Hong Kong Gay Games needs more support, lawmaker Regina Ip says as event struggles to find venues

Organisers for next year’s Games, which will run from November 11 to 19, have yet to find half of 56 sites for dozens of sports and cultural events

Ip says the event, which promotes sexual diversity, should receive more backing as it would help Hong Kong maintain its metropolitan image

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Participants from the UK team at the opening ceremony of the Gay Games in Sydney in 2002. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:16pm, 9 Jun 2021Updated: 2:16am, 10 Jun 2021

A lawmaker has urged the Hong Kong government to throw more support to the organiser of the coming Gay Games, noting that they are having difficulty in finding venues to hold the events.

At a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said the international event should be facilitated as it would help the city maintain its metropolitan image.

“The organiser was saying they had yet to find half of 56 sites they needed, while some national sports associations refused to cooperate at all,” said Ip, the chairwoman of the New People’s Party.

Lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Photo: SCMP / K.Y. Cheng

But the event had drawn the ire of some lawmakers, with one calling the event “disgraceful”.

“We respect people with different sexual orientation. Whatever you do in your room, it’s your own business. But if you do it in public, it’s disgraceful,” said Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, adding the government should not support the event.

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