TheNorth America Outgames were a multi-sport event held every three years by theGay and Lesbian International Sport Association for LGBT athletes in North America. They were a regional derivation of theWorld Outgames, which is also held by GLISA, and they are held on different years than the World Outgames. GLISA was dissolved after the cancellation of the 2017 World Outgames IV.[1]
Thefirst North America Outgames were held inCalgary,Alberta,Canada, from April 1 to 8, 2007.[2][3] They were opened byJudy Shepard, mother ofMatthew Shepherd and president of theMatthew Shepard Foundation.[4]
Concurrently with the Outgames, other events were held, includingOutRights (that event's name for the human rights conference which typically accompanies all games held under the Outgames brand) andOutFest, a cultural festival. Among the highlights of OutFest was a 90-minute performance byLily Tomlin, her first comedic performance in Calgary.[5]
Research of attendees was conducted byZINC Research, which also sponsored the event.[6]
Thesecond North America Outgames were held inVancouver,British Columbia,Canada, from July 25 to 31, 2011. More than 800 athletes and volunteers were in attendance for the event, which also covered the cities ofWhistler andBurnaby.[7]
This was the second international LGBT multi-sport event to be held in Vancouver, preceded by the1990Gay Games, which faced much stiffer public opposition at the time and did not receive funding by the provincial government, then run by theSocial Credit Party underBill Vander Zalm. In comparison, theLiberal 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 byJohn 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 bandSugarbeach. Medals for the event were designed byCorrine Hunt, a Vancouver-based lesbian designer who had also designed the medals for the2010 Winter Olympics.[8]
Thethird 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.[9]
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.[10]
| Edition | Year | Host | Dates | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 2007 | Calgary |  Canada | 2007-04-01—2007-04-08 | |
| II | 2011 | Vancouver | Canada | 2011-07-25—2011-07-31 | |
| III | 2016 | St. Louis |  USA | May 28 - June 4, 2016 | Cancelled |
