GLISA and FGG nominated 14 members of the Working Group for the one quadrennial global lgbt sport event (2018 onward). EGLSF strongly salutes this step, which was one of the first concrete steps after the announcement of willingness for cooperation between both organisations, taken at the EGLSF Annual General Assembly in March 2010 in Manchester, UK.

Kurt Dahl, FGG co-president, stated: "Based on the request to collaborate from the international LGBTQ community, we, FGG and GLISA, have formed this Working Group. We know the task at hand is a difficult one, but we are confident that this group can create what the community wants us to create: One World Event in 2018 based on Sports, Culture and Human Rights in which both existing events Gay Games and Outgames come together".

Julia Applegate, GLISA International Chair added: "A key goal of this group is to define the content of this event. Based on the skill sets, background, knowledge and expertise of the Working Group, I am very confident this group will succeed in creating a very inspiring RFP document (Request for Proposal) on which the new event will be based".

The members of the JWG were selected by GLISA and FGG after an extensive consultation of the LGBTQ community. Interested candidates were able to nominate themselves as well as being nominated or referred to by others.

Emy Ritt, FGG Co-President observed: "Members of the Working Group come from various parts of the world which reflects the global focus of the event we all want to create in 2018. The event will be based on three components: Sport, Culture and Human Rights and will reflect the long legacy and best practices of both our events and organizations, but will also leave room for desired changes, reform and possible improvements".

Wessel van Kampen, GLISA International vice-Chair states: "The timeline for the JWG to produce the RFP document is tight, but realistic. We all understand what needs to be done and that along the line, we will have some serious nuts to crack. But we also know that we need to keep the end in mind: the 1st of a series of quadrennial global events with Sports, Cultural and Human Rights components that will unite our community in 2018 and beyond!"

GLISA representatives in the 1QE 2018 Working Group: Julia Applegate – Columbus, USA; Wessel van Kampen – Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Lin McDevitt-Pugh – Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Thomas K Dolan – Vancouver, Canada; Sumit Baugh – New Delhi, India; Kevin Haunui – Wellington, New Zealand; Gloria Careaga – Mexico City, Mexico.

FGG representatives in the 1QE 2018 Working Group: Emy Ritt – Paris, France; Kurt Dahl – Chicago, USA; Paul Oostenbrug – Chicago, USA; Martyn Pickup – Berlin, Germany; Leigh-Ann Naidoo – Cape Town, South Africa; Kelly Stevens – Seattle, USA; Jon Baldan – Sydney, Australia.

For information about the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), visit www.gaygames.com. For information about the Gay & Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA), visit www.glisa.org.