Wele to the 'Gay Gam,' an Olympics alternative, where activism is enuraged and everyone's an athlete | CNN

Contents:

• WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE
• HOW COVID-19 DERAILED THE 2022 GAY GAM BEFORE THEY EVEN BEGAN
• HONG KONG TO HOST 2022 GAY GAM AS LGBTQ ACCEPTANCE GROWS PARTS OF ASIA
• THE GAYMG AWARDS WILL ONCE AGA CELEBRATE THE BT LGBTQ+ GAM IN 2022
• GAY GAM NAME MEXI A SEND HOST FOR 2023 WHILE STICKG WH HONG KONG
• PRI MONTH SPOTLIGHT: GAY GAM

WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE

They draw over 10, 000 athlet and sometim seven or eight tim as many spectators, said Shiv Pl, vice print of external relatns for the Feratn of Gay Gam.

And unlike at the Olympics, activism is enuraged at the Gay Gam, as has been sce the begng when the HIV/AIDS crisis was ravagg LGBTQ muni.

Above all, though, the Gay Gam are an event for queer and trans people to gather safely, play sports they love and be themselv whout fear of tolerance. The Gay Gam uld be an act of prott then, too, Wadll cid, an event durg which LGBTQ people uld play the same sports they watched durg the Olympics and achieve the same kd of glory he had at the 1968 Olympics.

HOW COVID-19 DERAILED THE 2022 GAY GAM BEFORE THEY EVEN BEGAN

HIV/AIDS awarens has been baked to the Gay Gam sce s ceptn: In addn to banng discrimatn based on genr, sexualy, race and other tras, the Gay Gam wouldn’t allow any participant to be turned away based on their HIV stat. The Gay Gam also succsfully lobbied the US ernment to briefly waive a prev ban on HIV-posive people enterg the untry so they uld pete the 1994 Gay Gam New York and the 1996 Olympics Atlanta, chang ma wh the help of the US Olympic Commtee.

And unlike the “regular Olympics, ” at the Gay Gam, a same-sex figurg skatg pair n don matchg nim jumpsus a performance set to “Hopelsly Devoted to You. Participatn the Gay Gam steadily grew every year was held, and 1994, at the New York Gay Gam, the number of participants exceed the number of athlet at the 1994 Wter Olympics.

HONG KONG TO HOST 2022 GAY GAM AS LGBTQ ACCEPTANCE GROWS PARTS OF ASIA

The openg ceremony of the Gay Gam is still emotnal all the years later, Pl said, pecially when participants om untri where homosexualy is not accepted march the Para of Natns. The marathon is g to a close for our falist ci for the 2022 Gay Gam XI: Guadalajara, (Gay Gam Guadalajara 2022), Hong Kong, (Gay Gam XI Hong Kong 2022) and Washgton, DC (Gay Gam DC 2022) 1 March 2017, the Feratn of Gay Gam (FGG) announced the 2022 Gay Gam XI shortlist bid ci, and se spectns began 19 June and nclud 1 July.

Fal prentatns, votg and selectn of the 2022 #GayGam XI host cy tak place 30 October at the 2017 Annual General Assembly  Paris, and the FGG will issue a worldwi prs release the moment the 2022 prumptive host is announced. But the Gay Gam were meant to be the on-brand, money-spng showpiece, posng Hong Kong as a lorful, tolerant statn, unaaid to wele ee-spendg LGBT visors at a time when thori maland Cha are crackg down on var forms of sexual and genr exprsn—and when the lol hospaly sector badly need a shot the arm. But beg entirely reliant on volunteers, the Hong Kong Gay Gam has never had the rourc to stute the kd of closed-loop system that ma the Beijg Olympics viable.

THE GAYMG AWARDS WILL ONCE AGA CELEBRATE THE BT LGBTQ+ GAM IN 2022

A view of the cy of Guadalajara, -host of the 11th Gay Gam, seen through the spir of the Cathedral of the Assumptn of Our Lady, Jalis, Mexi, on April 23, 2016. LGBT Rights Asia When the Feratn of Gay Gam award the host cy duti for the 11th Gam to Hong Kong, a spokperson for the cy’s bid said was a “major step for the LGBT muny the regn. The cy’s equal opportuny watchdog and tourism board have backed the Gay Gam, however, and a spokperson for John Lee, Hong Kong’s top official, tells TIME the ernment “fully rpects and is mted to protectg all rights and eedoms safeguard by the law.

The seri will n om 28 July 2022 - one month before the 40th anniversary of the origal Openg Ceremony at San Francis’s Kezar Stadium - through 5 September, the anniversary of Gay Gam I Closg Ceremony. Yet, as the anisers of Gay Gam 11 Hong Kong, we rema steadfast and mted to our origal visn of anisg the most clive and diverse Gam celebratg s 40 years history, and the first time Asia.

GAY GAM NAME MEXI A SEND HOST FOR 2023 WHILE STICKG WH HONG KONG

One year out of the origal schled date), OR should we postpone the event for a year so to enable FGG member anizatns to velop an appropriate trag schle for Gay Gam 11 2023, and make alternate arrangements for their own 2022 tournaments? Ltle did we know that jt as we were gettg ready to re-start Gay Gam 11 after the New Year holidays, Hong Kong was h wh the fifth wave of COVID January/Febary 2022, and we were put to our send tt. By havg Gay Gam 11 accsible to participants across two lotns we n ensure we meet our aim of beg as clive as possible while ternatnal travel ntu to rever.

PRI MONTH SPOTLIGHT: GAY GAM

We will still be holdg the first Gay Gam Asia, but potentially for the first time Lat Ameri as well, welg the wist possible dience to both ci.

MONICA SANCHEZ: La primera vez que supe Gay Gam fue cuando los miembros FGG visaron Gudalajara para nocer nutra ciudad o parte l proco nutra primera postulación en el 2017. Los Gay Gam eran un enigma para mí, aún cuando había sido parte l é los juegos panamerinos, ex voleibolista profnal playa y a mi par una atleta trada, no sabía la existencia dicho evento.