Gay Games: what are the games that Guadalajara could host in 2026

The sports fair of sexual diversity was proposed in 1980 by Tom Waddell, who was an American decathlete who participated in the Olympic Games. The main objectives of the event are: universal participation regardless of gender, socially established sexual orientation, religion or nationality. That is why the Federation of Gay Games established:

The first time the Games created by Waddell were held in 1982 in San Francisco and they welcomed athletes from just over 100 countries. This sporting event is similar to the Olympic Games, but athletes feel freer to have space for the LGBT community. The sports in which they could represent their country were: basketball, physique, weightlifting, football, softball, tennis, athletics, volleyball, wrestling, bowling, cycling, diving, golf, marathon.

For the eleventh edition of the Gay Games, which will be held in Hong Kong in November 2022, that situation changed, as they will be able to participate in 36 disciplines. The inclusive sports fair will be represented by more than 10, 000 athletes. The new sports that will be included are dodgeball and dragon boat practiced in that region.

At the 2018 sporting event, Paris hosted the Game Gays and held a series of conferences related to sport, welfare and how to combat discrimination in this social field. All previous events have had cultural practices where they express situations that concern both the LGBT community and people in general, to give vision of diversity.

All cities that are considering hosting the sports fair must meet a series of requirements for members of the Gay Games Federation to choose a city:

In the field of human rights, the values of the Gay Games, which are participation, inclusion and personal improvement, must be respected. With regard to cultural events, dates, times, location, accessibility and transfer time have to be established. The headquarters should be an LGBT+ destination with local, institutional and secure support. Also, the organizing city must consider the costs and have adequate sports facilities for the competitions.

The National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE), announced that this Friday an inspection will be held in Guadalajara, Jalisco, which is one of the finalists to host the Gay Games in 2026. The six members of the General Assembly will be in the Tapatias lands until August 23.

Ana Gabriela Guevara, the Director of CONADE and the Mexican Sports Federation of Diversity AC will follow up on the candidacy. The other finalist cities competing with Mexico are Valencia, Spain and Munich, Germany. The nomination of the winning venue will be announced through the Annual Meeting of the Federation of Gay Games, which will take place in November 2021.

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