Five Reasons the 2006 Outgames Will Succeed

By Joseph McCombs

Editor's Note: The writer's entire trip was paid for by Tourisme Montréal

At the end of August I had the opportunity to visit Montréal, site of the 2006 Outgames. While there, I saw five elements of the city that convinced me that the 1^st World Outgames will be a smashing success.

The beauty of the city itself. I’m not a well-traveled person. I’ve never been to Europe or Asia, and if you chopped out the swath of Middle America from Las Vegas to Cincinnati, I’d be none the wiser. But I know a beautiful city when I see one, and Montréal has much to offer. Its old-meets-new approach to architecture lends itself to endless picture-taking; the lack of litter and graffiti was welcome for this New Yorker; and the “underground city” of halls and malls that connect downtown buildings and subway stations is a clever and effective means of improving the city’s bustling flow of people. The lack of congestion at every turn was a refreshing change of pace. Notre Dame Cathedral was a marvel to view (though I drew the line at the patron-saint statues inside of the people who paid for those same statues). I fell in love instantly with the views atop Mount Royal. And though I barely scratched the surface of tourist-driven things to do, I found the Lachine Rapids jet boats an absolutely thrilling experience, getting bounced around the rapids and crashed upon with waves. I hadn’t been so moist since the first time I saw the shower-fight scene in School Ties. (For that kind of moist, the plentiful clubs on Rue Ste. Catherine provide all you could ask for. But I digress.)

The support of the government and other city institutions. When it comes to political support, we gays in America generally take what we can get. Not so in Montréal. Mayor Gérald Tremblay and his government have been mightily and unconditionally supportive of the Outgames and its participants; Mayor Tremblay’s presence and comments at a city hall press conference during my visit were warmly received. (“Mr. Mayor, my mother thanks you,” one press conference speaker touchingly stated.) It makes all the difference to have political and governmental institutions on your side when planning an event of this magnitude, especially when needing to reserve facilities, accommodate visitors, and make venue changes on the fly. When I asked Outgames co-chair Mark Tewksbury about the challenges in getting such support, he replied with a smile, “I don’t even think about it now.” The Outgames planning committee is able to take institutional support for granted. And when Brian Jung delivered a proclamation from the San Francisco Board of Directors throwing support behind the Outgames, the deal was sealed for me: As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong when you’ve got San Franciscans on your side.

The Olympics-tested facilities. Since hosting the 1976 Olympics (the year of Jenner and Comaneci), Montréal has taken considerable pride in its athletic facilities.  And rightly so: Olympic Stadium, with its sharply angled tower that helps support its roof, is an architectural wonder that happens to have an array of pools inside, and our tour guides Sylvain and “Fat Eric” showed us around Maurice Richard Arena (the ice rink named for the legendary hockey player, “The Rocket”) and the nearby Pierre Charbonneau Centre, host to the aerobics (gymnastics), dance sport (same-sex partners and mixed partners competing in modern and standard ballroom dancing), and power lifting events. Neither could hold a candle, however, to Parc Jean-Drapeau, site of the rowing, dragon boat, and cycling events. It’s a lovely place, with knowledgeable staff and lots of eye candy amongst the rowers. I’m especially looking forward to the dragon boat races, clearly a source of pride among the Outgames organizers. These races place 20 to a boat, all rowing in synchronicity, often composed of “affinity teams” such as cancer survivors, workplace colleagues, and even blind rowers. Montréal expects 700 participants in the dragon boat races, which would make it one of the five most popular events.

The Olympics- (and otherwise- ) tested organizers.  It was no small feat for GLISA, the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association, to put together an entire athletic competition for over 10,000 participants so shortly after differences led the Gay Games to shift site from Montréal to Chicago. But under the able and energized guidance of co-presidents Catherine Meade and Thomas Dolan, they’ve managed to prepare not only for next year’s 1^st World Outgames, but also for the 2^nd, to be held the summer of 2009 in Copenhagen. If you’ll pardon the French, GLISA has its shit together.

Meanwhile, Mark Tewksbury and his co-chair, Lucie Duguay, pulled out all the stops in selling a city that does a fine job selling itself, painting a wonderful picture of what both athletes and spectators can expect from a week in Montréal. Marketing and communications represent the largest line items in their budget, and it shows. But what also impressed me about the organizers is, somewhat ironically, the same thing that helped create the dueling sets of games: GLISA and the other organizers took pains to integrate the event into other LGBT-related events taking place concurrently in Montréal: the city’s annual Pride parade and the scientists and activisits’ “Right to Be Different” International Conference on LGBT Rights. There’s an argument to be made for keeping a sporting event solely about sports and not entering into the political or activist realms, but I side with GLISA in believing that an explicitly gay-inclusive sporting event is in itself a political statement, one made stronger by marrying it with other statements that collectively send a message of desired and deserved equality.  Indeed, as Tewksbury noted during the city hall press conference, it’s human rights activists who have made LGBT sport possible, and who have guided us to this point where, in Montréal if not everywhere, “we’re not just accepted, we’re not just tolerated, we are celebrated, we are held up as role models.”

And, most importantly, the participants.  I got to hang out with numerous “team leaders” from around the world who’d come to scope out the facilities and logistics for their member athletes who are considering participating in the Outgames, the Gay Games, or both. To a person, they were wonderful people with terrific senses of humor and equally fine senses of sportsmanship. And from what I saw on makeshift volleyball courts on Ste. Catherine, exemplary ball-playing skills as well. I hope every single one of them makes it next year. Especially the young woman who piped up that she’s planning to quit her job next summer so that she can do both sets of games (she asked not to be named, for obvious reasons).

I’ll have much more to say about the Outgames in the coming months, but to sum up for now, I am genuinely excited about the prospects for both sets of games. The relaxed visages of Tewksbury and Meade as I discussed ideas and logistics with them have assured me that the city of Montréal is ready, willing, and able to stage a gay sporting event of this magnitude (over 9,000 people from 90 countries have already registered for the games, with an anticipated final count of 16,000). I look forward to saying again next summer, Bonjour, Montréal!