The first Gay Games in Asia
A first for Asia: Hong Kong opened the Gay Games. A sporting festival between new beginnings, the pandemic and headwinds.
On 3 November 2023, the eleventh Gay Games began in Hong Kong, the first ever held on Asian soil. The city had been awarded the event back in 2017. Then came the pandemic. The Games were postponed by a year, and because it remained unclear for a long time when Hong Kong would relax its strict entry rules, they were shared with Guadalajara in Mexico. Many athletes from Europe and the Americas then chose the shorter journey.
The original goals had been ambitious: organisers had once expected around fifteen thousand participants. In the end, just under two thousand four hundred came from around forty countries and territories. Alongside tennis, swimming and football, the programme also included dragon boat racing and mahjong. The formal opening ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium followed the next day, with a lion dance and the parade of delegations.
It did not all go smoothly. Several pro-government legislators called for a ban, above all Junius Ho, who saw the Games as a threat to national security. Out of concern for its athletes, Taiwan did not send a delegation to Hong Kong. The government, too, kept a conspicuously low profile. All the more attention went to Regina Ip, a pillar of the establishment. She gave the welcome speech at the opening and said history was being made that day.
Hopes were high. Shortly before, the highest court had set the government a deadline to legally recognise same-sex partnerships. Two years later, however, the legislature clearly rejected the corresponding bill. So the Gay Games remain a moment of great visibility in a city where queer rights are still won mainly in the courts.