles? Or polygamists? Do you see where this is going?

The truth is there is nothing gay (merry) about the "Gay Games." Given the list of honorary athletes attending this event, it stands to reason that the bulk of participants are practicing homosexuals and lesbians. In other words, the entrants are really known by men having sex with men and women having sex with women, a disgusting thought to most of us. And many of them are infected with AIDS or HIV which is why the mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, sought and obtained an expedited waiver to bring them here from other foreign countries, a consideration otherwise not taken very lightly.

Does anyone not think after reading this that the homosexual lobby, at most perhaps 3% of the U.S. population, is a powerful (and ominous) force here in America? The fact that those traveling here don't have to declare their HIV status, according to the Advocate article linked above, is a sure sign of it.

Sorry to be blunt but like baseball umpires, I call them like I see them — except not as former umpire Dave Pallone who is listed on the web site as part of this event.

The homosexual group, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in conjunction with the New York Times, hijacked the word "gay" back in the 1980s as reported here. A term that used to mean happy or merry now was described as a sexual perversion back in 1987. The accurate term which existed for years and which was even taboo to mention, "homosexual," by its change to "gay," with one swoop made an evil action palatable.

GLAAD's moniker is Fair, Accurate & Inclusive Representation. Hmmm, fits right in with the Gay Games slogan — recall the word "inclusion"

Ironically and yet to no one's surprise, the New York Times is listed as a sponsor of the Gay Games. In fact, in its further push of homosexuality, Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center reports in Townhall that one of the Times reporters will be conducting a panel discussion at a Chicago public library titled "Brokeback Locker Room" with six participating homosexual athletes.

What's "gay" got to do with it (apologies to Tina Turner)? A lot!

The liberal media, the entertainment industry, the left wing politicians and the pro-homosexual groups have glossed over, if not totally ignored, the lethal practices homosexuals do, all in favor of making the so-called "gay" community appear to be docile. However, such is nothing remotely close to being true and articles like this one totally debunk everything the left ignores about this lifestyle.

So what do you do when the mayor of one of the largest cities in America chairs an event that the mayor of the former Communist Soviet Union would most likely reject, based on this story? That is the question. And the answer is easy but one few want to answer.

And that is get the religious community (AKA churches) involved. However, that is a problem here in Chicago as well as in many cities across America, excluding the South. The religious community got involved in thwarting a so-called "Gay Pride" in Moscow, according to the Lifesite link above. However, few are getting involved here at the Gay Games outside of those groups and churches mentioned by the Illinois Family Institute.

The question that begs for an answer is where is the church today? A church exists to help people grow spiritually and change their lives. But a church is also there to ensure that evil among it is ousted. However, few churches are willing to take on the evils of abortion clinics, porn shops and homosexual havens that are among them, choosing rather to coexist with them. That's not what churches were called to do.

Back in 1997 when the City of Chicago was prepared to provide domestic benefits for partners of homosexual city workers, the church I attended at the time on Chicago's southwest side in a white community joined with members of a church from the black community on the south side and descended on the second floor of City Hall, demanding our tax dollars not subsidize perversion. While ultimately unsuccessful in a court of law, it was not only a sign of unity between different churches; it showed the power of the religious community when confronting public officials with evil.

If only more churches took their religious responsibilities seriously and got involved in being a moral force for good, it's quite possible there wouldn't be a domestic benefits ordinance. It worked in Moscow. Why not here?

What's gay got to do with it? A lot!

Truthfully, it should have gotten the entire religious community (outside of some of the liberal "Christian" churches like the Episcopal and United Church of Christ churches) up as a force. When Chicago was being considered as the host for the Gay Games two years ago, pastors and their congregations should have been promptly engaged in massive phone, letter, fax, e-mail and visitation campaigns to their aldermen, legislators and Chicago's Mayor Daley. Sustained pressure from the religious community to reject being a world host of perversion would have forced the city to abandon sponsoring this abomination.

And I'm sure my Catholic friends in Chicago are asking why Cardinal Francis George hasn't taken the mayor to task for permitting this event. Well, you'll have to ask him.

Some would say this is an excellent opportunity to minister to the homosexuals who will be here, which is something Illinois Family Institute is planning to do. And it is. But we live in a day and age where not too many people are willing to go beyond the four walls of the church to get involved. If churches are unwilling to minister to people in their communities now and take active public stands against evil, what's the likelihood of confronting the sin now and ministering to these participants from the other nations?

If nothing else, why are people of faith patronizing sponsors of perversion like Walgreens? Does it make sense that a drug store chain sponsors an event with unhealthy participants? Why do members of the religious community buy the Chicago Sun Times, knowing the values of the paper are contrary to theirs? What about buying Gatorade, Nike and traveling with Orbitz and American Airlines? Does it bother them that a portion of the money they spend with them will go towards perversion in some form?

And should anyone be donating any money in any form to the New York Times?

While maintaining a compassionate message towards homosexuals, it does not mean compromising with them in any way, shape or form. It means confronting their sin and telling the truth about their grossly unhealthy behavior. And it also means holding public officials responsible for our tax dollars to subsidize this event with law enforcement and city health officials treating those who engage in sexual perversion while here.

And lest you think the Gay Games will be free of problems, read this article.

In summary, the Gay Games is not only a monstrously stupid idea; it portrays a sinful and changeable lifestyle as healthy and no big deal. It also shows what happens when Christians and others with traditional values don't put public officials and corporate sponsors in check.

My late pastor Ken Bonner used to say abortion clinics were open by permission of the church. He was right. And it's not a stretch to say either that the Gay Games are here in Chicago because churches have given tacit endorsement to it.

Will this be a revisiting of the Biblical event of Sodom and Gomorrah? Perhaps the answer is NO but I wouldn't be 100% certain of it. After all, Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana at a time the Southern Decadence was to take place. Whether that was a judgment from the Almighty is open to conjecture but given this prophecy, I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss it either. Given the apparent prophetic events and fighting occurring in the Middle East, the extremely high gas prices occurring in part from it and the pending Gay Pride Parade in the holy city of Jerusalem in August (which is to last for 7 days), I'm a bit uneasy about it all.

To think that ministers in Moscow and Israel are more proactive there than here in the U.S. is quite telling and a blight and stain on our country.

Any pastors reading this, especially in the Chicago area? You know what you must do.

What's gay got to do with it? Too much! And not something to be proud of.

© Nedd Kareiva