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HOMOSEXUALS FIGHT OVER SPORT EVENTS

In 1982, the first Federation of Gay Games (FGG) was held in San Francisco. The Games, however, have long been a financial disaster. For example, the FGG lost over $1 million at the gay games in Vancouver in 1992 and similarly, in New York City in 1994. It also went bankrupt in Amsterdam in 1998, and in Sydney, Australia, in 2002.

Ever hopeful, however, in 2001 the FGG awarded the Gay Games 2006 to Montreal. The committee organizing this Montreal event was headed by former Canadian Olympic swimming champion Mark Tewksbury (Barcelona Olympics 1992). The Montreal committee made great plans, predicting at least 24,000 participants at the games with a budget of $20 million. Money appeared to be no problem, since the federal government, under the Liberals, the provincial government of Quebec and the City of Montreal immediately kicked in around $5 million to start things off. Former Liberal Minister of Heritage, Liza Frulla co-hosted a fundraising dinner in 2003 for the FGG. The City of Montreal also offered to provide free facilities and services such as policing for the games. All was well.

The FGG, however, was keenly aware of the bankruptcy of the previous Gay Games and therefore asked the Montreal organizers to scale back the Games to an expected 12,000 athletes and to base the event on a $16 million budget. Mr. Tewksbury argued, however, that the lowest Montreal could go was 15,500 athletes to break even and refused FGG's demands.

The FGG knew, however, that another financial meltdown of the Games would spell ruin, not just for the games in Montreal, but also for the FGG itself.

Negotiations between the FGG and Mr. Tewksbury went on for two years with the Montreal Committee refusing to accede to the demand that FGG control finances for the Montreal Gay Games.

With no agreement forthcoming by 2003, the two factions separated, with FGG then awarding the official Games to Chicago instead of Montreal. The Montreal organizers, however, decided that they would proceed with their own games, which they called the "Outgames." The latter was set to take place July 26 to August 5, 2006 and the Chicago Gay Games was scheduled for the week earlier, July 15 to 22, 2006.

An added incentive to bring in participants to the Montreal Games was the inclusion in the program of an international conference on homosexual/lesbian rights. The guest speaker at the opening dinner at the conference was none other than Canada's former Supreme Court of Canada Judge Louise Arbour, currently the head of the UN Geneva-based Human Rights Council. During her speech, Ms. Arbour urged members of the homosexual/lesbian/trans-gendered community to make greater use of the international rights institutions to promote their cause. As if these activists weren't already!

The Montreal Outgames had targeted 16,000 to take part, whereas the Chicago Games projected 12,000 participants. The battle for the athletes began with both sides courting athletes to their separate games. The Montreal event was heavily promoted around the world and, as a result, drew contestants from Canada, Europe and the rest of the world. The event in Chicago drew participants mostly from the United States.

Participants at the Differing Sports Events

The Chicago event claimed it had 12,000 participants or registrants. It received extensive television coverage and the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper not only provided financial contributions, but also free advertisements. Yet the public stayed away. Even during the opening and closing ceremonies, the stands never came close to capacity. The Montreal Outgames had targeted 16,000 registered athletes. However, according to its press release, only 10,248 athletes actually registered, well below target. The Outgames also claimed 1,516 attended the homosexual/lesbian conference and 835 registered for the cultural events, such as choral performances and dancing exhibitions. However, the number of participants at the Outgames were not nearly as high as had been predicted. The Outgames tried to put a positive face on the disaster and to justify the various government grants by claiming the event had brought millions of tourist dollars to Montreal. However, merchants in Montreal reported a mixed bag in regard to financial returns. According to the homosexual newspaper Capital Xtra, (August 17, 2006), many of the merchants did not see the revenues they were told to expect. The Montreal Gazette reported that some merchants made formal complaints to the Outgames organizers because of poor attendance at the Games which led to disappointing financial returns for them.

As in Chicago, the stands at the Montreal Outgames, both at the opening and closing ceremonies, were only half-filled, despite the fact that k.d. lang entertained at the opening ceremonies and Liza Minelli at the closing ceremonies (Capital Xtra, August 17, 2006).

Rivalry to Continue

Even with these losses, neither game event appears to be relenting. Two separate homosexual sports events are now scheduled in the future: the official FGG to take place in Cologne, Germany, in 2010, and the official Outgames to take place in Copenhagen in 2009.

Purposes of the Gay Games

Organizers of these homosexual sports events claim that their purpose is to bring the gay community together. That they do, in more ways than one. The "extracurricular" activities for these events give rise to a surge in infection rates of sexually transmitted diseases, according to Montreal's health officials. As a result, the latter amassed large stocks of the so-called morning-after HIV drug. The drug called Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) can be started within 72 hours of sex and invokes a month-long course of treatment. According to Dr. Rejean Thomas, president of the Clinique Medicale l'Actuel, the pill is not intended to be used in place of the condom, but as a back up when drugs or alcohol diminishes "safe" behaviour. The use of PEP is considered controversial by many AIDS workers, fearing that homosexuals may rely on the drug, rather than on practicing so-called "safe sex," i.e., use of condoms.

However, the real objective of these sports events for homosexuals was admitted by a member of the participating homosexual volleyball teams from Ottawa when he stated that the games offer a great way to meet other gay men (Capital Xtra, July 20, 2006). Also, these sports events are used to promote the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle as "normal" and mainstream, which it is not.

Intolerance of Homosexuals

When the Outgames in Montreal was opened by lesbian singer, k.d. lang, she used the occasion to attack Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his refusal to attend the games. She claimed that his refusal to do so was "intolerant" and his action based on "unfortunate ignorance." The Conservative Party was represented by Public Works Minister and Senator Michael Fortier who, true to homosexual activists' customary "tolerance", soundly booed him when he appeared, even though he supports same-sex marriage.

It seems, however, that the homosexual politicians in Canada dutifully turned out for the Outgames. These included:

• MP Réal Ménard (Bloc Québécois) (Montreal)
• Honourable Scott Brison MP, (Liberal leadership candidate) (Nova Scotia)
• Honourable Bill Graham MP, Interim Leader of the Federal Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition (Toronto)
• M.P. Bill Siksay (NDP) (British Columbia)
• MP Mario Silva (Liberal) (Toronto)

Other politicians attending the Outgames included:

• Gilles Duceppe, MP and leader of the Bloc Québécois
• Jean Charest, premier of Quebec
• Honourable Hedy Fry MP, (Liberal, Vancouver Centre and Liberal leadership candidate)
• Honourable Ken Dryden MP, former Liberal Minister of Social Development
• Honourable Denis Coderre MP, (Liberal, Minister of Labour Critic and the Critic for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec) and
• Liza Frulla, former Liberal Heritage Minister

One has to wonder why homosexuals think that they are so important that the Prime Minister is required to attend their events or that spectators are interested in watching events based not on athletic skill, but merely on the participant's sexual orientation. Both the Chicago and Montreal sports events showed the fallacy of this belief. Homosexuals are not asking for tolerance, but rather for state approval of their lifestyle by the presence of our public leaders. Fortunately, Prime Minister Harper had more sense than the other political leaders and did not attend this sports failure.

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