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At least 172 LGBTQ athletes were competing at the Tokyo Olympics that concluded earlier this month. This was over three times as many as Rio 2016. And the London Olympics in 2012 had 23 openly gay athletes. Also, since 2004, there has been no athlete who openly declared as transgender until New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard qualified this year. [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/30/rainbow-olympics-tokyo-hailed-turning-point-lgbtq-athletes]
No wonder that it was the 'Rainbow Olympics'. The Paralympics presently on in Tokyo may also be called 'Rainbow Paralympics' thanks to a record number of LGBTQ participants in the games. There are at least 27 openly LGBTQ athletes at the according to LGBTQ sports site Outsports. This is more than double the number of LGBTQ athletes that competed at the Paralympics four years back. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58141762]
The majority of openly LGBTQ Paralympians in Tokyo are women, including four members of Great Britain's women's wheelchair basketball team.
Diversity at both the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics sends a message loud and clear to around 70 countries and territories that have outlawed homosexuality that LGBTQ athletes are as good as anybody.
LGBTQ Olympians have also taken advantage of the opportunity to express their views in support of the community. For instance, after the Polish rower Katarzyna Zillmann won silver in rowing, she thanked her girlfriend. She later explained that she wanted to use her platform to help the LGBTQ+ community in Poland. It is one of the few countries in Europe where homophobia is relatively high. [https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/30/rainbow-olympics-tokyo-hailed-turning-point-lgbtq-athletes]
But the Games were not been without prejudice. For instance, anti-LGBT commentary on Russian state TV was rampant.
In particular, British gold medal-winning diver Tom Daley, who is gay, and a transgender woman weightlifter from New Zealand, Laurel Hubbard, were targeted. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58029133]
The Paralympics may not get the kind of blanket coverage that the Olympics did, but taking part and asserting their LGBTQ identity is likely to have a lasting impact on the Games and people's attitudes in general.
Read more:
Record number of LGBTQ paralympians:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/24/sport/paralympics-lgbtq-athletes-spt-trnd/index.html
LGBT athletes at Paralympics:
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/nbc-out-proud/tokyo-paralympic-games-welcomes-record-number-lgbtq-athletes-rcna1732
How to cover LGBTQ at the Olympics, a handbook:
https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/GLAADOlympicsMediaGuide.pdf