2023 Gay Games

The XI Gay Games 2023, also known as Gay Games 11, GGHK2023, GGGDL2023 and Hong Kong - Guadalajara Gay Games 2023, is an upcoming international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organised by, but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) athletes, artists and musicians, known as Gay Games.[1]

Gay Games 11
Hong Kong - Guadalajara 2023
Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2023 Logo — Games for All.
Host cityHong Kong and Guadalajara, Mexico
MottoUnity in Diversity
在多元中團結
GGHK Games for All.
Juntos Creando Historia
Edition11th
SportsHong Kong: Badminton, Dodgeball, Dragon Boat Racing, Field Hockey, Fencing, Football (Soccer), Marathon: Full & Half, Open Water Swimming, Swimming, Road Races: 5 km & 10km, Mah Jong, Martial Arts, Rowing, Rugby Sevens, Sailing, Squash, Table Tennis, Tennis, Trail Running
Events36 sports & Arts & Culture events
Opening3 November 2023
Closing11 November 2023
Websitegghk2023.com/en/

Originally planned to take place from 11 to 19 November 2022, it was eventually rescheduled [2] as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.[3]

Bidding process

In 2014 Dennis Philipse (a Dutch national, living in Hong Kong for long time) founded the community group OUT in HK to build an active community in Hong Kong. He remembered the Gay Games from 1998 in Amsterdam, and dreamt about bringing the Gay Games for the first time in its 40-year history to Asia. Link to TED talk by Dennis Philipse here In 2014 he reached out to the Federation of Gay Games, to join the bidding process, and built the GGHK volunteer organisation from scratch. The bidding process included submitting a 300-page bid book proposal. And after being short-listed against Washington D.C. and Guadalajara (Mexico) in March 2017, all short-listed cities organised a 4-day site visit inspection for the inspectors in May 2017. In October 2017 each short-listed city had to do their final presentations in Paris, followed by the voting and winner announcement.

Hong Kong was announced as the host city of the 11th Gay Games, at a gala event at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, on October 30, 2017. They won with a clear majority of votes, in the first round of voting by the delegates of the Federation of Gay Games. It is the first time that the Gay Games will be held in Asia.

The "longlist" of cities interested in bidding to host Gay Games XI in 2022 was announced in April 2016.[4] An unprecedented seventeen cities were interested in bidding. On 30 June 2016, the Federation of Gay Games announced that eleven cities had submitted their Letter Of Intent to formally bid.[5] Anaheim, Atlanta, Des Moines, Madison, Minneapolis and San Antonio decided not to pursue their option to bid. On July 31, 2016, nine cities submitted their second registration fee to remain in the bid process. Both Cape Town and Tel Aviv dropped out at this stage, stating an intention to bid for Gay Games XII in 2026. On November 30, 2016, Bid Books were submitted by eight candidate cities with Los Angeles dropping out at this stage.

A shortlist of three Candidate Cities was announced on March 1, 2017. Guadalajara, Hong Kong and Washington, DC, hosted site visits before the final decision on the host city was made in Paris on Monday 30 October.[6]

On 14 February 2022, Guadalajara was added as the co-host of this games.[7]

Postponement and co-hosting

In September 2021, the organisers announced that the 2022 Gay Games would be postponed one year, to November 2023, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Hong Kong's strict travel quarantine protocols.[2][8]

Due to the uncertain situation in Hong Kong, in February 2021, after 7 years (of which the last 2 years full-time) in volunteer capacity, Dennis Philipse stepped down from his role as leader to focus on his professional life. The decision was also made to co-host the Gay Games 11 event between Hong Kong and Guadalajara (Mexico), as Guadalajara was the 2nd winner running up.[9]

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was originally scheduled for 11 November 2022,[3] before being postponed into 3 November 2023.

Events and venues

The games will feature 22 sport together with arts & culture events throughout Hong Kong. The venues are yet to be confirmed.[3]

In June 2023, The Hong Kong Free Press reported that track and field events, field hockey and Rugby 7s were to be removed from the programme after low registration numbers.[10]

Controversies

National Security Law enforcement

In 2021, the Taiwanese delegation announced that they will not send their athletes to the 2022 Gay Games for fear that members of the team could be arrested under the Hong Kong national security law, enacted in 2020.[11]

In June 2023, 5 prominent Hong Kong human rights activists call for Gay Games to be canceled citing concerns for safety of LGBT participants after a crack down on protests under the Hong Kong national security law.[12] The activists criticised the organisers of the event saying "the GGHK leadership team has betrayed the values and principles of the Gay Games, which purport to celebrate inclusion and promote human rights. Instead, they have aligned themselves with pro-authoritarian figures responsible for widespread persecution against the people of Hong Kong.".[13].

See also

References
  1. The History of LGBT Participation in the Olympics Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Kwan, Rhoda (15 September 2021). "Exclusive: Hong Kong Gay Games postponed due to Covid travel restrictions". Hong Kong Free Press.
  3. "Federation of Gay Games - Gay Games 11 - Hong Kong & Guadalajara". gaygames.org. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  4. "Federation of Gay Games Announces Prospective 2022 Gay Games XI Bid Cities". Facebook. April 19, 2016. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2021.[self-published]
  5. "Federation of Gay Games Announces Cities Continuing 2022 Gay Games XI Bid Process". Facebook. July 1, 2016. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2021.[self-published]
  6. "Federation of Gay Games Announces Cities Continuing 2022 Gay Games XI Bid Process". CISION PR Newswire. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  7. Chibbaro Jr., Lou (17 February 2022). "Guadalajara to co-host 2023 Gay Games with Hong Kong". The Washington Blade. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  8. "Gay Games delayed by one year due to Covid". RTHK. 15 September 2021.
  9. Kelly Ho (2022-02-14). "Hong Kong Gay Games chief resigns citing 'uncertainty' over Covid-19 travel rules; Mexican city to potentially co-host". Hong Kong Free Press.
  10. Ho, Kelly (2 June 2023). "Exclusive: Hong Kong Gay Games 2023 axes track and field, field hockey and Rugby 7s after poor sign-ups". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  11. Wang, Amber; Taylor, Jerome (6 August 2021). "Taiwan won't attend Hong Kong's Gay Games fearing security law". Hong Kong Free Press.
  12. Bickett, Samuel (7 June 2023). "5 Hong Kong human rights activists call for Gay Games to be canceled". Outsports. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  13. Bickett, Samuel (7 June 2023). "5 Hong Kong human rights activists call for Gay Games to be canceled". Outsports. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
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