Last January, a think tank of over 20 representatives of the GLBT and traditional sports movements met in Montréal, Canada, to discuss the future of GLBT sports. Shortly after the group’s 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.

“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 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 1st World 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, the Gay & Lesbian International Sports Association. Most importantly, through this partnership with GLISA, Montréal 2006 will be able to leave an important legacy to the international sporting community.”

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 in Boston, during the International Gay & Lesbian Athletics Conference. GLISA will service the needs of athletes by coordinating, for example, a global event calendar. Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006 would be the first World OutGames, followed by a second World 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,” said Thomas Kevin Dolan, founding boardmember of GLISA. “We seized an opportunity to create a partnership that we feel that the world is ready for. We can’t wait to welcome the world to the first World OutGames in Montréal in 2006.”

The Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006 sports program will be an exciting display of athletic achievement, catering to all levels of ability, with competition in 33 sports disciplines. Competitions will be spread out over seven 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 has over 1,000 members.

There are no minimum athletic standards to qualify for participation in the World OutGames. People with specific needs or disabilities are integrated as full-fledged participants, volunteers, officials and spectators.

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

July 26-29, 2006, “The Right to Be Different”, an international conference on gay and lesbian rights, will also be held within the framework of the World 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.