What is the Gay Games?

The Gay Games is a 10-day sports and culture event that occurs every four years in a different city of the world.

What level of sporting ability do I need to have?

Anyone can participate in the Gay Games, regardless of your sporting level. There is room at the Gay Games for elite athletes as well as complete beginners.

Is the Gay Games only open to gay people?

The Gay Games is open to everyone, regardless of your sexuality, gender, age or any other characteristic.

The event is designed to centre the experience of LGBTQ+ people in sports and culture, but everyone is welcome to attend and participate.

How do I participate in the next Gay Games?

Our next event will be held in València in June 2026. Soon we will open registrations, and you will be able to signup to participate in the sports that you choose.

To be informed when registration opens, please join our mailing list at the bottom of this page.

What happens at the Gay Games?

When you arrive in València in June 2026 you will need to first go to the Festival Village where you can collect your accreditation badge, your program of events, and a goody bag.

Next will be the Opening Ceremony - an incredible event with thousands of people and lots of entertainment, where all the participants will parade around the stadium with others from their country.

After this you’ll be invited to participate in your sports competitions, which depending on the sport will be a single event (e,g. the marathon) or over multiple days (e.g. soccer matches).

Once your sport competitions are over there will be medal ceremony where the top participants in your category will receive bronze, silver and gold medals on a podium.

Throughout the 10 days there will be multiple cultural events occuring, from choruses and performances, art exhibitons, parties, workshops and lectures, dance classes and much much more.

There will also be two very important events: the International Memorial Rainbow Run which is a fun 5k run around the city, and the Memorial Quilt which is a moment to reflect on people we have lost over the past years.

And to complete the programming for the event, we’ll host a huge Closing Ceremony packed with performances and people to mark the end of the quadrennial celebration.

Why does the Gay Games need to exist?

Mainstream sport is a difficult place for LGBTQ+ people to compete in. Whether it is trans people being banned for competing altogether, or people having to hide their sexuality to feel accepted by their teammates, or players being harrassed by fans forcing them to underperform.

Our goal is to present a safe space for all members of the LGBTQ+ community to participate in sports. And we believe that this is a model for how all sports should be played - where gender and sexuality have no impact on your ability to play sports.

Are trans and non-binary people able to participate in the Gay Games?

Absolutely.

Here at the Gay Games we believe that everyone should be able to compete as the gender they identify as, without question.

Our sporting competitions are managed by international bodies which mostly have male and female categories for competitions. Both cis and trans people can choose which of those two categories they prefer to compete in.

Some of these international entities have separate categories for non-binary people (such as powerlifting) but where they do not, non-binary people are invited to choose whichever category they feel most comfortable in.

Any more questions?

We’re very happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to contact us by messaging us at contact@gaygames.net