Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2023 Co-Hosting with Guadalajara
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The Federation of Gay Games and Gay Games Hong Kong 2023 have announced that Guadalajara will be the presumptive co-host of next year’s 11th Gay Games, taking place in November 2023. Hong Kong was originally supposed to hold the games in 2022 (and Guadalajara was a finalist for the 2022 and 2026 Gay Games), though last September the games were pushed to November 2023 due to Covid.
Gay Games Hong Kong 2023 will be a nine-day diversity festival with sports, arts and culture events organized by the LGBTQ+ community.
Lisa Lam, co-chair of Gay Games Hong Kong 2023, said, “By having Gay Games 11 accessible to participants across two locations we can ensure we meet our aim of being as inclusive as possible while international travel continues to recover. We will still be holding the first Gay Games in Asia, but potentially for the first time in Latin America as well, welcoming the widest possible audience to both cities. There is a huge amount of planning to do and we will be providing more detailed updates as soon as we are in a position to share more information.”
Sean Fitzgerald, co-president of the Federation of Gay Games, said, “We are energized by this opportunity to organize the first Gay Games in Asia and in Latin America both in November 2023. While the Games are two years away, we are embarking on a mountain of feasibility studies and planning to be undertaken in collaboration between the FGG, Hong Kong and Guadalajara. The passion of these two teams will bring to life the vision of Dr. Tom Waddell and the mission of the Gay Games: participation, inclusion and personal best.”
With Hong Kong and Guadalajara co-hosting the event, the Federation of Gay Games will have more options and flexibility dealing with any type of pandemic protocols and changes, to ensure that the event actually goes forward in 2023.
Having two cities co-host the event on different continents will be a great way to reach out to the queer communities in both Hong Kong and in Mexico — and worldwide — and keep the events accessible with all of the different international travel restrictions that could be in place.
