The Federation of Gay Games (FGG) has announced eight cities under consideration for the 2026 Gay Games XII bid process – Auckland, Brisbane, Guadalajara, Munich, San Diego, Taipei, Toronto and Valencia.
The Gay Games is a global quadrennial sport and cultural event open to all. Over the course of the nine-day event the host city receives a boost to their economy with an injection of more than $100 million dollars, and their LGBTQ+ population receives support with the presence of approximately 12,000 participants from around the world.
Sean Fitzgerald, FGG Co-President, said: ‘I’m excited to see the diversity of the locations of the bidding cities. To have representation from eight countries on four continents highlights the global impact of the Gay Games.’
Joanie Evans, FGG Co-President, added: ‘I am very impressed with the number of cities who have bidded for the 2026 Gay Games. We are thrilled at both the scale and calibre of entries all vying to host our 2026 event. In this time of worldwide ‘unpredictability’, I have more faith that our message of equality in sport and culture will continue to resonate around the world.’
Primary Bid Books are due on November 1, 2020.
Built upon the principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best since 1982, the FGG exists to promote equality in sport and culture. The Gay Games was conceived by Dr. Tom Waddell, an Olympic decathlete, and was first held in San Francisco in 1982. Subsequent Gay Games: San Francisco (1986), Vancouver (1990), New York (1994), Amsterdam (1998), Sydney (2002), Chicago (2006), Cologne (2010), Cleveland+Akron (2014) and Paris (2018).
David Killian, FGG Officer of Site Selection, said: ‘This is a competitive and lengthy process, and we are grateful for all of the organisations’ hard work. The impact that the Gay Games has in host cities is incredible in terms of culture, sport, economic impact, history and most importantly furthering all matters of LGBTQ+ equality.’
Gay Games 11 will take place November 11-19, 2022 in Hong Kong. The Gay Games is open to all who wish to participate and has no qualifying standards. Registration will open in Q2 of 2021. CLICK HERE for details.
You must be logged in to post a comment.