A new organization for GLBT athletes hopes to take the lead in the world of gay sports. Called the Gay & Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA), the group says it wants to be involved in all aspects of the GLBT sporting community.

Organizers of GLISA gathered last week at the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation annual conference in Boston to outline the goals of the organization. With its mission centered on participants and services to athletes and teams, GLISA aims to consolidate and further develop a coordinated international sports calendar with a new gay and lesbian multi-sport games brand named OutGames.

Despite already trademarking the OutGames name, GLISA spokesperson, Thomas Kevin Dolan, said the organization does not see itself as competing with the Federation of Gay Games.

“The FGG is mainly concerned with putting on the Gay Games every four years,” Dolan said. “We want to be part of the ongoing development of sports within the world gay community on a 12 months-of-the-year basis.”

Dolan said that GLISA is in negotiations with Rendez-vous Montreal, the organization that split with the Federation of Gay Games last November after the two organizations could not reach a mutual agreement on the management of the 2006 Gay Games, which were to be held in Montreal. The Federation has since selected Chicago to be the new host city for the 2006 Gay Games. Dolan said that one of the conditions the OutGames will place on Montreal in any agreement between the two is that Rendez-vous would not allow the acrimony that developed with the Federation to escalate.

“We will consolidate and make financially sound a new GLBT sports movement,” said Ole Udsholt, a founding board member of GLISA about the future of their OutGames. “We know that the GLBT sporting world is ready for something that will better serve its needs.”

GLISA intends to be a not-for-profit association with a vision to be an inclusive, globally recognized and integrated gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender association that celebrates, supports and promotes gay and lesbian culture through sports.

“Can you imagine the difference we are going to make in the world of gay and lesbian sport?” added Dolan. “Our founding board, in partnership with our powerful advisory council, has accomplished in ten short weeks what had yet to be accomplished in our current sporting world. We are so honored to serve our community in this way and we now invite the global lesbian and gay sport community to become our members.”

The international Founding Board of Directors for GLISA include Thomas Kevin Dolan of Vancouver; Canada; Geoff Lyne of Sydney, Australia; Catherine Meade of Toronto, Canada; Ole Udsholt of Copenhagen, Denmark; and Christian West of New York.

In the coming months, GLISA will begin to develop its membership worldwide, inviting all existing GLBT sports teams and international federations to join, and identify the city that will host its international headquarters.

“Without a doubt, the high quality of this work and our ability to have completed it so quickly relates to our strong set of values,” commented Catherine Meade on the quick formation of the organization. “Our values are the standard against which all of our activities and actions will be measured.”