Out athletes have been increasing in number over recent Olympic Games, according to figures compiled by the LGBT blog OutSports, indicating a gradual rise in the representation of sexual minorities.

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics featured 186 out athletes, almost triple the 56 at the 2016 Games in Rio, with 23 at the 2012 Games in London.

An upwards trend can be also be seen at the Winter Olympics, although on a smaller scale given the event is smaller, with around 16 out athletes taking part in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, compared to seven in the 2014 Winter Games held in Sochi, and five in the 2010 Winter Games in Toronto. More than 34 out athletes are slated to participate in Beijing.

Yet as the Winter Olympics come to China for the first time, the government’s recent crackdown on LGBT representation across different industries has raised concerns over whether the inclusivity promoted at previous Games will continue.

Over the past year, Chinese authorities have restricted subversive views and ideas that could upend traditional ideas of gender while pushing the narrative that LGBT culture is an imported “Western” idea.

The pressure against LGBT expression, ranging from bans on social media accounts to laws prohibiting “sissy idols”, poses a potential red flag for athletes, according to Rory Magrath, an associate professor of equality and diversity at Solent University, in Southampton, England.

“What’s been happening to [China’s] LGBT community is, of course, very concerning,” Magrath told the Post.

“Even if athletes at the Olympics tend to be sequestered in the Olympic Village, it still remains likely that other events in China … will cause some concern for LGBT athletes competing at the event.”

Caught in the crosshairs of recent crackdowns was LGBT Rights Advocacy China, a non-profit providing legal support for the country’s LGBT community, which suspended operations indefinitely last November.

The group has led several prominent campaigns since its founding in 2016, including one pushing for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2019, and for the census to recognise same-sex partnerships the following year.

Eileen Gu, China’s celebrity skier eyeing Winter Olympics gold

Within the realm of sports, LGBT Rights Advocacy China advocated for greater representation of China’s out athletes, particularly during the 2012 London Olympics.

A month after the non-profit shut down, the state-run tabloid Global Times warned last December that Western media outlets capitalised on the news of the group’s closure to “infiltrate” China, using issues that fall under “so-called human rights”.

“Some foreign political forces have been playing tricks over issues like feminism, Aids, animal protection … LGBTQI has become their latest contrivance,” wrote the Global Times, which serves as an arm of the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party.

“Imagine if the LGBTQI groups in the West are supported by other forces which aim at overthrowing the capitalist system, will the countries turn a blind eye to them?”

An organiser of a domestic LGBT non-profit organisation, who declined to be named, told the Post that state media criticism of LGBT groups was “obviously wrong”.

“The subtext contains a view that LGBT is not good, and that ‘it is bad to learn from foreigners’, when in fact, one’s sexual orientation is not determined by race and nationality,” the organiser said.

“I believe that as China develops and progresses, more and more LGBT athletes will be accepted, but this social and cultural change is a long process.”

A state media report published in 2020 estimated that around 70 million Chinese people, about 5 per cent of the population, identify as LGBT. While gay marriage remains illegal in China, authorities decriminalised homosexuality in 1997 and in 2001 removed it from an official list of mental disorders.

It’s unclear how many athletes may identify as LGBT in China, as there are no out athletes who represent China on an international level. Only three high-profile athletes have come out publicly about their sexual identities, and all between 2018 and 2021, according to a count by the Post.

Beijing 2022 is not the first Winter Games where LGBT issues have come to the forefront. Sochi 2014 became the target of protests because of Russia’s controversial legislation that banned LGBT “propaganda”, or any type of cultural expression, coming into effect less than a year before the event.

In contrast, Beijing’s stance on LGBT has not been enshrined in policy, but rather sweeping changes made across China’s tech, education and business sectors over the past year.

In July, WeChat moderators shut down more than a dozen LGBT accounts run by students and NGOs, including those from top universities.

Despite the seemingly shrinking space for LGBT expression, two prominent female athletes in Chinese sporting history came out as gay last year, posting about their partners on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.

The post went viral and was quickly removed by Li following an outpouring of negative comments, leading many to ask if she was under pressure from authorities.

“You are brave. I don’t know when I and my lover can act like you and your girlfriend in public, by not hiding our sex orientation at all,” a Weibo user commented on Sun’s post.

“For minorities, representation and visibility matter,” she told the Post. “While it would be ideal that one day, coming out no longer is needed, having such role models is still important today.”

Often dubbed “the Gay Olympics,” the Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes sexual diversity, featuring LGBT athletes and artists, but also welcomes people of all sexual orientations.

To Lam, sports are a way forward to encourage greater LGBT representation and acceptance, whether at the Olympics or not.

“Sports provides a platform for people to come together, have fun and share moments of joy together, all while putting their differences aside,” Lam said.

“This unifying force helps promote greater understanding and acceptance for the LGBTQ community.”

Meylemans, the skeleton athlete, echoed Lam’s sentiment when pointing to young LGBT athletes.

“Sport has given me so much, I want LGBTQIA+ kids everywhere to feel that kind of friendship, commitment and passion too,” she said.

“I want them to feel like they belong to a team, and I want to let them know that being true to yourself and living your own truth is possible in sports.”