Gay Games
officially open tonight in Chicago

The seventh-ever Gay Games officially begin tonight in Chicago with an opening ceremony featuring such luminaries as Megan Mullally, Andy Bell of Erasure, Greg Louganis, and Mayor Richard Daley. The event, at Soldier Field, kicks off at 8 p.m. and will also include the symbolic swearing in of the some 12,000 athletes from more than 70 countries expected to compete in the games. The eight-day event, which happens every four years, concludes next Saturday, July 22. Among the 300-plus sponsors for the games are such blue-chip corporations as Kraft, Merrill Lynch, Nike, and Motorola, which together with smaller businesses and individual donors contributed $13.5 million, a massive rise since the last American Gay Games in 1994 in New York. (The Advocate)