Viewing cable 06MONTREAL820, Montreal Hosts the First Ever OutGames

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SUBJECT: Montreal Hosts the First Ever OutGames 
 
¶1. Montreal is set to host the 1st World OutGames from 
July 26-August 5. An offshoot of the Federation of Gay 
Games (held this year in Chicago), which has traditionally 
focused on providing a venue for homosexuals to openly 
engage in sports competitions, the OutGames has added a 
three-day international conference on Lesbian, Gay, 
Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) human rights issues to the 
sports competition. Consulate representatives met with the 
organizers who expect 1,500 conference participants from 
more than 100 countries, some 12,000 athletes/competitors, 
including 2,000 Americans, 300 foreign journalists, and as 
many as 250,000 visitors/spectators. To attract more LGBT 
visitors, Montreal tourism officials and businesses have 
deliberately developed marketing efforts to show and brand 
Montreal as a tolerant, gay-friendly vacation destination 
on par with Amsterdam, Paris, and San Francisco. Given the 
large number of Americans involved, Consulate officers also 
briefed the conference organizers on American Citizen 
Services and provided a welcome message and ACS/CIS 
reference page for distribution to American participants. 
Copenhagen has been designated as the host of the next 
World OutGames in 2009. 
 
OUTGAMES OVERVIEW 
 
¶2. The 1st World OutGames opens with the International 
Conference on LGBT Human Rights, July 26 - July 29. 
Conference participants will have five plenary sessions, 
featuring a number of Canadian, American, and 
internationally-renowned keynote speakers, and workshop 
sessions organized around the conference's five themes: 
Essential Rights, Global Issues; the Diverse LGBT 
community; Participation in Society; and Creating Social 
Change. In addition, several sub-conferences are planned 
including: "Workers Out!" the labor unions' examination of 
LGBT rights in the workplace; and "Out for Business," the 
Quebec Gay Chamber of Commerce-led networking effort aimed 
at chambers of commerce, professionals and business 
associations in the LGBT community. Montreal's Anglican 
bishop Barry Clarke will hold OutMass: celebrating 
diversity. 
 
¶3. Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal officials 
have made supportive statements, highlighting a policy of 
tolerance and inclusion. Keynote speakers include UNHCHRQs 
Louise Arbour (who also wrote an OpEd and gave media 
interviews on the importance of LGBT rights), Montreal 
Mayor Gerald Tremblay, Canadian Olympic Medalist Mark 
Tewksbury, Gene Robinson, Bishop of the New Hampshire 
Episcopal Church, and Irshad Manji, New York Times 
columnist and author of "The Trouble with Islam Today." 
The mood at the opening plenary session that focused on 
LGBT rights in the U.S. and Canada was positive; one 
participant noted to Econoff that it was "uplifting to be 
surrounded by so many people from so many different 
countries" focused on taking positive steps for the 
protection of LGBT rights. Mark Tewksbury received a 
standing ovation after speaking about the need to break 
through the "culture of silence about homosexuality and 
sport" and praised Montreal as a city where "[LGBT people] 
are not just tolerated, we are celebrated." Conference 
organizers told Consulate officials they hope the legacy of 
the conferenceQs "Declaration of Montreal" will be an 
action plan to mobilize the United Nations and national 
governments to support LGBT rights. 
 
¶4. The OutGames stemmed from a dispute between the 
Federation of Gay Games and organizers in Montreal, which 
had been slated to host the 7th Annual Gay Games. The 
Federation of Gay Games, which had seen its last two games 
turn into money losing ventures, were not inclined to 
include a human rights conference and other side events to 
the 2006 Games, opting instead to keep them as pure 
sporting events, and moved the location of the 7th Annual 
Gay Games (which concluded this week) to Chicago. Unlike 
the 7th Annual Gay Games, OutGames events will cater to all 
levels of athletic ability and include traditional sports 
such as basketball, rowing, and track and field, as well as 
same sex versions of figure skating, ballroom dancing and 
synchronized swimming. The week-long program of 35 sport 
competitions will take place at 40-plus different venues 
throughout Montreal, including facilities originally built 
for the 1976 Olympic Games. The opening and closing 
ceremonies will be held at the Olympic Stadium (Consulate 
rep to attend) and will be broadcast by Radio-Canada. 
Viger Square, dubbed "Rendez-Vous Square," will serve as a 
hub for the "cultural portion" of the OutGames, where 
participants will gather for informal musical, dance, and 
social activities. 
 
¶5. A special two-for-one ticket sale promotion for the 
 
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opening ceremony immediately sent waves of concern in a 
city sensitive about grand sports events deficits. (Mayor 
Tremblay already has a projected $400 million budget 
deficit; Montrealers still remember the huge deficit of the 
1976 Olympics, which was only recently paid off, as well as 
last summerQs World Aquatic Competition that also fell 
short.) OutGames president Louise Roy said at the opening 
press conference that the OutGames had already broken even, 
and that private financing had already covered the 
extravagant opening ceremony planned, though she did not 
disclose financial details or percentages of public/private 
support. Some media speculated that the low ticket sales 
and the absence of a last-minute surge in hotel 
reservations provide proof that the event will not live up 
to the organizers' expectations and hype, though "breaking 
even is already ahead" for Montreal finances. (Note: While 
one columnist cited a strong Canadian dollar and gasoline 
prices as contributing to a drop in summer tourism, no 
reference to WHTI requirements or border security issues 
was made.) Conference organizers also explained to 
Consulate representatives that they had received a 
combination of federal, provincial, and municipal funding 
as well as significant private industry support. Several 
prominent Canadian and American companies, such as CGI, 
Pepsi, Speedo, Bell Canada, GlaxoSmithKline and Intel, are 
among the variety of official sponsors. 
 
Quebec's Track Record and Montreal's Capitalizing on LGBT 
Rights 
 
¶6. Montreal has already attained the reputation of North 
AmericaQs "City of Festivals" and hosts a large and vibrant 
Gay and Lesbian community. It has a neighborhood known as 
the "Gay Village," that boasts a wide variety of antique 
shops, bistros, pubs, and night clubs. The city has been 
playing up the appeal of its Gay Village in its advertising 
campaigns, hoping to draw more Gay and Lesbian travelers 
(even dedicating an entire section of its tourism website 
to "gay friendly accommodation") and has been highlighting 
the OutGames as evidence of the cityQs progressive and open 
nature. Each year, between 900,000 and one million gay and 
lesbian visitors come to Montreal. Even beyond the rainbow- 
flagged and banner-lined streets of the gay quarter, 
souvenir shops throughout the city are giving equal 
treatment to OutGames apparel and souvenirs, prominently 
placing them as they would for MontrealQs established 
cultural and sporting events. Montreal media is reporting 
that shop owners are already seeing a business boom. 
 
¶7. OutGames organizers explained how over the years, 
MontrealQs special spirit of openness and acceptance 
between the general public and the LGBT community made 
Montreal the perfect place for this event. They explained 
also how the gay-friendly environment has been further 
nurtured by numerous government policies. In 1977, Quebec 
was the first government in the world (other than a city) 
to include sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination 
legislation. In 2002, Quebec also legalized same-sex union. 
In July 2005, Quebec became the first jurisdiction in the 
world to have laws that clearly grant full legal equality 
to same-sex couples at both the federal and provincial 
levels. Pursuing pro-LGBT human rights policies and 
promoting LGBT tourism and business opportunities are 
likely to continue to be essential parts of MontrealQs 
urban identity based on pluralism, social inclusion and 
tolerance. 
 
 
Sheaffer