Hong Kong becomes first Asian city to host Gay Games in 2022

Hong Kong will host the Gay Games in 2022, becoming the first Asian city to stage the sports and cultural event.

The Chinese territory won the right to stage the 11th games, coming top of a shortlist of three also containing Guadalajara in Mexico and Washington DC in the US, after a vote in Paris by the Federation of Gay Games.

In total, a record 17 cities had expressed an interest in hosting the 2022 event, with 13 of those coming from the US.

The federation said: "The impact that the Gay Games has in host cities is incredible in terms of culture, sport, economic impact, history and most importantly elevating all matters of LGBT+ equality."

Hong Kong's win comes amid growing momentum for the gay rights in Asia, with Taiwan declaring in May that same-sex couples have the right to marry, the first such ruling in the region.

Hong Kong's Equal Opportunities Commission chairman Alfred Chan said: "This is a big step forward for Hong Kong itself to be able to win this world game ... and it is also a big step for diversity inclusion."

The games are promoted as the world's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender global sports and cultural gathering.

The bid team for the Chinese territory said they expect to attract more than 15,000 participants, which will provide a HK$1bn ($128m, £97m) boost to the economy.

Gay marriage is not legal in Hong Kong, but just last month the territory's appeals court granted a British woman's landmark legal challenge allowing her a spousal visa to live with her same-sex partner.

But China, which has governed the region since its British colonial status ended in 1997, still has make up ground on other Asian countries at the forefront of gay rights legislation.

It has been legal to be gay in China since 1997, but homosexuality was only taken off its health ministry's list of mental disorders in 2001.

While some major cities in China have thriving gay communities, many gay men in particular face family pressure to marry a woman, because family lines are seen as being passed down through men.

Also, it is difficult for lesbian and gay groups to protest for greater rights in China, as they have in other parts of the world, because the communist one-party state keeps a firm lid on public demonstrations for greater freedoms of any kind.

The 10th Gay Games will be held next year in Paris and will run for eight days from 4 August. The meeting will feature 36 sports, 14 cultural events and is expected to attract 15,000 participants from 70 countries.

The Gay Games was first held in San Francisco in 1982, and was the brainchild of American Olympic decathlete Tom Waddell.