Editing Gay Games (section)

=== Schism in LGBT sports communities over Gay Games&nbsp;VII ===<!-- This section is linked from 2 places: 1. Gay_Games#2006_Gay_Games_Chicago 2.  2006_Gay_Games#Originally_awarded_to_Montr.C3.A9al.2C_Canada -->
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In 2001, the bidding organization from Montreal, Quebec, won the right to negotiate with the FGG for a licensing agreement to host the 2006 Gay Games, but after two years of failed negotiations Montreal broke off talks at the 2003 FGG annual meeting in Chicago. There were three main points of contention, over which neither party could agree:

* The size of the event
* The size of the budget{{spaced ndash}} especially the planned break-even participation point
* Financial transparency

In a weakening global economy following international terrorist attacks, including the [[September 11 attacks]], the FGG wanted Montreal to be able to plan for a successful Gay Games even if participation did not meet Montreal's optimistic projection of 24,000 participants, twice the level of participation of the previous Gay Games in 2002. Due to financial problems in previous events, the FGG also asked for transparency into Montreal 2006's financial activities. After Montreal refused to continue talks, the FGG held a second round of bidding in which Chicago and Los Angeles bidders, who had put forth well-received bids to host the 2006 games in the first round along with Montreal and Atlanta, chose to bid. Ultimately, the FGG awarded Gay Games VII to Chicago Games, Inc.

The Montreal organizing committee nevertheless decided to proceed to hold an athletic and cultural event without the sanction of the FGG; this plan developed into the [[2006 World Outgames|first edition]] of the [[World Outgames]], and the creation of its licensing body, the [[Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association]].

Due to limited personal and organizational resources, many individual and team participants were forced to choose between [[Gay Games VII|Gay Games Chicago]] and [[2006 World Outgames|World Outgames Montreal]], a situation exacerbated by the two events being a week apart. The closing ceremony of Gay Games Chicago on July 22, 2006, was only seven days before the opening ceremony of World Outgames Montreal on July 29, 2006. This meant that those who competed or performed in Chicago would have little recovery time before Montreal. The split resulted in a lower quality of athletic competition at both events because neither could claim the whole field of competitors. Team and individual sports were hurt alike.

Few teams were able to field complete squads for both events. In wrestling, 100 wrestlers competed in Chicago (comparable to previous Gay Games), but only 22 competed in Montreal, by far the lowest number for any major international tournament. There were some advantages to the games being so close together time wise and location wise.  For some overseas participants who had to travel far, the convenience of the two events being only a week apart and not far from each other enabled them to attend both. Many did not attend at all. After Chicago drew 9,112 sport and cultural participants, of which 7,929 were from the US.  Montreal drew 10,248 athletes, 1,516 Conference Attendees and 835 people to the cultural component of the games reflecting more than 111 countries{{spaced ndash}} more 60% of the organization's original projections."

Since 2006, the need for a secondary global multisport event has been the subject of much debate, especially after the final financial figures for 2006 were released. In 2012, a round of negotiations between the FGG and GLISA ended after a mutually agreed deadline.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glisa.org/glisa-fgg-agreement-not-reached/ |title=GLISA / FGG Agreement not reached - GLISA |access-date=2014-08-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122071856/http://www.glisa.org/glisa-fgg-agreement-not-reached/ |archive-date=November 22, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The board of GLISA unanimously agree to the proposal set forth by the negotiation teams, however the FGG board did not reciprocate. The 7th Chicago Gay Games concluded with a net zero debt, while the Montreal World Outgames concluded with 5.3 million Canadian dollars in debt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=StackPath |url=https://xtramagazine.com/power/outgames-millions-in-debt-20066 |access-date=2022-03-22 |website=xtramagazine.com|date=December 5, 2006 }}</ref>