Athletes from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russia were among the thousands of people convening in Paris on Saturday for the opening ceremonies of the 10th Gay Games, which aim to raise awareness about gay and transgender rights, reports Reuters.
They paraded behind their respective national flags in a stadium in western Paris in celebrations attended by mayor Anne Hidalgo and featuring acrobats, dancing shows as well as Ada Vox, the first drag queen finalist in U.S. singing competition series “American Idol.”
Over 12,700 participants from 91 countries are expected during the Aug. 4-12 contest, which presents a variety of athletes - young and old, male and female, straight and gay.
Fifty-eight sportspeople are from Russia, which in 2013 passed a law banning “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations,” while one athlete holds a passport from Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is punishable by death.
Egypt and other Muslim countries where gays have been arrested and sent to jail will also be represented in one of the 36 sporting disciplines, spanning from soccer to swimming, volleyball and sailing.
France itself has been grappling with a recent surge in anti-gay acts as it eyes legalizing assisted reproduction for gay women in 2019 — a campaign promise by centrist French president Emmanuel Macron.
According to French gay rights charity SOS Homophobie, the number of physical attacks due to homophobia jumped by 15 percent from 2016 to 2017.