In case you were wondering why there was both a Gay Games and an Outgames it's because the gays are typically feuding among themselves. The Federation of Gay Games wanted to centralize the finances following the debacle that was the 2002 Sydney Gay Games, thus taking away some financial freedom from individual organizers, and the group organizing the Gay Games in Montreal was none too pleased. Rather than reconcile, the group split off from the Federation of Gay Games and put together the Outgames.

Both events drew about the same number of participants, and both generated a good amount of revenue for the cities of Chicago and Montreal, but we think it would have been more productive, and competitive, had there only been one gay sports tournament this summer. We hope the queens in charge of both the Gay Games and Outgames will take a hard look at how dividing an already fringy tournament makes the competition seem like a joke.

No reconciliation for gay sports competitions [Washington Blade]

• Thursday's WorldPride vigil in Jerusalem's central square – already the focus of much controversy – was hijacked by Lebanon war protestors, who carried their near the gathering. Police had to detain some protesters and intervened to keep them from stampeding over the vigil. [Jerusalem Post]

• Though the organizers of the Gay Games and OutGames have zero intention of coming together for a single sports event, many athletes hope they do; many "missed the unification that one event offers." [Washington Blade]

• Washington D.C.'s Gay Men's Chorus performed the national anthem at Tuesday night's Washington Nationals basketball game — to a standing ovation (though it might've had something to do with the crowd already being on their feet during the "Star Spangled Banner"). [Advocate]

• In New Mexico, more arrests come in the gay bashing case of an 18-year-old. Twenty-one-year-old Leroy Segura and Cecily Gonzales, 16, join two suspects already in custody. [Advocate]

• In Ireland, a gay hotel that was supposed to go up in a small town will now just be a fleeting memory. Promoter Brian Berry had planned on revamping the Carlow hotel but the current owner decided instead to sell it off to a heterosexual couple. [Pink News]

• Though he'll continue to play for Real Madrid, David Beckham won't have a spot on the English national team. While he stepped down from being captain after the World Cub, Beckham isn't being put on the roster by England's new manager Steve McClaren. [CNN]

• Esquire names Sean Preston Federline the "Worst Dressed Man in the World." [Page Six, last item]

The Outgames opened in Montreal Saturday night, and while many famous people made appearances and performances (Martha Wash, Deborah Cox, k.d. lang), one very famous Canadian was conspicuously absent: Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

k.d. lang has been outspoken about the PM's intent to skip the games:

It's a sad statement that the national leader of one of the most progressive countries in the world chooses to support intolerance rather than all-inclusiveness. It's our job to see that as an unfortunate ignorance, rather than as a statement against us," she said. "It's just that he hasn't got there in his heart.

In his place, Federal Public Works Minister Michael Fortier (pictured above left) tried to make a speech, but was booed so loudly he had trouble finishing. No wonder Harper didn't want to attend. Or did he?

Fortier booed during opening ceremony [Globe and Mail]
PM 'supports intolerance' by not attending Outgames, singer says [CBC]

With the Gay Games just wrapping up last week in Chicago, we thought we could put our rainbow pennants away for the summer, but we were mistaken. In fact we hardly even had time to catch our breath before a whole new squad of sexy homo athletes is paraded out, this time in Montreal. The opening ceremonies for the Outgames are happening this weekend, and 12,000-13,000 participants are expected to invade Canada's second-gayest city.

Perhaps notoriously freezing Montreal will be a more temperate climate than Chicago was with its record-breaking heat, though that could potentially mean fewer naked gays running around in the street. One more reason to head up north is that the co-President of the Outgames is Canadian Olympic gold medalist and Queerty favorite Mark Tewksbury. We hang on his every word.

Thousands heading to Montreal for Outgames [CTV]
Outgames 2006 [Official Site]