Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds said the City of Perth is proud to welcome the Gay Games to Perth in 2030 describing it as a “landmark event”.
Mayor Reynolds said the global event would further strengthen the city’s reputation as a hub of inclusion and diversity.
“For more than 27 years, the City has supported Pride WA, and we’re thrilled to see their bid to host the Gay Games 2030 come to fruition,” Reynolds said.
“Earlier this year, we welcomed representatives from the Federation of Gay Games to Council House during their visit to Perth and we look forward to continuing that support as the city prepares to host the Games in 2030.” the Lord Mayor said.
“Through our LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group, the City has also developed the LGBTQIA+ Plan 2025–2029, which aims to make Perth an even more welcoming and supportive place to live, visit, and work.
“The successful bid to host the Gay Games 2030 was identified as a key milestone in this plan, and we’re delighted to see it become a reality.”
Perth was announced as the host city for the long running international event after successfully bidding against 25 cities around the globe to be the 2030 host. The announcement was made in Valencia Spain, the city that will host the 2026 games.
Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne had all been in the running to be the 2030 host city. Adelaide’s bid was knocked out of consideration in August 2024, but both Perth and Melbourne made the top 10 cities being considered. Melbourne subsequently withdrew their bid when financial support could not be assured.
The Gay Games made their debut in San Francisco in 1982. Originally they were called the Gay Olympics.
The idea for a gay sporting competition akin to the Olympics was the brainchild of Olympian Tom Waddell. Wadell participated in the Decathlon in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, before becoming a medical doctor. He saw the need for a LGBTIQA+ focused event as people often experienced discrimination in the sporting realm.
Unlike the Olympics, there is no qualifying round, those who are willing to make the trip to the host city and take part are welcomed, and there is no requirement to disclose your sexuality.
Since its initial set up in San Franciso, which hosted the inaugural event in 1982 and the follow up in 1986, the event has been held in many cities.
Vancouver, New York, Amsterdam, Sydney, Chicago, Cologne, Cleveland-Akron and Paris have all played host.
The most recent games were originally planned to be held in Hong Kong in 2022, but they were pushed back a year due the Corona virus pandemic. Guadalajara in Mexico was added as an additional host city with events split across the two locations.
