Perth has progressed in its bid to host the 2030 Gay Games making it through to the next round of consideration.

The bidding process formally started in December 2023 with an Expression of Interest. There were initially 25 cities in the race. 

That lost was culled to just 10 cities from around the globe were in contention to hold the massive sporting event, but the field has narrowed to just seven locations after each city presented their “Bid Book’ a document that outlines how the propose to host the event.

With Adelaide, Vancouver and Frankfurt out of the running, Perth is now facing off against Auckland, Cape Town, Denver, Melbourne, Taipei and Edmonton in Canada.

The next round is an in-person bid presentation in Washington DC in October 2024. Three finalist cities will then be announced in December 2024.

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.

With thousands of athletes and spectators coming from interstate and overseas, Pride WA say the Gay Games will be a huge win for the WA tourism economy and put Perth on the global LGBTQIA+ map.

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 Gay Games began in San Francisco

The Gay Games made their debut in San Francisco in 1982. Originally they were called the Gay Olympics.

The idea for a gay sporting competition akin to the Olympics was the brainchild of Olympian Tom Waddell. Wadell participated in the Decathlon in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, before becoming a medical doctor. He saw the need for a LGBTIQA+ focused event as people often experienced discrimination in the sporting realm.

Unlike the Olympics, there is not qualifying round, those who are willing to make the trip to the host city and take part are welcomed, and there is no requirement to disclose your sexuality.

Since its initial set up in San Franciso, which hosted the inaugural event in 1982 and the follow up in 1986, the event has been held in many cities.

Vancouver, New York, Amsterdam, Sydney, Chicago, Cologne, Cleveland-Akron and Paris have all played host.

The most recent games were originally planned to be held in Hong Kong in 2022, but they were pushed back a year due the Corona virus pandemic. Guadalajara in Mexico was added as an additional host city with events split across the two locations.

The Gay Games are a different event to the World Out Games, a splinter organisation that emerged in the early 2000s.

Their event came crashing down in 2017 when on the first day of the 10-day-long event in Miami organisers emailed participants to announce it had been cancelled. A move leaving sports people who had travelled from around the globe dumbfounded.