Why the First Gay Olympics Was a Watershed Moment Sports | HISTORY

gay olympics

Mcham will forever be celebrated as the first out gay Olympic gold medalist, but he jt add another big "first" to his long list of acplishments.

Contents:

THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 39 GAY OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS. HERE’S THE LIST

Guillme Cizeron is the sixth gay man to w Olympic gold figure skatg. * gay olympics *

-- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn. The Gay Gam uld be an act of prott then, too, Wadll cid, an event durg which LGBTQ people uld play the same sports they watched durg the Olympics and achieve the same kd of glory he had at the 1968 Olympics.

HIV/AIDS awarens has been baked to the Gay Gam sce s ceptn: In addn to banng discrimatn based on genr, sexualy, race and other tras, the Gay Gam wouldn’t allow any participant to be turned away based on their HIV stat. The Gay Gam also succsfully lobbied the US ernment to briefly waive a prev ban on HIV-posive people enterg the untry so they uld pete the 1994 Gay Gam New York and the 1996 Olympics Atlanta, chang ma wh the help of the US Olympic Commtee. Thanks to some robt fundraisg and a genero scholarship program, hundreds om highly unrserved untri and muni have been brought to the Gay Gam to wns “Participatn, Incln, and Personal Bt ™” first-hand and see the llective power of those valu.

Veterans’ ttimoni “give shockg evince of a culture of homophobia, and of bullyg, blackmail and sexual asslts, abive vtigatns to sexual orientatn and sexual preference, disgraceful medil examatns, cludg nversn therapy, ” the report said.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Jaguars assistant Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's pro sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer. * gay olympics *

“From a personal pot of view, the ban affected me terms of who I was and what I uldn’t be for 34 years, ” Holm ban on homosexualy was abandoned 2000, when the European Court of Human Rights led favor of four service personnel who were vtigated and then discharged bee of their sexualy. A total of 186 publicly out gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer and nonbary athlet participated the Tokyo Gam, acrdg to Not only was that the most at any Olympics ever, but was also more than triple the number of LGBTQ athlet at the 2016 R Gam.

WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE

Tom Wadll, an athlete the 1968 Olympics, created the Gay Gam first held 1982 to celebrate LGBTQ cln. The Gay Gam are still held to this day wh the next round schled for 2022 Hong Kong. * gay olympics *

Elissa Alarie (Canada)#Brt Benn (Canada)#Kelly Brazier (New Zealand)Gayle Broughton (New Zealand)#Isadora Cello (Brazil) Lren Doyle (USA)#Mara Fravanti (Brazil)#Megan Jon (Bra)Alev Kelter (USA)Ghislae Landry (Canada)#Kaili Lan (Canada)#Celia Quansah (Bra)Kristen Thomas (USA)Ruby Tui (New Zealand)#Sharni Williams (Atralia)Portia Woodman (New Zealand).

When, still damp om the pool after wng his long-awaed gold medal, Brish diver Tom Daley clared his pri at beg a gay man and also an Olympic champn, there were tears and full hearts across the while there was ltle shock – Daley has been a vol advote of LGBTQ+ rights for years – there was a joy and ease to his pronouncement that was new. Other gay male petors clu the New Zealand diver Anton Down-Jenks, the equtrians Edward Gal and Hans Peter Mrhoud om the Netherlands and the US x Julian the openg ceremony, the US basketball star Sue Bird, engaged to footballg legend Megan Rapoe, beamed as she bore the US flag. ”While Daley’s post-swim terview was voured by an overwhelmgly supportive public, other athlet risk their liv to be publicly out at the the Polish rower Katarzyna Zillmann won silver the quadple sculls she thanked her girliend, explag that she wanted to e her platform to help the LGBTQ+ muny Poland where there has been a risg wave of homophobia.

“Boys and young men are tght to avoid anythg associated wh femy, most notably weakns, emotn, and homosexualy, ” said Schweighofer, whose work on LGBTQ cln sports has appeared the publitn of the Natnal Park Foundatn.

DONATN GOAL FOR GAY GAM 11

U.K. Prime Mister Rishi Sunak has apologized for the treatment of gay veterans by sayg that a prev ban on LGBTQ+ people servg the U.K. ary was “an appallg failure of the Brish state.” * gay olympics *

The law claimed to protect children om homosexualy, and nmned reprentg LGBT+ liv as a norm society for urse none of the performers ped the evable bigotry aimed at LGBT+ people - there were lls for Eurovisns boytts om some, and offensive remarks ma by certa untry's broadsts of the the msage remaed clear, as Concha clared upon beg award the Eurovisn trophy: "We are uny and we are unstoppable" the LGBT+ fan base for Eurovisn 2023 has livered on that - a big way. Homovisn Liverpool's Chavasse park scrib self as "20 years of queer art" wh 60 queer artists takg over the event's producer Josiah told 's a celebratn of "beg proud, beg queer and seeg other queer people beg so openly queer on an ternatnal stage, 's really embolng", a performer and fan, scribed the ftival and Eurovisn as "a celebratn of our art, our culture, our muny. 'You want to know people have got your back'Wh LGBT+ fans om far and wi arrivg the cy, anisers have ma safe spac to nnect wh others and get away om the htle and btle of the ma Clark opened Pri Hoe Liverpool at the start of the month, a muny pop up that's open for the length of the Herrg, Chief Executive of Liverpool Cy Regn's Pri Foundatn, scribed the celebratns as "gay Christmas" and, as we all know, Christmas n be a strsful time.

Olympian Helps Organize Gay GamAthlet wave to the crowd at the 1994 Gay Gam New openg ceremony at the 1994 Gay Gam New skatg petors at the 1994 Gay Gam New closg ceremony for the 1994 Gay Gam New York was held at Yankee men's softball fal at the 1994 Gay Gam was held Central Gay Gam clu a body-buildg the 2002 Gay Gam Sydney, Atralia, nners ngratulate each other at the 5, 000-meter fal. Like many other LGBT athlet, Wadll wanted to make a siar, powerful statement wh an event for gay MORE: 8 Memorable Protts by Amerin Athlet “You were eher a drag queen or the leather muny—those were the stereotyp that were prented to the public at that time, ” says Rick Thoman, a track and field athlete who peted the first Gay Gam.

WHY THE FIRST GAY OLYMPICS WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT SPORTS

LGBTQ Olympians om around the world will pete the Wter Olympics. Get to know the gay, lbian, bi, trans and queer athlet of the 2022 Gam. * gay olympics *

READ MORE: Explore history of the LGBTQ movement AmeriIn addn to boxg, basketball, swimmg and a number of other tradnal Olympic sports, the Gay Gam featured billiards, bowlg and a physique petn held at the historic Castro Theater.

FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: GAY MALE ATHLET, HOT MALE SWIMMERS, SWIMWEAR FOR MENGAY SWIMMERS LIST: OLYMPIANS AND COLLEGE STARS

'It's like a big, gay, not-sportg event... wh song and dance,' that's how one LGBT+ fan scribed Eurovisn - but why this cult followg? | ITV Natnal News * gay olympics *

Pneerg a New TradnPasl Ron/ALLSPORTGreg Louganis, one of the bt divers Olympic history, publicly revealed he was gay at the Gay Gam to the efforts of Cramer, Hahn, Carson, Thoman and many others, the Gay Gam have taken place every four years sce 1982, wh recent edns drawg parable numbers of athlet to the Olympics and Paralympics.

However, this year’s Wter Gam will also be cemented history for s rerd number of openly LGBTQ least 35 of this year’s Olympic athlet are openly lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or queer, more than double the amount of queer petors om the 2018 wter petn PyeongChang, South Korea, acrdg to the LGBTQ sports webse Outsports.

And Canadian soccer player Qun beme the first openly transgenr and nonbary athlete to w an Olympic medal — a gold — followg Team Canada’s feat of Swen the women’s fal last while Team USA will ga an Olympic first wh the addn of LeDuc, will also be losg some star 2018, etyle skier G Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon ma history as the first openly gay men to pete the Wter Gam for the Uned Stat. Homosexualy has been legal Cha sce 1997, but recent years, the untry has worked to lim LGBTQ activism and 11 years operatn, Shanghai Pri nceled s annual LGBTQ celebratn 2020 and said — whout explanatn — that would no longer hold the event.

DIVER TOM DALEY WS GOLD: 'I AM A GAY MAN AND ALSO AN OLYMPIC CHAMPN'

We ma a list of gay swimmers who’ve proven themselv to be as petive as their straight bros: Olympic champns, llege swimmers, and natnal reps. * gay olympics *

And last week, the gay datg app Grdr was removed om several Che app stor after the untry’s cyberspace thory vowed to ensure a “healthy, ftive and spic onle environment” for the Lunar New Year, which began this week. “I hope that any young LGBT person out there n see that no matter how alone you feel right now, you are not alone and that you n achieve anythg and there is a whole lot of your chosen fay out here ready to support you, ” said Daley, who paired wh Matty Lee to pture the men’s synchronized 10-meter, who won bronze the dividual 10-meter platform London 2012 and a bronze the synchronized platform R 2016, clared:“I feel credibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champn. Curry acknowledged that the mors about his sexualy were te, but when journalists asked prient qutns betrayg the era’s misnceptns about homosexualy and masculy, Curry fought back: “I don’t thk I lack virily, and what other people thk of me don’t matter, ” he said.

Wh this year’s Wter Gam Pyeongchang, Rippon and Kenworthy are the first openly gay Amerin men to pete the Olympics sce the legaly of same-sex marriage was tablished throughout the Uned Stat 2015, and the cultural shift is apparent.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS

* gay olympics *

It was wonrful to see him such fe form, and while he n’t have been thrilled to lose his signature 10 m platform event to a then-closeted Tom Daley, Mcham’s succs as an openly gay diver no doubt set the stage for Daley and many more gay athlet to e out.

5 TIM OPENLY GAY DIVER MATTHEW MCHAM SLAYED, AND OUT OF HIS SPEEDOS

When Canadian Mark Thormeyer fally told his team he was gay, the posive rponse fueled him the pool. * gay olympics *

The arrival of the Gay Gam our cy reprents a great opportuny for social change towards the LGBTTTIQA+ muny addn to generatg jobs and growth opportuni for GAMESThe Gay Gam are nsired to be the most important sports and cultural petn of diversy anized by the LGBT+ muny, like the Olympic Gam, is held every four years wh a participatn of approximately 10, 000 athlet. Kenworthy did not medal the eki sloptyle event, but NBC meras beamed imag of him and Wilkas sharg their affectn once Kenworthy was done petg, a moment the out Amerin said at the time was powerful for many reasons: “I thk that the only way to really change perceptns, break down homophobia, break down barriers is through reprentatn, ” he said. “That’s fely not somethg I had as a kid: I fely didn’t see a gay athlete at the Olympics kissg their boyiend and I thk that if I had would have ma a lot easier for me, so hopefully did that for other people.

10:53Download AudCopy the below to embed the WBUR d player on your seRumeNikki Hiltz petn at the 2019 World Athletics Champnships (USATF)Profsnal nner Nikki Hiltz recently cid was time to share a middle-distance nner had been openly gay for years, but was durg a virtual fundraiser last summer about suici preventn for LGBTQ youth that Hiltz realized was time to tell the whole people ed the race as an opportuny to e out, so Hiltz wanted to hear their stori before this year’s event. He went on to w the gold medal and bee the first man to w back-to-back Olympic golds both the sprgboard and platform divg what had ially appeared to be a straightforward eback story beme more plited when Louganis revealed seven years later that he was gay and that he had been diagnosed wh HIV six months before the 1988 Gam. But he never mentned beg gay until he started playg hockey for the Toronto Gay Hockey Associatn, where he started lerally wearg that part of his inty on his sleeve, somethg he discsed wh The Hockey News Curry, Uned Kgdom, Men's SglThe Brish skater, famo for brgg ballet and dance mov to men's sgl, won the gold at the 1976 gam Innsbck, where he also acted as flag bearer for his natn.

Shortly before petg at Worlds that same year, the German newspaper Bild-Zeung outed Curry as gay, g a mor sndal Europe, but Curry went on to w the event anyway, makg him the first skater to w the European, Olympic and World champnships a sgle season, acrdg to the BBC.

UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS

Adam Rippon may be the first out figure skater to pete the Olympics, but he's not the only gay man to have land an axel on the world stage. * gay olympics *

While qutns about the flamboyant skater followed him through his reer -- two Canadian broadsters ught flak and spired a Pri Hoe prott after makg homophobic ments about Weir at the 2010 Olympics -- he did not e out until 2011, when he revealed he was gay his memoir, Wele to My World.

Stt Haton his book Landg It later creded Pockar and Rob McCall for helpg him get over personal homophobia, but Haton also got cricized for posthumoly outg the O'Meara, USA, Ice DancgThe ice dancer reprented the Uned Stat at the 2006 gam Toro alongsi skatg partner Jamie Silverste. London is a safer place to be LGBT than Rsia, where vlence agast LGBT people is growg by the day and a law is on the books barrg so-lled gay 'll be watchg Team LGBT as the gam play out, and we're hopg the roster grows the days ahead. The Gay Gam is a great chance for all gays and lbians to show that we as a muny are not like the stereotyp the straight media lov to portray … I strongly feel we have to celebrate our own valu and help others to accept that is ok to be different.

One gay teammate started mg aloud about her hope to retire two years to have children; she looked forward to beg able to enjoy a few beers on the weekends, and she hoped that she would brg her kids to watch the team’s match when they were old enough, Shimoyamada rells.

OLYMPIC SWIMMER MARK THORMEYER PERFORMED AT HIS PEAK AFTER G OUT AS GAY

Wadll, 49, A Founr of Gay 'Olympics' ADVERTISEMENTJuly 12, New York Tim ArchivSee the article s origal ntext om July 12, 1987, Sectn 1, Page 22Buy ReprtsTimMache is an exclive benef for home livery and digal the ArchiveThis is a digized versn of an article om The Tim’s prt archive, before the start of onle publitn 1996.

Had the legal thory to bar a homosexual rights group om g the generic word ''olympics'' the name of s athletic Wadll, who specialized fect diseas, was chief physician at San Francis's Central Emergency facily until givg up the post when his disease was diagnosed June of last year. The Stonewall rts were more than a the past; a year earlier, reports had surfaced about rare pnmonia and ncer afflictg homosexuals New York and California—the first glimmers of what would later be lled AIDS.

THERE ARE A RERD 11 OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS R. NONE IS AN AMERIN.

” “Direct ntact” wh athlet om the natns, Day argued, would be enlighteng for Amerins livg a untry where ternatnal visors were often nied entry bee of their sexual s later, sports are once aga stirrg to take stock of gay rights around the world. Ultimately, the stlit Olympics history may be remembered for markg a perd which gay rights aren’t so much advancg globally as expandg certa parts of the world while regrsg or languishg 6, 000 athlet om 85 untri gather Sochi, the global gay-rights divi will be unmistakable.

But gay rights only me to the fore the summer of 2013, when the Rsian ernment, which crimalized homosexualy 1993, banned the dissematn of “propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns” around children—makg more difficult for gay activists to operate and, rights groups allege, fuelg a rise anti-gay vlence the untry. The mayor of Sochi sayg there were no gay people his cy didn’t help, perhaps the most provotive rebe to Rsia’s lims on LGBT rights, Print Obama has clud three openly gay athlet—Billie Jean Kg, Cal Cahow, and Brian Boano— the U. Gay Olympic athlet have exprsed outrage as well; the Atralian snowboarr Belle Brockhoff, for stance, has vowed to “rip on [Put’s] ass” after petg and possibly flash an oblique six-fger salute reference to “Prciple Six, ” an anti-discrimatn clse the Olympic Charter.

16 GAY AND BI OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS

Then there’s the solutn proposed by Saturday Night Live: an all-heterosexual Team USA figure-skatg squad:The laws agast homosexualy that have recently ma ternatnal headl aren’t necsarily new, Stern says, but they are “gettg more attentn today bee of the level of progrs that we’ve seen other parts of the world. In recent months, India’s Supreme Court has restated a ban on gay sex ( one fell swoop doublg, by one timate, the number of gay people the world who n be imprisoned for their sexualy) and Atralia’s High Court has overturned gay-marriage legislatn.

THE VERY SHORT LIST: WHO IS GAY THE OLYMPICS?

” We know the story Rsia, where Vladimir Put has anoted himself the lear of an ternatnal nservative unteroffensive agast the Wt’s “genrls and fertile” the Bssels-based Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) noted s latt report on “state-sponsored homophobia, ” “ltle has changed the proportn between untri crimalizg same-sex sexual acts between nsentg adults and those which do not, i.

”The “current divisn of the world—om the pot of view of legislatn—to an LGBTI-iendly field and an LGBTI-uniendly field is the rult of different cultural, social and polil procs rooted the histori of the untri and the history of their relatns wh one another, ” the study ’s how that divid world looked as of May 2013, when ILGA me out wh s report (click on the map to expand):ILGAIn a June report tled “The Global Divi on Homosexualy, ” the Pew Rearch Center arrived at siar nclns, fdg “broad acceptance of homosexualy North Ameri, the European Unn, and much of Lat Ameri, but equally wispread rejectn predomantly Mlim natns and Ai, as well as parts of Asia and Rsia. S., where public support has grown signifintly, and that “acceptance of homosexualy is particularly wispread untri where relign is ls central people’s liv”—natns that also tend to be the wealthit the world.

Exceptns clu Rsia and Cha, where levels of religsy and tolerance for homosexualy are both Rearch CenterHere are the percentag of rponnts the 39 untri Pew surveyed who said society should accept homosexualy. Except South Ai, where gay marriage is legal but only 32 percent accept homosexualy, same-sex marriage has, not surprisgly, advanced the most untri where support of homosexualy is Rearch CenterRelign undoubtedly rms opns on LGBT rights—a dynamic rerced by the recent trend of globetrottg Amerin evangelils, stymied at home, craftg and promotg rtrictns on homosexualy foreign pals—but ’s not the only factor at play. Vladimir Put, ILGA Executive Director Renato Sabbadi argu, se anti-gay legislatn as a means of platg the powerful Rsian Orthodox Church and fendg ‘tradnal valu’ opposn to the Wt, where LGBT rights are generally advancg.

DR. THOMAS F. WADLL, 49, A FOUNR OF GAY 'OLYMPICS'

Stern pots to the Kampala-based Civil Society Coaln on Human Rights and Constutnal Law’s outspoken opposn to Uganda’s anti-gay bill, while Sabbadi c how Indian gay-rights activists swiftly mobilized to prott the rtoratn of the untry’s ban on homosexual acts.

” In Brazil, for example, same-sex marriage is legal, but more transgenr people are murred than anywhere else the also tak issue wh the notn that Sochi is simply a dramatizatn of today's global gay-rights divi. The were the craftg needl that broke the Inter — as tweet after tweet ghed, scribg the gay father as “the perfect man” and “a natnal treasure” over the seemgly unimagable associatn of an old-school feme hobby wh the divg prows of male youth.

Tom Daley of Great Bra kns as he watch the women's 3-meter sprgboard fal at the Olympic Rose/GettyIn 1982, another out and proud gay man named Tom Wadll — who was also a paratrooper, fect disease physician, and former Olympic thlete — found what he lled the Gay Olympics San Francis. Wadll’s missn was to te the public about the diversy and strength of the gay movement and, as the Gay Olympics charter stat, “to brg people together for greater unrstandg and physil fns and not for the purpose of tablishg one group beg better than any other. The mere associatn of the word “Olympics” wh “gay” prompted the USOC to sue to stop Wadll’s e of the tramarked term “Olympics” his namg of his se would bee about somethg much eper: Whether the urts would grant the USOC the power to quash any associatn wh Ameri’s gay would-be Gay Olympics turned out to be one of the few anizatns that the USOC prohibed om g “Olympics” s name.

HOW SOCHI BEME THE GAY OLYMPICS

Consir some of the other groups that were allowed to e : Internatnal Police Olympics; Firemen’s Olympics; Wrist-Wrtlg Olympics; Crab-Cookg Olympics; Dog Olympics; Nu Olympics; Rat Olympics; Wacky Olympics; Xerox Olympics; Alholic USOC’s prohibn on the name Gay Olympics was upheld the Nth Circu, even though, as Judge Alex Kozski wrote his dissent, “It seems that the USOC is g s ntrol over the term Olympic to promote the very image of homosexuals that [Wadll] seeks to bat: handipped, junrs, police, Explorers, even dogs are allowed to rry the Olympic torch, but homosexuals are not. Hardwick, which sentially equated homosexualy wh a year of losg his se agast the USOC, Wadll, sick wh an AIDS-related illns, ntend wh another battle: The lawyers for the USOC filed a lien on his hoe, seekg payment for their legal fe.

(In a strikg postscript, Walker, formerly a closeted gay man, would bee the feral judge who 2010 would overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage) a queer woman and a tramark profsor, I teach the Wadll se.

THE UNPAID BT TO A PNEERG GAY OLYMPIAN

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY OLYMPICS

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9:35am</time></div></li></ul></div></hear><div class="_074l4 cp_grid__em" data-ttid="article-body"><div class="_8xmX9 f85xC A8Lwr" data-ttid="embed-brightve"><div data-ttid="player-overlay"><picture data-ttid="poster-image" class="cp_picture dUTNY"><source type="image/avif" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 1280px)"/><source type="image/avif" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 1024px)"/><source type="image/avif" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 768px)"/><source type="image/avif" srcSet="><source type="image/webp" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 1280px)"/><source type="image/webp" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 1024px)"/><source type="image/webp" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 768px)"/><source type="image/webp" srcSet="><source type="image/eg" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 1280px)"/><source type="image/eg" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 1024px)"/><source type="image/eg" srcSet=" media="(m-width: 768px)"/><source type="image/eg" srcSet="><img class="cp_picture__img" src="></picture><button class="_5ZKtN"><i class="cp_in cp_in__play-news-short-form EhtER lXUL6 cp_in--ctom-size" aria-hidn="false"><svg width="15" height="20" viewBox="0 0 15 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-label="Play Brightve vio" role="img"><tle>Play Brightve vio</tle><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M0.542124 0.110987C0.875033 -0.0604726 1.27584 -0.031568 1.5807 0.185886L14.5807 9.45861C14.8479 9.6492 15.0046 9.95875 14.9999 10.2869C14.9952 10.6151 14.8299 10.9201 14.5574 11.103L1.55738 19.8303C1.2507 20.0361 0.85551 20.0562 0.529562 19.8824C0.203615 19.7087 0 19.3694 0 19V1C0 0.625535 0.209216 0.282447 0.542124 0.110987Z" fill="whe"/></svg></i></button></div><vio-js data-acunt="2821697655001" data-player="B1J9ApOVZ" data-embed="flt" ntrols="" data-vio-id="6327203184112" data-playlist-id="" data-applitn-id="" class="_4h-ua"></vio-js></div><ul class="xhBdb" data-ttid="list"><li class="t9HgO" data-ttid="list-em"><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX"><strong class="_1ATDh">Report by </strong><a class="qNUzV q7LZa" href=" data-ttid="fecp-lk-anchor"><span class="n6NlI"><strong class="_1ATDh">Jossie Evans</strong></span></a><strong class="_1ATDh"> and </strong><a class="qNUzV q7LZa" href=" data-ttid="fecp-lk-anchor"><span class="n6NlI"><strong class="_1ATDh">Gee Hanrn</strong></span></a><strong class="_1ATDh">, ITV News' Here's the Story</strong></p></li></ul><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX"><a class="qNUzV q7LZa" data-ttid="next-lk-anchor" href="/news/topic/rovisn"><span class="n6NlI">Eurovisn</span></a> has a long and proud history of supportg queer artists and champng <a class="qNUzV q7LZa" data-ttid="next-lk-anchor" href="/news/topic/lgbt"><span class="n6NlI">LGBT+</span></a> rights.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">There have been untls key moments that waved the flag for LGBT+ reprentatn.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">In 1998 Dana Internatnal entered the petn as the first trans performer - she went onto w for Israel, beg the first trans Eurovisn wner.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">The ntt has had several out LGBT+ wners sce then.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Another key moment me 2014 when Concha (a gay drag queen) brought her genr non-nformg drag to the mass.</p><figure class="A8Lwr m-O"><div class="cp_placeholr"></div><figptn class="Ya3u6 SilLI" data-ttid="ptned-picture-ptn">Concha Wurst reprentg Atria performs the song ' Rise Like a Phoenix'.<span class="mjYl8"> Cred: <!-- -->AP</span></figptn></figure><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Her 'Rise Like a Phoenix' performance was scribed the prs as "the most genrqueer yet".</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">The ntt kicked off the wake of <a class="qNUzV q7LZa" data-ttid="next-lk-anchor" href="/news/story/2014-02-05/sochi-wter-olympics-2014-ssia-anti-gay-laws-protts"><span class="n6NlI">Rsia troducg s "gay propaganda"</span></a> or "anti-gay" law. The law claimed to protect children om homosexualy, and nmned reprentg LGBT+ liv as a norm society for fear.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Of urse none of the performers ped the evable bigotry aimed at LGBT+ people - there were lls for Eurovisns boytts om some, and offensive remarks ma by certa untry's broadsts of the ntt.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">But the msage remaed clear, as Concha clared upon beg award the Eurovisn trophy: "We are uny and we are unstoppable".</p><div class="_8xmX9 GxuVE A8Lwr" data-ttid="embed-youtube"><iame allowfullscreen="" class="QVDk0" src=" tle="Youtube embed" loadg="lazy"></iame></div><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">And the LGBT+ fan base for Eurovisn 2023 has livered on that - a big way.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Homovisn Liverpool's Chavasse park scrib self as "20 years of queer art" wh 60 queer artists takg over the stage.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">The event's producer Josiah told 's a celebratn of "beg proud, beg queer and seeg other queer people beg so openly queer on an ternatnal stage, 's really embolng".</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Kola, a performer and fan, scribed the ftival and Eurovisn as "a celebratn of our art, our culture, our muny. Jt havg a moment where we n be celebrated to our full pacy [cludg] different muni and margalised muni".</p><figure class="A8Lwr m-O"><div class="cp_placeholr"></div><figptn class="Ya3u6 SilLI" data-ttid="ptned-picture-ptn">The ftival celebrated queer artists.<span class="mjYl8"> Cred: <!-- -->@HomotopiaFt</span></figptn></figure><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">It's also been an opportuny to promote lol, queer talent. </p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">"In Liverpool and Eurovisn there's a big queer muny that love the petn and we have a massive gay scene. We're showsg the bt queers the cy, the bt queers the UK!" says drag artist Filla Crack.</p><hr/><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX"><strong class="_1ATDh">'You want to know people have got your back'</strong></p><div class="_8xmX9 f85xC A8Lwr" data-ttid="embed-brightve"><div data-ttid="player-overlay"><button class="_5ZKtN"><i class="cp_in cp_in__play-news-short-form EhtER lXUL6 cp_in--ctom-size" aria-hidn="false"><svg width="15" height="20" viewBox="0 0 15 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-label="Play Brightve vio" role="img"><tle>Play Brightve vio</tle><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M0.542124 0.110987C0.875033 -0.0604726 1.27584 -0.031568 1.5807 0.185886L14.5807 9.45861C14.8479 9.6492 15.0046 9.95875 14.9999 10.2869C14.9952 10.6151 14.8299 10.9201 14.5574 11.103L1.55738 19.8303C1.2507 20.0361 0.85551 20.0562 0.529562 19.8824C0.203615 19.7087 0 19.3694 0 19V1C0 0.625535 0.209216 0.282447 0.542124 0.110987Z" fill="whe"/></svg></i></button></div><vio-js data-acunt="2821697655001" data-player="B1J9ApOVZ" data-embed="flt" ntrols="" data-vio-id="6327200338112" data-playlist-id="" data-applitn-id="" class="_4h-ua"></vio-js></div><hr/><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Wh LGBT+ fans om far and wi arrivg the cy, anisers have ma safe spac to nnect wh others and get away om the htle and btle of the ma event.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Rylan Clark opened Pri Hoe Liverpool at the start of the month, a muny pop up that's open for the length of the celebratns.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">Andi Herrg, Chief Executive of Liverpool Cy Regn's Pri Foundatn, scribed the celebratns as "gay Christmas" and, as we all know, Christmas n be a strsful time.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">"You want to know people have got your back and the support is there if you need ," he says.</p><p class="A8Lwr BVYCX">It's a space "to see people like you," he says "where you n be yourself and chill if you need to".</p><div class="qNUzV Z4snd" data-ttid="article-lk"><div class="-VoCt"><a class="WPcEk" 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