144 Out Athletes at Paris Olympics

On Friday the 2024 Olympic Games begin in Paris, France. This year’s Games boast 10,500 athletes from 206 teams, representing 195 countries and territories (and refugees). According to Outsports, which tracks the performance of out LGBTQ+ athletes, this may represent record-breaking LGBTQ+ representation at the Games — already approaching the 2021 Tokyo high.

144 out LGBTQ+ athletes are known to be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics — and though this falls short of the 186 known from the 2021 Tokyo Games, Outsports notes that only 121 were known ahead of the Games, with 65 more writing in to be included during or after they began. This is far more than the 2016 Games (56), which was far more than 2012 (23), which was far more than 2008 (11). Before then, very few out Olympians competed, and those who did often faced backlash.

The first games with an LGBTQ+ athlete (known to be at the time) was 1900 — the French equestrian Robert de Montesquiou who, though not known as gay to the world, was described as a “notorious homosexual” among his social circles in Lucy Hughes-Hallet’s biography of poet Gabriele d’Annunzio.
After that was Danish tennis player Lief Rovsing, who competed in 1912 before his sexuality was used to ban him from competition for a decade. Next came German runner Otto Peltzer, who was openly gay but, after competing in 1928 and 1932, was arrested for being a homosexual and sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis until 1945.

The next Olympic games with an athlete known to be LGBTQ+ was 1984 — Canadian runner Greg Duhaime, who was the first Olympian to be was widely known as LGBTQ+. U.S. equestrian Robert Dover came out before competing in 1988 (and again in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004). Swedish swimmer Helena Aberg and Australian diver Craig Rogerson came out before competing in 1988. U.S. tennis player Gigi Fernandez, U.S. diver Patrick Jeffrey, and Spanish tennis player Conchita Martinez came out before competing in 1996.

That’s it. There were ten openly LGBTQ+ Olympic athletes — only seven of whom were widely known — before the 2000 Olympic Games.

As public support for LGBTQ+ rights grew, so did LGBTQ+ representation in the Olympics. The 2008 Games had a record 12 openly LGBTQ+ athletes.

2011 was the first year most Americans supported gay marriage. In 2012, months before the London Olympics, President Obama became the first U.S. President to support gay marriage. That summer 23 openly LGBTQ+ athletes competed.

In 2016 that trend continued, with 56 out competitors, followed by 186 in Tokyo (2021) and 144 (and counting) this year in Paris. Interestingly, at least 80 percent of LGBTQ+ Olympic athletes are female, with the number of lesbian athletes increasing astronomically over the last two decades, while gay male participation has seen more modest increases. In addition to several nonbinary players, 18 of the 144 LGBTQ+ competitors are male, while 120 are women.

This is excellent news, but this progress is not consistent everywhere. Of the 144 known out LGBTQ+ athletes competing in Paris, half are from three countries: 29 from Brazil, 28 from the U.S., and 17 from Australia. Of the 21 other teams with LGBTQ+ competitors, nine have just one. More than 88 percent of countries have no openly LGBTQ+ competitors.

The U.S. team’s 28 LGBTQ+ competitors represent just over four percent of its 653 athletes. Brazil’s 29 represent just over ten percent of their 276. Overall, just over one percent of Olympic athletes are LGBTQ+, and nearly 70 participating countries outlaw homosexuality. We still have quite a way to go.

Game Changer: Kamala Ascends

There is palpable energy in the air since Sunday, when Kamala Harris suddenly became the Democrats’ de-facto nominee for President after Biden’s withdrawal and endorsement (a virtual vote will lock this down by August 7). This feels like 2008. I’m excited.

And from all measures, so are others, with a record-pulverizing wave of donations, volunteers — and a refreshing unity behind Harris — all within the first 24 hours of the surprise campaign.

For the past eight years, we’ve had a steady drumbeat of negativity coming from Donald Trump and his followers. Trump’s Republican party has fully embraced his antagonistic tone, and things have gotten rough. And then we had a pandemic, and all the vaccine and mask nonsense. Oh, and we just had an assassination attempt against Trump, though it was from within the Republican party.

We aren’t out of the woods yet. We need to vote. We need to stop Project 2025. But with that glass ceiling suddenly within striking distance again, I’m feeling the energy. Harris’s LGBTQ+ record is exquisite. Her whole record is.

And she’s cool! And she’s young(er)!

Other than Veepstakes, not much will change for the next couple weeks (but still donate and volunteer). But let’s allow ourselves to lean into the Olympics with healthy patriotism, rooting for Team America together with our friends and neighbors, and just be U.S.