Press Release

Montréal 2006 Becomes the 1st World OutGames

PDF 34 KB

Montréal 2006 Becomes the 1st World Outgames

Montréal, 2 April 2004 - "Sunday in Boston," announced Mark Tewksbury, Co-President of Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006, "we experienced the beginning of a new future for the international gay and lesbian sports movement. The creation of the Gay & Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA) marks a commitment to service the growing needs of the international GLBT sport movement. GLISA is an organization built on values that are shared by thousands of gay and lesbian athletes around the world, and this week launched a new brand of sport games called OutGames. GLISA has also proposed the negotiation of a partnership agreement with Rendez-Vous Montréal to host the 1stWorld OutGames in 2006. Montréal 2006 has worked hard at bringing a vision of an Olympic-sized event to life over the past four years, and we are delighted that our accomplishments are being recognized, and our vision shared by GLISA. Most importantly, through this partnership with GLISA, Montréal 2006 will be able to leave an important legacy to the international sporting community."

Last January, a Think Tank of over twenty representatives of the GLBT and traditional sport movements met in Montréal, Canada, to discuss the future of GLBT sports. Shortly after the groups' departure from Montréal, the three working committees produced significant founding documents on governance, marketing/finance and athletes needs. These documents now form the foundation of GLISA's mission, vision and values.

GLISA realized that the growth of GLBT sport leagues around the world was not being served and that something was not working. It was time for an evolution to sustain and nurture that growth. The result was the launch of GLISA this past weekend in Boston, during the International Gay & Lesbian Athletics Conference. GLISA will service the needs of athletes by coordinating, as one example, a global event calendar. Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006 would be the 1stWorld OutGames, followed by a 2ndWorld OutGames in 2009.

"We are absolutely honoured and thrilled that Montréal 2006 is enthusiastically and seriously considering our offer to partner with them to bring our unique OutGames brand to the world in 2006," says Thomas Kevin Dolan, Founding Board Member of GLISA. "We seized an opportunity to create a partnership that we feel that world ready for. We can't wait to welcome the world to the 1stWorld OutGames in Montréal in 2006."

The Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006 sports programme will be an exciting display of athletic achievement, catering to all levels of ability with competitions in 33 sports disciplines. Competitions will be spread out over 7 days with at least 16,000 participants coming from all over the world. The games will make extensive use of the world-class athletic facilities originally constructed for the Games of the XXI Olympiad in 1976 and exceptionally maintained ever since. These facilities continue to be used regularly for a variety of large-scale international competitions.

Montréal's gay and lesbian sports teams have, over the years, developed the skills and experience necessary for organizing local, national, and international competitions. These teams have come together under the banner of "Équipe Montréal" (Team Montréal), which represents 23 teams, and over 1,000 members.

There are no minimum athletic standards to qualify for participation in the 1stWorld OutGames. People with specific needs or disabilities are integrated as full-fledged participants, volunteers, officials and spectators. The only requirement is the desire to support the core beliefs of the games:

• Participation and celebration
• Respect and fairness
• Innovation
• Diversity
• Empowerment

As individuals, participants celebrate our GLBT culture through sport. The 1stWorld OutGames will create the opportunity to unite and connect thousands of people from within and OUT of our community, creating an environment where people are free to be themselves and sport is practiced without discrimination of any kind.

From 26 to 29 July, 2006, "The Right to Be Different", an international conference on gay and lesbian rights, will also be held within the framework of the 1stWorld OutGames. Some 2,000 participants are expected at the conference, the first international gathering on such a large scale, which will bring together judges, lawyers, scholars, human rights advocates, activists and numerous experts on gay and lesbian rights.

– 30 –