The welcome received by attendees from Lebanon to Lativa, Uzbeckistan to Uganda, was astounding. No anti-gay pickets, no loud-mouthed "Christian" saviors on street corners, just the city rolling out the red carpet as it continues to develop a plan hatched 10 years ago to, in the words of one of the country's national columnists, "establish Montreal as a 'World Gay Capital' to rival San Francisco and New York."



Local and national politicians did much to underscore the welcome.



As Martin Cauchon, a recent national Minister of Justice and Attorney General, said at the close of an international conference preceding the games, "Separate but not equal has no place in our society." Cauchon is a hero to many in Canada for going against his own party to vote for full, equal marriage rights for same sex couples. He said he favors not just legal equality, but "full social acceptance." "If we deny equality to gays and lesbians today, who's next? I strongly believe that we should not play politics with fundamental rights."





When have we heard local, let alone national politicians in the U.S. say anything remotely as bold?

Also on the podium was a recently retired Supreme Court justice, Claire L'Heureux Dube, who years ago voted as a minority of one against government contracts with religious institutions which discriminate against LGBT people, holding that the same standard that applies to racially discriminatory private organizations should hold with anti-gay ones as well.

Lesbian and tennis celeb Martina Navratilova rounded out the program, saying "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be tolerated. I want to be ACCEPTED. You tolerate someone with a bad smell, or someone who speaks too loudly on their cell phone. I want acceptance."



Not everything was peaches and cream with the politicians, however. When the allegedly pro-gay national transportation minister, a man who is also a member of the governing Conservative Party, was introduced at the Olympic stadium, he received a polite but unenthusiastic reception.

When he mentioned the name of the current conservative Prime Minister, and then added that he was "unavoidably" detained from attending, the stream of catcalls cascaded into a roar of 55,000 booing him, to the point that Montreal's mayor rushed to the microphone in an attempt to rescue him. No luck. The moment the minister took back the microphone, the thunderous roar erupted again throughout the domed stadium.

To those of us who've ached through six long years waiting to give George Bush or his handlers a piece of our minds, it was music to our ears. Wish it were same when Richard Daley fetes the violently anti-gay President of Poland, or dishes up birthday cake to George Bush as they engage in a mutual admiration society.

The four-day conference which preceded the Out Games provided an often sobering reality check to the boisterous festivities that rocked the stadium. Speakers from Iran, Russia, Latvia and Serbia, amongst others, gave graphic descriptions of the repression of LGBTs in their countries. Video and still pics showed police, politicians and religious leaders brazenly and violently repressing our rights to organize, assemble and speak out for our freedom. "The police were absolutely useless," said gay Latvian activist Gaston Lacombe about a series of confrontations with fascists which easily could have been fatal. Lacombe said they had evidence that the fascists have received heavy funding from organizations within the United States.





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