When the World Gets It Wrong, Valencia Gets It Right

The Gay Games XII is coming to Valencia in 2026, and it is everything sport should be.

There is something quietly extraordinary about watching the world of sport tie itself in knots over who is and is not allowed to compete, while across the Mediterranean, a city is busy building something that looks a lot like the future. Valencia is preparing to host the Gay Games XII from 27 June to 4 July 2026, and I cannot tell you how much joy that gives me.

What sport has been getting wrong

Over the past few years, governing bodies in sport after sport have introduced policies that effectively exclude transgender women from female competition. The International Olympic Committee, World Athletics, World Aquatics, and others have each drawn their own lines, citing fairness and integrity, while trans athletes have been told, in effect, that there is no place for them at the table. The debate has often been framed as though inclusion and fairness are opposites, as though welcoming trans people into sport necessarily harms someone else. That framing is not only scientifically contested, it is deeply unkind, and it has left many trans and gender-diverse people feeling that sport is simply not for them.

What gets lost in all of this is the reason most people play sport in the first place. They play to feel their body move, to belong to a team, to challenge themselves, to make friends, to feel alive. None of those reasons have anything to do with genetics or testosterone levels. They are human reasons, and they deserve a human response.

What Valencia is building instead

The Gay Games began in San Francisco in 1982, founded by Dr Tom Waddell, a former Olympic decathlete who believed that sport should be for everyone. The founding principle was simple and radical: participation over exclusion, joy over judgement, community over competition. More than four decades later, that principle is more relevant than ever.

Gay Games XII in Valencia will bring together thousands of participants from around the world across 39 sports, from swimming and athletics to fencing, figure skating, powerlifting, and padel. There is also a rich cultural programme alongside the sports, with choral festivals, film, fashion, art, and more. The Opening Ceremony will be spectacular. The Village will be full of people who came from every corner of the world to simply be themselves and compete.

Crucially, the Games are open to everyone. You do not need to identify as LGBTQIA+ to take part. You just need to want to be there.

Why this matters beyond sport

I want to be honest with you about why I find this so moving. When trans people are told, again and again, by institutions and governments and governing bodies, that they are a problem to be managed, that their bodies are a controversy, that their presence disrupts things, it takes a toll. It takes a toll on young people who are just starting to understand themselves. It takes a toll on adults who have spent years fighting for recognition. It takes a toll on families who just want their children to be able to live fully and freely.

Events like the Gay Games do not fix all of that. They are not a policy solution or a legal framework. What they are is a reminder: a reminder that belonging is possible, that joy is possible, that there are places in this world where you are not a debate or a disruption, but simply a person who showed up to play.

Valencia has long been a city of warmth and welcome. The fact that it will host these Games, with the full support of the Spanish government, the Generalitat Valenciana, and the city council, says something important about what sport can look like when institutions choose inclusion over exclusion.

Come and be part of it

If you have ever felt that sport was not for you, I want you to know that this is your invitation. Whether you are trans, non-binary, gender-questioning, or an ally who simply believes that everyone deserves to move their body in a space free from judgement, this is a place for you.

Registration is open now. You can find all the details, including the sports programme, cultural events, and travel information, at www.gaygamesvalencia2026.com. There are even scholarships available for those who need financial support to attend.

The world of mainstream sport is taking its time to get this right. While it figures things out, Valencia will be showing us all what is possible.

Please share this article with anyone who needs to hear that sport can be a place of welcome, not exclusion. Let us celebrate this together.

Dr Helen Webberley, Gender Specialist and Medical Educator
www.helenwebberley.com