Last week, an event was held to mark the start of the 12-month countdown to Guadalajara co-hosting next year’s Gay Games, scheduled November 3-11, 2023.
Said Anna Bárbara Casillas García, strategic coordinator for Social Development in Jalisco: “Although we are a state in which sports is a priority, allowing us to have the kind of facilities to host the Gay Games, we are also a state that has committed itself to the LGBTTTIQ+ community, recognizing (the rights of) transgender children, marriage equality and lesbian adoptive parenthood.”
Rocío Lancaster Jones, general director of Tourism Promotion, said the city will welcome 8,000 athletes along with more than 16,000 companions, whose economic impact will be upward of 600 million pesos.
The Gay Games was first held in 1982 in San Francisco. Among sports included in the event are athletics, basketball, wrestling, swimming, volleyball, diving, softball, water polo, badminton and tennis.