The North America Outgames are a multi-sport event held every three years by the

Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA) was an international gay and lesbian, culture and human rights association. Their last update was issued in March 2016, and the website has been offline since October 2017. The focus of ...

for LGBT athletes in North America. They are a regional derivation of the

World Outgames 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 a ...

, which is also held by GLISA, and they are held on different years than the World Outgames.

History

2007

The first North America Outgames were held in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, from April 1 to 8, 2007, and also served as the 25th iteration of the local Western Cup Tournament held by

Apollo Friends in Sports Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

. They were opened by

Judy Shepard Judy Shepard (née Peck; born August 15, 1952) is the mother of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming who was murdered in October 1998 in what became one of the most high-profiled cases highlighting hate-crimes against ...

, mother of

Matthew Shepherd Matthew Joseph Shepherd (born February 21, 1976) is an attorney from his native El Dorado, Arkansas, who is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 6, which includes western Union County. He was elected in the ...

and president of the

Matthew Shepard Foundation The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT nonprofit organization, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, which was founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew. The Foundation runs education, outreach, and adv ...

. Concurrently with the Outgames, other events were held, including OutRights (that event's name for the human rights conference which typically accompanies all games held under the Outgames brand) and

OutFest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

, a cultural festival. Among the highlights of OutFest was a 90-minute performance by

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the vari ...

, her first comedic performance in Calgary. Research of attendees was conducted by ZINC Research, which also sponsored the event

2011

The second North America Outgames were held in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, from July 25 to 31, 2011. More than 800 athletes and volunteers were in attendance for the event, which also covered the cities of Whistler and

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

. This was the second international LGBT multi-sport event to be held in Vancouver, preceded by the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...

, which faced much stiffer public opposition at the time and did not receive funding by the provincial government, then run by the Social Credit Party under

Bill Vander Zalm William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a politician and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 28th premier of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991. Early life Wilhelmus Ni ...

. In comparison, the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

government gave some $75,000 towards the sports events and $81,000 for the human rights conference, while the rest of the CAN$1.25 million budget has been funded through private sales and donations. The bid committee for the event was joined in 2009 by John Boychuk, former president of the Vancouver Pride society; Boychuk currently heads the organizing committee for the event. The theme song of the event is "Come Out and Play", penned and sung by local band Sugarbeach. Medals for the event were designed by

Corrine Hunt Corrine Hunt (born 1959), also known as Nugwam Gelatleg'lees, is a Kwakwaka'wakw/Tlingit artist, carver, jeweller and designer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Early life Hunt is a member of the Raven Gwa'waina clan from Ts'akis, or ...

, a Vancouver-based lesbian designer who had also designed the medals for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

2016

The '
third North America Outgames
'' was scheduled to be held in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, May 28 - June 4, 2016, but was cancelled due to low registration and poor financial backing.

2020

The fourth North American Outgames were awarded to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, but Winnipeg dropped the Outgames in August 2017 after the 2017 World Outgames Miami were cancelled at the last minute. The North America GLISA website is no longer active.

Games

References

External links

Official website of 2011 Games

Official website of the 2007 Calgary Outgames
- courtesy of the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Official website of the 2016 St. Louis OutGames
{{Multi-sport events Sports competitions in North America Outgames North American international sports competitions