The Valencia Gay Games are well and truly underway, with LGBTQ+ athletes from around the world coming together to participate. But excitement is already building for when the Games come to Perth in 2030, especially with the appearance of Perth’s Queer Quokka in Spain.

The Gay Games is the world’s largest LGBTQ+ sporting event. Held once every four years, the international sporting tournament is built on the principles of participation, inclusion, and personal best.

The eight-day event currently has over thirty sports taking place in Valencia, bringing together thousands of participants and spectators. This year, Australia has its largest contingent of participants since the Gay Games were hosted in Sydney, with 647 people taking part.

With the Gay Games taking place in Perth in 2030, everyone has questions about what the event will be like when it takes place in Western Australia.

Team Perth are on site building anticipation before officially taking the helm when the Valencia Gay Games end this weekend, and got everyone excited last night when their Queer Quokka made an appearance at the Games Meeting Point.

Perth Queer Quokka at Valencia Gay Games
Photo by Dean Arcuri

Related content:

Do you have corocidles in Perth?

“The atmosphere in Valencia has been fantastic,” Perth Gay Games Chair Peter Foster told QNews, “Everybody is really excited about travelling to Perth in 2030.”

“We’ve had our Queer Quokka out greeting the participants over the last few days, getting people excited. But we certainly are getting a lot of questions from international travellers about Perth.”

Many international travellers think they know what to expect when they head to Melbourne or Sydney, but Perth is an unknown factor, so we can understand their curiosity.

“People want to know if we’ve got crocodiles in Perth,” Peter laughed, “That question comes up a lot, but we’re also getting questions about accessibility, and Perth is a very accessible city. We’re getting questions about safety as well, and we consider Perth to be a very safe city.”

Just to clarify, there are no wild crocodiles in Perth, but you can see some at the Zoo.

Say hey to the Perth Gay Games Queer Quokka

Tourism WA is the lead agency that promotes Western Australia, and they use a quokka for marketing. They have one suit in Perth, and another in London.

The team from Perth Gay Games had the London suit sent to Valencia, where the temperature at the moment is consistently over 30 degrees, and the Perth Gay Games Queer Quokka is happily saying hello. (Let’s all spare a thought for the legend who is actually in it with the high temperatures.

“The energy when the Queer Quokka walked around the Meeting Point was awesome,” Peter said, “Everybody wanted a selfie, everybody wanted to know if it was actually a rat. It’s not, by the way, it’s a marsupial. But they all wanted to know where it was from, how they could meet one. Which led from curiosity to a lot of selfies.

How hard is it to fly to Perth?

One of the biggest questions the Perth team are getting asked at the Valencia Gay Games, besides when the 2030 dates are, is about travel.

“We have had so many travel questions,” Peter said, “And they are surprised to learn how easy it is to fly to Perth.”

“It’s great to let them know that we have flights direct from London, Rome, and Paris to Perth. We also have connectivity with Emirates, Qatar, Malaysian and Singapore Airlines. I think once people realise they can get there in two flights, they are more relaxed about the travel.”

A note from the writer: I have had to take three flights to get from Melbourne to Valencia, and it has been totally fine. It’s easier to get to Perth than it is to get from Sydney to Europe.

“We are so excited for LGBTQIA+ athletes and supporters from around the world to make their way to Perth.” Peter said, “We’ve got a very rich First Nations culture. Which is very important to us, but we also have fantastic beaches, great places to eat, amazing wines in the Margaret River, as well as beautiful forests, caves, mountains, and so much more.”

But the 2026 Gay Games are not over yet

On Saturday at the Valencia Gay Games Closing Ceremony, the Perth Gay Games countdown officially begins.

The Federation of Gay Games hands Perth the flag, and preparations begin. Actually, they’ve already started, but come Sunday, it pushes into overdrive.

Before that, there’s a lot more sport happening across Valencia, with LGBTQIA+ athletes taking part and diving headfirst into the cultural program.

We hope you’re all having a fantastic time at the Valencia Gay Games.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, and community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.