ArticleMontreal organized, alongside the Out Games, The International Conference on GLBT Rights which was held July 26-29, a few days before the official opening of the Games.
The conference was an opportunity for human rights activists, lawyers, academics, and politicians from around the world to come together and assess, at a global scale, the progress made, opportunities lost, and possible future roads to take.
Conference participants attended five plenary sessions (North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and The Middle East/South Asia) featuring a number of internationally-renowned keynote speakers, and were able to choose from at least 200 workshops (40 simultaneously during each of five workshop sessions), which dealt with the many aspects of the five Conference themes: Essential Rights, Global Issues, the Diverse GLBT Community, Participation in Society, and Creating Social Change. The Conference also featured two "subconferences" (Workers Out! and Out for Business!), and a series of workshops (Out in Sport).
