The Team
SHAMEY CRAMER Founder, Co-Chair – Shamey is a pioneer in the LGBTQ+ sports movement as founder of Team Los Angeles for the inaugural Gay Games (1982); and co-producer of the Festival Games (1983-85), the first annual multi-sport festival ever hosted by the LGBTQ+ community. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1985, and a 1991 skiing accident left him permanently disabled. He was a Route Designer and rider for the inaugural California AIDS Ride/LifeCycles (1994) and a member of West Hollywood Aquatics water polo (2000-2010). Pride Magazine named him to their 2012 Sweet Sixteen LGBTQ+ Game Changers in Sports.
Shamey served as a volunteer advocate for the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, and was delegation lead for the Oval Office signing ceremony with President Obama. Variety featured him as one of Hollywood’s Top 30 influencers for Inclusion following his role as Festival Director for the inaugural ReelAbilities Film Festival: Los Angeles presented by the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability (2018).
Born in Chicago and raised in Wisconsin, Cramer lives in Los Angeles, working in entertainment and sports administration. He received his A.A. degree in Cinema Production from Los Angeles City College, and his B.A. in Film from Woodbury University and is an award-winning writer and public speaker.