Hong Kong will come down in history as the first Asian city to be nominated - and possibly host - the Gay Games in 2022. Hong Kong is up against 17 other cities such as Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Cape Town, Tel Aviv, and Guadalajara. 

Prominent LGBT group Out is backing the city's bid. 

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"40 per cent of Hong Kong is nature parks, which opens up lots of opportunities for activities and events the Gay Games have never held before. Also, the city does have 24-hour entertainment," Out founder Dennis Philipse told Hong Kong FP. 

Philipse added that the Gay Games will be a great opportunity to change how Hong Kong residents see the LGBT community. 

"LGBT issues in Asia are still a bit of a challenge legally, and is not on the same level compared to other places in the world," Philipse said.

The bidding process started on March 3 this year. The Federation of Gay Games will select the 2022 host on October next year. 

Cleveland, Ohio hosted the Gay Games in 2014. More than 10,000 people from 60 countries competed in more than 37 events. The sporting event injected $52 million ($HK400 million) to the economy due to a boost in tourism. 

"There is certainly an argument, often conjecture about why a particular city has won the bid to host in the past, and some cities have made that argument before that 'the Gay Games needs to come here because we need to improve LGBT rights in that area' so that could be an element of someone's decision to vote for a particular host, to make a real human rights change in that area," Leviathen Hendricks, a board member of the Federation of Gay Games, told the Sunday Morning Post. 

San Francisco hosted the first ever Gay Games back in 1982. It has since become the largest sporting event that caters to LGBT athletes in particular. 

TagsHong Kong, Gay Games, Gay Games 2022, LGBT in Hong Kong, LGBT in Asia, out, LGBT group Out