The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged according to the skill levels of the competitors. The Outgames brought together athletes and artists from all over the world, many from countries where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden.
The World Outgames were licensed by the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association. Host cities were democratically selected in a non-transparent process by its members. The Outgames were a separate organization from the Gay Games.
Origins
The seventh edition of the Gay Games was supposed to take place in Montreal in 2006, but the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) removed their sanction after it and Montreal 2006 were unable to agree on the size of the games and the demand for external control of the Montreal 2006 budget by the FGG. When Montreal 2006 announced its intention to continue organizing the games without the sanction of the FGG, based on an informal survey sent to several organizations, the Gay Games for 2006 were awarded to Chicago and intentionally setup to compete head to head with the Montreal event. This separation developed into the first edition of the World Outgames, licensed by the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association, the city of Montreal, the Province of Quebec, the Government of Canada, GlaxoSmithKline, Air Canada, Labatt Brewing Company, Bell Canada, as well as dozens of other national and international businesses and media organisations including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
With 18,599 participants, the 1st World Outgames, held in 2006, was the largest international sports event to be held in Montreal, Quebec, since the 1976 Summer Olympics. These first Outgames were not a financial success on several aspects, although the Government of Quebec announced at $5.3M deficit, the organization ended up with a real deficit of just under $1M. Many suppliers were left unpaid after the various governments refused to cover the debt. The human rights conference was a first and attracted high-profile LGBT activists and professionals from every continent.
Games
1st World Outgames 2006
For the first World Outgames, the organization, and officials from the City of Montreal, the Province of Quebec and the Government of Canada welcomed representatives from 111 countries: 10,248 athletes to participate in games from 29 July to 5 August, alongside 1516 participants for an international conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) human rights, including Workers Out. Workers Out was the third international gathering of LGBT trade unionists. Approximately 5,200 volunteers worked at the events.
2nd World Outgames 2009
The second edition of World Outgames started in Copenhagen on 25 July and ended on 2 August 2009. The opening ceremony took place at City Hall Square. Major sponsors included SAS, HIVOS, IBM, Wonderful Copenhagen, Gay Times and the EU "For Diversity. Against Discrimination" campaign. 31 out of the 34 sports disciplines were sanctioned by national or international specialist associations, who approved the use of their rules, regulations, and qualified judges and referees. Copenhagen also was the first to come up with the concept of OutCities. The cities of Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Antwerp and Aarhus each presented a cultural program with a number of their best local artists under the themes of gender, identity and cultural diversity.
3rd World Outgames 2013
The third edition of the World Outgames were held in Antwerp in 2013.
4th World Outgames 2017
The 4th global World OutGames was due to commence on Friday, May 26 and continue through Sunday, June 4, 2017 in Miami, Florida. In a controversial move, the organisers emailed participants in the morning of the 26th to say “It is with deep regret that due to financial challenges, World OutGames must cancel opening and closing ceremonies and sports programming with the exception of aquatics, country western dance and soccer. The Human Rights Conference and cultural programs will continue as planned. We thank everyone who has supported the effort and apologize to those who will be impacted by this difficult decision.” A spokesperson for the city of Miami confirmed that the Miami State Police and District Attorney's Office have opened a fraud investigation into the Games. The worldwide LGBT press are speculating that this means the end of World Outgames.