The Gay Games is an 11-day multidisciplinary sports and cultural event with athletes from more than 50 countries.
Together with Munich and Valencia, Guadalajara is one of the three finalist cities in contention to host the games in 2026. This November in Brighton, UK, the three cities will be presented and members will vote to reach a final verdict of the winning city.
Jalisco Government authorities, headed by Anna Bárbara Casillas García, General Strategic Coordinator of Social Development; Mónica E. Sánchez Torres, General Director of International Affairs; and Andrés Treviño Luna, Director of Sexual Diversity, welcomed the organizing committee of the 'Gay Games.' This multidisciplinary sports and cultural event has been held since 1980 and has as the main objective to make the LGBTQIA+ community visible.
The members of the Organizing Committee visited the municipality of Guadalajara over the weekend to carry out an inspection of the city in order to know the mobility, sports, and cultural infrastructure that Guadalajara offers to host and deliberate the games.
When welcoming the attendees, the General Strategic Social Development Coordinator stressed that the Gay Games are an opportunity to promote the construction of societies without discrimination or hatred, where all sexual orientations and all identities are accepted.
"With the search for this candidacy to host the Gay Games in 2026, the city of Guadalajara and the State of Jalisco reaffirm their commitment to continue supporting respect for freedom, diversity, and tolerance."
She also added that Guadalajara currently holds the title of the ‘Sports Capital of the World,’ and next year it will also be the World Book Capital. In this sense, Guadalajara has 84 sports units and 5 multipurpose gyms, in addition to the San Rafael Park and the Alcalde, Paradero, Code II, López Mateos, Ávila Camacho, Revolución and the Metropolitan Sports Centers.
It should be noted that this is the second time that Guadalajara has applied to host the Gay Games. On the first occasion, it lost to Hong Kong, who will host the games for 2022. On this occasion, it was of the utmost importance that the delegates appreciate the advances and improvements that have been made in the city on issues such as mobility, infrastructure, and public policies for sexual diversity, among others.
During his welcoming speech, the Director of Sexual Diversity of Jalisco, Andrés Treviño Luna, celebrated Guadalajara's candidacy and commented that this has helped to position the Jalisco capital as a city of rights and freedoms for the community, so 'La The possibility of hosting the Gay Games is not only a demonstration of diversity but a huge achievement for our city; We are very proud to show the city that we love so much and its inhabitants, because each one of them is the reason why from the Government of Jalisco we work to make Guadalajara a safer, more inclusive and fairer place. ''
Winning the venue to host these games represents welcoming 14,000 athletes plus their companions, which would entail a hotel spill of approximately eight million dollars and a tourist spill that could reach up to 52 million dollars.
The application to these games is one more step for the Government of Jalisco in the agenda to make this state a place where all people have the same rights and live with dignity, free and equal.