The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes and artists. Founded as the "Gay Olympics", it was started in the United States in San Francisco, California, in 1982, as the brainchild of Olympic decathlete (Mexico City 1968) and medical doctor Tom Waddell. Hong Kong was announced as the host city of the 11th Gay Games in 2022 at a gala event in Paris on October 30, 2017. It won with a clear majority of votes, in the first round of voting. The event was delayed until 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is the first time that the Gay Games will be held in Asia
The team behind the first Gay Games in Asia is pushing forward with the planned November event in Hong Kong despite the efforts of five human rights activists to cancel it. Not backing down: The Gay Games Hong Kong (GGHK) team announced in a statement published on the event's official website on Monday that they are rejecting “any calls to cancel the Games” this year, adding that the team members are “dismayed and disappointed” that “people outside Hong Kong” are allegedly trying to sabotage the event. What happened: GGHK published its statement in response to a commentary written by five activists — Alex Chan, Clark Leung, Lorraine Pan, Adam Nelson and human rights activist and lawyer Samuel Bickett — on Outsports on June 7.