Quote:
MONTREAL (AFP) - Rowing, hockey, marathon, square dancing and best bondage or leather outfit competitions are all events at the first Out Games, preceded by the opening of a human rights conference.
Organizers of this "alternative" gay games said they expect some 12,000 amateur athletes, thousands of spectators and delegates from 100 countries for the rights conference.
Co-president and swimmer Mark Tewksbury, a gold medalist in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, said he hoped the event would also nurture tolerance in sports.
"Homophobia is rampant in professional sports. The locker room mentality says we can't develop in a virile, masculine world. Showing a feminine side is considered a sign of weakness, and makes us vulnerable to attacks," he told Montreal French-language magazine L'actualite.
Tewksbury and tennis legend Martina Navratilova will open the sports competitions on Saturday after the three-day rights conference with a "Declaration of Montreal" on gay rights.
The games' 35 competition include synchronized swimming, karate, basketball, weight-lifting, golf and wrestling.
Up to 20 percent of athletes at the Montreal games are heterosexual, organizers noted.
Millions of dollars in tourist spending are also at stake as the city tries to foment a reputation as a gay-friendly vacation hot spot, tourism officials said.
"The Right to Be Different" rights conference will bring together 2,000 delegates to discuss human rights and include a keynote speech by UN Human Rights head Louise Arbour.
The conference aims is to promote gay, lesbian and transsexual rights worldwide, particularly in countries which ignore or trample on them, organizers said.
"The goal is to get an official declaration at the United Nations asking for recognition of gay rights. There are rights for children, women, handicapped people, but no gay rights," Out Games director Louise Roy told AFP.
"There are still UN members who oppose gay rights, but we hope to take small steps that will eventually bring us to the recognition of gay rights. In Canada, we're less preoccupied with such because we've already achieved equal rights, but there are many countries where it remains very difficult to be gay," she added.
Closing ceremonies will be held on August 5.
An offshoot of the Federation of Gay Games, which held its seventh meet in Chicago last week, the Montreal event aimed for a more ambitious mission than its predecessor after the city was overlooked to host the original games.
Its goal is to foster tolerance and understanding, and to build bridges between the gay community and broader society, rather than simply celebrate gay pride -- the focus of the Gay Games since its inception in San Francisco in 1982.
Organizers of this "alternative" gay games said they expect some 12,000 amateur athletes, thousands of spectators and delegates from 100 countries for the rights conference.
Co-president and swimmer Mark Tewksbury, a gold medalist in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, said he hoped the event would also nurture tolerance in sports.
"Homophobia is rampant in professional sports. The locker room mentality says we can't develop in a virile, masculine world. Showing a feminine side is considered a sign of weakness, and makes us vulnerable to attacks," he told Montreal French-language magazine L'actualite.
Tewksbury and tennis legend Martina Navratilova will open the sports competitions on Saturday after the three-day rights conference with a "Declaration of Montreal" on gay rights.
The games' 35 competition include synchronized swimming, karate, basketball, weight-lifting, golf and wrestling.
Up to 20 percent of athletes at the Montreal games are heterosexual, organizers noted.
Millions of dollars in tourist spending are also at stake as the city tries to foment a reputation as a gay-friendly vacation hot spot, tourism officials said.
"The Right to Be Different" rights conference will bring together 2,000 delegates to discuss human rights and include a keynote speech by UN Human Rights head Louise Arbour.
The conference aims is to promote gay, lesbian and transsexual rights worldwide, particularly in countries which ignore or trample on them, organizers said.
"The goal is to get an official declaration at the United Nations asking for recognition of gay rights. There are rights for children, women, handicapped people, but no gay rights," Out Games director Louise Roy told AFP.
"There are still UN members who oppose gay rights, but we hope to take small steps that will eventually bring us to the recognition of gay rights. In Canada, we're less preoccupied with such because we've already achieved equal rights, but there are many countries where it remains very difficult to be gay," she added.
Closing ceremonies will be held on August 5.
An offshoot of the Federation of Gay Games, which held its seventh meet in Chicago last week, the Montreal event aimed for a more ambitious mission than its predecessor after the city was overlooked to host the original games.
Its goal is to foster tolerance and understanding, and to build bridges between the gay community and broader society, rather than simply celebrate gay pride -- the focus of the Gay Games since its inception in San Francisco in 1982.
Can transexuals particiapte in both male and female event? Or do they have their own? Cos I know of a few East German shot-putters that having been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this.
Edited, Jul 27th 2006 at 6:19am EDT by RedPhoenixxxxxx