Hong Kong People Urged To Join In With Gay Games 2022

The co-chair of the Gay Games on Friday urged Hong Kong people to take part in what he called a "once in a lifetime event" that's being hosted in Asia for the first time.

Dennis Philipse said the nine-day event is scheduled for November next year, with an expected 12,000 participants and 75,000 spectators.

He said they had opened pre-registration "a couple of weeks ago" and had already had more than 1,000 applications from within the SAR and around the world.

"This is a once-in-our-lifetime event in Hong Kong. It will never come again," Philipse said.

The Gay Games started in San Francisco in 1982 and has been held around the world every four years ever since.

Philipse said the event is open to all, saying people wanted to have fun in the wake of the pandemic.

He said organisers have put contingency plans in place in the even that the 2022 event is affected by coronavirus.

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has also appealed to the public to support the Gay Games, calling for respect and an inclusive attitude.

The EOC spoke out after some lawmakers expressed reservations about the event, with Junius Ho claiming that the games would "bring dirty money" to the city.