Aug 11, 2006  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

Gay sports officials aren’t planning to mend the rift that separated this year’s Gay Games and OutGames.

Officials on both sides said the recent success of both events — Gay Games in Chicago and OutGames in Montreal — indicates there’s enough interest to sustain two major gay sports competitions.

 “It’s not a bad thing,” said Gay Games spokesperson Phyllis Jones. “What’s the downside to that? I don’t think there is one.”

Gay Games VII, which drew 12,000 athletes, concluded July 22. The First World OutGames had about 10,000 athletes and ended Aug. 5. Organizers said they expect both events to post a profit, but financial results have not yet been released.

The Federation of Gay Games is already planning its next event, Gay Games VIII, for 2010 in Germany.

OutGames officials, meanwhile, are planning several events for the years ahead. The organization’s first continental competition will be held next year in Calgary. A similar event will be held in the Pacific Rim in 2008.

Libby Post, an OutGames spokesperson, said the continental competitions are prologues to the Second World OutGames in Denmark in 2009.

She said if the success that OutGames experienced in Montreal is any indication, the franchise has a promising future.

“The city itself was so tremendously welcoming,” Post said. “There’s nothing better than being in the majority for two weeks. And add to that a city government that wanted us to be there — it was really great.”

Reconciliation urged

But not everyone welcomed plans by Gay Games and OutGames to move ahead with separate events.

Brent Minor, a Federation of Gay Games board member from Washington, D.C., said athletes told him they missed the unification that one event offers, and urged reconciliation.

“I think people were somewhat miffed that there were certain elements that weren’t there because of the split between the organizations,” Minor said.

OutGames was created following a protracted feud among gay sports officials. The dispute dates back to the 2002 Gay Games VI in Sydney, which was plagued by financial problems.

In the aftermath of that event, the Federation of Gay Games pushed through a series of rules changes that required local organizers of future games to surrender financial control.

Officials who had already started planning Gay Games VII in Montreal steadfastly opposed the changes. Nearly two years of negotiations followed, as both sides attempted to work together, but no agreement could be reached.

The two groups separated in November 2003, and Montreal planners staged their event independent of the Federation of Gay Games.

Minor said athletes told him the separation yielded weaker competition — and lessened the international flavor — at the Chicago and Montreal games.

“There’s no question that people felt it was good, but it could have been better,” he said. “I think people who had been to previous games definitely noticed there was an absence of something.”

Minor, who leads Team D.C. and helped coordinate trips for athletes traveling to both events, said he plans to talk to local athletes in the weeks ahead.

He said if athletes want reconciliation between Gay Games and OutGames, he’ll seek it.

Gay Games officials said attendance in Chicago totaled 140,000 people — far more than planners expected. The opening ceremony drew 32,000, and the closing ceremony saw another 20,000.

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau estimated the Gay Games brought about $33 million to the city in hotel, restaurant and transportation receipts.

OutGames brought an estimated $100 million to Montreal, according to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.

OutGames was not without incident, however. Just as some religious groups protested the Chicago games, others protested the Montreal games. One church held a small street protest in the city’s gay village during the opening ceremony.