A record number of 191 athletes openly identifying as LGBTQ+ are competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a massive leap from the 186 athletes that competed at the Tokyo Olympics as per Outsports. (Medal Tally | Full Olympic Coverage)
There are 191 athletes publicly saying they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and nonbinary who are participating in the Games, according to Outsports, an organization that compiles a database of openly queer Olympians. The vast majority of the athletes are women.
“More and more people are coming out,” said Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports. “They realize it’s important to be visible because there’s no other way to get representation.”
Team USA has the highest representation with 31 LGBTQ+ athletes, followed by Brazil (30), and Australia (22) while Germany has 13, Spain has 12, Great Britain and Canada have 11, the Netherlands has 10, and France has nine.
However, there isn't any African or Asian representation. There are just three athletes who are out from Asia (Philippines and Thailand) and four from Africa (South Africa and Cameroon).
Amandine Buchard, a French judoka, became the first LGBTQ+ Olympian to win a medal (bronze) at the ongoing Paris Olympics when she defeated Reka Pupp of Hungary.
The number of people willing to take the spotlight as an LGBTQ+ Olympian has skyrocketed in past decades. Buzinski said that when they started tracking the numbers at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, they counted only around five people.
Organizers of the Paris Olympics have underscored diversity and inclusion as major themes, showcasing drag queens and refugee athletes in Friday’s opening ceremony. That has received some blowback from religious conservatives.
“In our Olympic world, we all belong,” Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee president said in a speech during the opening ceremony.
Because of that and Paris’ reputation as the “City of Love,” Buzinski and LGBTQ+ advocates see the Paris Games as an opportunity for athletes who hail from parts of the world where competitors can’t be openly gay because of harsh restrictions on queer populations.
“Coming to Paris, coming to France, they are able to be their true selves,” said Jérémy Goupille, co-chair of the Pride House at the Paris Olympics.
The Pride House, which debuted at the 2010 Olympics, is located on a boat floating on the Seine River and will feature live music and speeches from Olympic organizers as it opens Monday night.
(With AP inputs)
