World Outgames opens with a bang MONDAY, 27 JULY 2009 09:26 WS CULTURE
Massive party kicks off World Outgames in Copenhagen at site of first ever legal gay marriage
World Outgames 2009 opened on Saturday with a symbolic bang in Copenhagen Town Square – the site of the first legally recognised homosexual vows in history.
Participants from 97 countries paraded down a 50-metre catwalk extending from the entrance of City Hall, stepping in time to the sounds of Danish Music Award winner DJ BUDA and Tom.
An audio/visual show with elements of “new circus” artist Anders Astrup Jensen’s celebrated work entertained onlookers as dramatic presentations centring on the themes of gender, identity and diversity were the main attractions of the festivities.
Singer Annisette, backed by a 100-man choir, took to the stage for the grand finale to perform the official World Outgames 2
009 theme song ‘Freedom to Love’ to a packed crowd of thousands.
As if the stunning opening ceremony wasn’t enough, participants and guests were invited to Halvandet for an official after-party that continued well into the early morning hours.
The opening ceremony for World Outgames marks the start of a week’s programme, which includes culture and art, sporting competitions and a three-day international conference on lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender human rights starting today. Learn more - The Copenhagen Post Online
The World Outgames - COPENHAGEN 2009 - Program
Serious sport, serious culture and totally serious fun
You’ll find it all at the 2nd World Outgames
in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 25 July to 2 August 2009. There will be tournaments in 38 different sports disciplines, from aerobics to wrestling, for competitors at all skills levels.
World Outgames 2009 will also feature a human rights conference addressing issues and concerns of the LGBT community and all others for whom love of freedom and freedom to love is self-evident. Read more
The World Outgames was born with a big bang in Montreal, Canada, in 2006. With more than 18,000 participants from 111 countries as conference delegates, athletes, volunteers or participants in the cultural program, the 1st World Outgames was able to exceed its participation and attendance targets.
World Outgames 2006 was presented in cooperation with the government of Canada, the government of Quebec, the city of Montreal, Radio Canada, and Tourisme Montreal. The organization also worked in partnership with Bell Canada, Labatt Breweries, CGI, the STM and Solotech. In all, World Outgames 2006 enjoyed the support and sponsorship of more than 131 partners and sponsors from around the world.
Copenhagen was selected to host the 2nd World Outgames in 2009 after a competition with several other cities. From now on, the World Outgames will be a quadrennial event with the next edition to be held in 2013. The host city for the 2013 games will be announced in 2008. Read more
Vision, Mission & Values
World Outgames 2009 aims to create:
- An event based on the belief that cultural diversity is a condition for innovation, which is a condition for value creation in society – economically, socially, and culturally.
- An event that addresses the head, the heart, and the body. The head through the human rights conference, the heart through the culture and art programs, and the body through the sports program.
- An event whose ambition is to release the talent reserves and elevate the life quality of the LGBT community in Denmark and the rest of the world.
Values
World Outgames 2009 is built on five pillars that express the values of our organization:
- Sustainability. World Outgames 2009 will be a healthy and balanced organization both in relation to finance, stakeholder relationships, and environmental responsibility.
- Cultural diversity. World Outgames 2009, a forum where people of every sexuality, gender, age, race, nationality, and religion meet in a spirit of tolerance to enjoy and learn from the richness of human diversity.
- Social Innovation. World Outgames 2009 not only supports and develops partnerships across the public, private, and volunteer sectors, it also ensures that everyone feels they get more out of the relationships than they put in.
- Transparency. World Outgames 2009 will give its partners as well as the general public access to and the opportunity to influence the professional, economic, and organization developments up to the launch of the event in Copenhagen.
- Generosity. The World Outgames 2009 organization will freely share its knowledge, contacts, and considerations. Read more
World Outgames 2nd International Conference on LGBT Human Rights
Size and Scope
About 800 delegates from 85 countries will participate in the 3-day conference, which will be held at the brand new and spectacular Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s Concert centre and the new IT University. The conference program will include a wide range of leading international keynote speakers. The conference program also includes 6 workshop sessions with 110 workshops and speakers from over 70 countries. There will be space and time on site for informal meetings, networking, sharing resources and experiences.
Plenary Sessions and Workshops
The conference participants will be offered five plenary sessions featuring a number of internationally renowned and leading keynote speakers. The program also includes an opening ceremony and a final session, which will promote and celebrate a series of good practices and initiatives presented by the Danish Institute for Human Rights. The conference participants will be able to choose from more than 110 workshops which will deal with many aspects of the ten conference themes: Human Rights and Politics; Out for Business; Workers Out!; Culture and Media; Health;Education; Sport; Family and Relationships; Sexuality, Pleasure and Body Politics. But there is also a focus on Mainstreaming since LGTB people are not a homogeneous group.
Catalogue of Good Practices
A central aim of the conference is to collect and highlight a series of good examples and projects – concrete initiatives that make a positive difference in your region, in your organisation, at your workplace, in your children’s schools, in your country etc. The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) coordinates the selection of the good practices for the Copenhagen Catalogue of Good Practices – a collation of 20 good practices to remind us of the progress we have made so far and send us home with new inspiration and empowerment.
Welcome to Copenhagen!
We look forward to welcoming you to Copenhagen. Let’s make the ”Love of Freedom – Freedom to Love” conference in Copenhagen a truly great occasion and the next landmark in our fight for full equality for LGBT people around the world. Read more
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