The Eurovisn Song Contt is for everyone, whether "gay, straight or between". LGBT visibily the ntt clus both LGBT them the petg acts and performers themselv.
Contents:
- HOW EUROVISN BEME A GAY-IENDLY NTT
- IS EUROVISN A GAY EVENT? LGBT PERFORMANC THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE NTT
- LOUD & PROUD: THE GAYNS, OR OTHERWISE, OF THE EUROVISN SONG CONTT, AND WHY IT MATTERS
- ‘HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT EUROVISN IS VERY POPULAR WH GAY PEOPLE?’
- TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
HOW EUROVISN BEME A GAY-IENDLY NTT
For s legn of gay fans, Eurovisn has long been more than a song ntt. * eurovision gay culture *
Subwoolfer performs Tuday on behalf of Bertorello / AFP - Getty ImagHostg the extravaganza will also be two beloved out gay stars: sger Mika, who’ll be live om Tur as an onse host for the global dience, and Olympian turned NBC mentator Johnny Weir, who’ll emcee the exclive Amerin feed of the broadst on Peack. Mar Bertorello / AFP - Getty ImagSystur’s folk ballad Eurovisn entry, “Með hækkandi sól” (“Wh the Risg Sun”), is an o to the promise of the sun’s warmth and light overg the ld darkns of lyrics of Atralian nttant Sheldon Riley’s song, “Not the Same, ” also celebrate light shg through a broken darkns — and have ronated so strongly wh some LGBTQ fans that the song is beg hailed as a gay anthem.
“So the ia of beg gay and beg all of those thgs that Eurovisn is so proud of beg wasn’t acceptable for me, was jt this thg that was nstantly prayed over.
‘We pray that Sheldon will be a real man; we pray that Sheldon won’t be gay, will be straight, will have a wife, will have kids. It me ls than a year after Vladimir Put passed a law banng children Rsia om learng about homosexualy and the untry's entry was loudly booed by the arena crowd, while others waved the Pri flag for the mera.
IS EUROVISN A GAY EVENT? LGBT PERFORMANC THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE NTT
The LGBT muny’s passn for the Eurovisn Song Contt hardly began wh Concha Wurst’s triumph last year. The ternatnal TV and rad ntt has long been embraced by gay, lbian and transgenr… * eurovision gay culture *
It's believed by many terpreters that the song was about a homosexual relatnship, wh ambiguo lyril them about partners facg judgement om those around them amid referenc to hell and irons. A 2019 article by Belgian broadster RTBF took a closer examatn of the text, even clarg a prott song favour of the gay movement, although is never explicly stated that the song is about two source, Getty Imag / KeystoneImage ptn, Jean-Cl Pasl, a French artist reprentg Luxembourg, won the 1961 Contt wh the song No l AmourexThere was a ltle ls subtlety 1986 when host natn Norway field Ketil Stokkan, performg Romeo, wh members of a drag troupe.
By the time Pl Osr of Iceland turned up 1997 as Eurovisn's first openly gay entrant, fans like myself were startg to fd each other the early ter foms.
LOUD & PROUD: THE GAYNS, OR OTHERWISE, OF THE EUROVISN SONG CONTT, AND WHY IT MATTERS
LOUD&PROUD: How Gay Is Eurovisn, And Why It Matters * eurovision gay culture *
"I would read webs, take part foms, and gradually dawned on me that, actually, probably, most of the people I was teractg wh on there were gay - back then that was the ma LGBTQ+ inty that people had, " she explas. In the north-wt of England, I beme volved regular days (and nights) out where a majory-gay crowd of Eurovisn enthiasts would chat, drk and - ocsnally - see romance blossom.
‘HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT EUROVISN IS VERY POPULAR WH GAY PEOPLE?’
* eurovision gay culture *
"Eurovisn isn't an LGBTQ+ event but 's affectnately referred to as 'Gay Christmas', " explas the dited ntt fan. In the 1997 Israeli film Ba’al Ba’al Lev (Gotta Have Heart), a gay teenager obssed wh the Eurovisn Song Contt (ESC) exprsed py for his LGBTQ brethren the Uned Stat. As Eurovisn veterans perform at gay pri ftivals om Madrid to Stockholm this summer, we reunt five memorable LGBTQ moments at Eurovisn.
The ntt, held Birmgham, England, would feature a public televote for the very first time, and supporters began to see her potential succs as a statement on gay power.
TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
Krista, a straight ally wh a male fiancé, emed the move a public prott over Fland’s failure to extend equal rights — cludg same-sex marriage — to gay people. Haters scribed the character — portrayed by gay male sger Tom Nwirth — as “foolish” and “disgtg”, and some members of Atria LGBTQ muny said she was stg them all as eaks.
In 2011 LGBTQ rights group Zagreb Pri nomated him for “Homophobe of the De, ” owg to ntroversial statements he had reportedly ma 2005, tellg Tena magaze that gay men and lbians “nnot be equal wh other cizens bee means a return to Sodom and Gomorrah. But Houk ma the bold cisn to pete at Eurovisn 2017 Kiev anyway, and a year where anizers had chosen the theme “Celebrate Diversy” — wh s obv nod to gay rights. He lnched a digal mpaign celebratg iendship and gave terviews to media outlets wh large gay followgs.
The ternatnal TV and rad ntt has long been embraced by gay, lbian and transgenr people tuned to s msage of uny. Slowly, but surely, the LGBT (lbian, gay, bi and transgenr) muny found a welg home Europe’s annual mil extravaganza.