Melbourne pulls out of running to host 2030 Gay Games sports event

Melbourne has pulled out of the running to host the Gay Games in 2030, with one advocate who worked on the bid saying they feel "shattered" by the state government's decision not to commit funds to the venture.

Earlier this year, the Victorian capital was shortlisted as one of the list of cities to potentially host the world's biggest LGBTQ+ sports and culture event.

The event is run every four years like the Olympics, but athletes are not required to qualify for events and are expected to cover all of their own costs.

Justine Dalla Riva, who was the head of Victoria's bid advisory committee, said she had decided to withdraw Melbourne from the bidding process because there wasn't a "firm commitment" from the government to help fund the event.

"We felt that that wouldn't put the bid in as strong a position as we would like," Ms Dalla Riva said. 

She said the amount needed from the government to host the 2030 event would have been in the "low millions". 

Bid advisory committee member Julie Williams and said the bid process fell over in late October just before she was due to fly to Washington DC with a small delegation from Melbourne to make the official bid presentation to the Federation of Gay Games. 

"I am shattered," she told the ABC. 

Ms Williams, who has been to nine previous Gay Games, said the event could have brought around 10,000 participants to the city to compete in 25 different sports.

She said meetings with Tourism Minister Steve Dimopoulos had given her the impression he was "nothing but supportive" of the event. 

Backer argues event could have delivered economic boost to Melbourne

President of LGBTQ+ running group Melbourne Frontrunners and Gay Games participant since 2002, Malcolm Campbell, said the event would have been very profitable for the city at low cost to the government. 

"The message didn't quite get out there that the Games are funded by the athletes themselves," he said.

"The government would have to put in a little bit of money – and I'm talking probably a million or two or three, but not hundreds of millions and not billions like the Commonwealth Games. It didn't put Melbourne at a financial risk. 

"Melbourne is the sporting capital and we could've done it. You don't have to provide an [athletes] village."

Government says 'full calendar' of other events on offer

The Federation of Gay Games said on Thursday that Visit Victoria cancelled Melbourne from the running to host. 

"It's not uncommon for bid cities to drop out of the running for many reasons, and being unable to obtain local government funding is one of those reasons," Gay Games communications director Duncan Campbell said.

"That said, we don't know the exact reason for Visit Victoria's withdrawal from the running for host of the Gay Games XIII 2030."

Asked about the matter on Thursday, Victoria's Deputy Premier Ben Carroll said Melbourne already had a range of events in support of the LGBTQ+ community, such as the Midsumma Festival and Pride March. 

"This was always just an expression of interest process. It wasn't led by the Victorian government, it was led by another body, but we've got a full calendar of events," he said.

In August when it was announced that Melbourne was shortlisted to host the event, Tourism Minister Steve Dimopolous shrugged off competition with Perth, which was also shortlisted, saying: "I love Perth, but seriously it's Perth."

Perth is now one of three finalists in the running to host the event, along with Auckland and Denver.