Soccer star Josh Cavallo has voiced his support for the 2030 Gay Games being held in Adelaide.
Last week organisers of the international sporting event announced their ‘long list’ of potential host cities for the event. Previous outings of the games have drawn 10,000 participants to the host city, a significant boon for local tourism.
Three Australian cities are on the list Melbourne, Adelade and Perth, with Pride WA leading the push for the event to be held on the west coast.
Cavallo has understandably backed his hometown of Adelaide to ne the successful bid, a move which is sure to have the team at Pride WA asking if anyone has a connection to Sam Kerr.
“This is a sporting city and it’s an inclusive city. The idea of having such a huge event, that throws Adelaide onto the world’s stage, is incredibly exciting,” he told the Star Observer.
“Hosting the Gay Games in Adelaide wouldn’t just be a win for the LGBTQIA+ community – it would also be a win for everyone, because sport is for everyone – regardless of gender, sexuality, race or religion.”
Cavallo publicly came out in 2021 making him the first A-League player in his sport to share that they were gay during their playing career. Following his announcement the player experienced a torrent of homophobic abuse.
Adelaide’s bid is being driven by the team behind the high successful Feast Festival.
Pride WA are campaigning for the event to be held in Perth. Last week Pride CEO Dr Lauren (Laurie) Butterly said now was the perfect time for Perth to be putting its hand up following a dramatic rise in the number of LGBTIQA+ sporting clubs in recent years.
We are so excited to be bidding for the Gay Games 2030. Perth has an incredibly vibrant and diverse LGBTQIA+ sports community that has grown and flourished in recent years.
“This coupled with Perth’s strong sporting culture, great weather and world-class sporting facilities makes Perth the right city, at the right time, for the Gay Games 2030.” Dr Butterly said.
“LGBTQIA+ sports are so much more than exercise; it is an incredible community. In fact, LGBTQIA+ sports is where many of us find our home – including me.
“Bidding for the Gay Games is a way of sharing our vibrant LGBTQIA+ sports community with the world and continuing to bring us all even closer together.” Dr Butterly added.
The Gay Games are a mass participation sporting event focused on inclusion, personal best and fun for the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. The event offers multiple sports accompanied by a series of arts, cultural and entertainment events.
The next Gay Games are to be hosted in Valencia, Spain in 2026. The last time the Gay Games were hosted in Australia was Sydney 2002.
The bidding process formally started in December 2023 with an Expression of Interest. There were initially 25 cities in the race.
Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, Cape Town, Denver, Edmonton in Canada, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Taipei and Vancouver remain in contention for the 2030 event.
Pride WA say they are looking forward to working with local community groups including Team Perth to sure up Perth bid for the event. The final decision on which city will host the event will be announced in late 2025.
The next step in the selection process will see each city hoping to become the host submit the first draft of the ‘bid book’ – a document that describes how they aim to host the event.
Each of the cities will then make their pitch for event in Washington DC in October 2024, and the three finalists will be announced in December.
