Meet the openly LGBT athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, from Asya Miller and Monique Matthews to Laurie Williams
- Diver Tom Daley and footballer Megan Rapinoe were among 185 LGBT competitors at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while the Paralympics’ number doubled to 30 since 2016
- Sitting volleyball champion Monique Matthews recently spoke about the importance of visibility to LGBT media advocacy group GLAAD in an Instagram Live interview
According to Outsports, there are at least 30 out-and-proud Paralympians taking part in the games, which began yesterday (August 24) – this is more than double the number of openly LGBTQ+ athletes who took part in the last Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
At least eight countries are represented by a member of team LGBTQ+. The nations bringing more than one Paralympian to Tokyo are the US and UK with nine athletes each; Canada with three; and Australia, Germany and Brazil, with two athletes representing each country.
That was more than three times the number of out Olympians who went to Rio in 2016, and more than all of the out Olympians who took part in all of the previous Summer and Winter Games combined.
On Monday, August 23, LGBTQ+ media advocacy group GLAAD hosted an Instagram Live interview with sitting volleyball champion Monique Matthews.
The 32-year-old, who won a gold medal in Rio and a silver in London in 2012, said that she hopes to use the visibility of the event to help raise funds for her husband Landon’s gender transition.