There are at least 40 publicly out LGBTQ athletes competing in the Commonwealth Games, according to two experts in England who have put their heads together to amass the most comprehensive list.
The Commonwealth Games are a quadrennial event for Commonwealth Nations, this year held in Birmingham, England. There is a Pride House there in Birmingham to celebrate the LGBTQ athletes, fans and community during these Games. The event this year runs from July 28 to Aug. 8.
The list of out athletes was compiled by Jon Holmes, a gay sports journalist and advocate who currently runs Sports Media LGBT+, and Tony Scupham-Bilton, an expert on LGBTQ history and the world’s most-renowned expert on LGBTQ history in the Olympic Games; He runs a fantastic blog called Queerstory Files.
England leads the way, with at least nine publicly out athletes, followed by Australia (7), New Zealand (6), Wales (6) and Scotland (5). In all 11 countries that have publicly out LGBTQ athletes at these Commonwealth Games, same-sex sexual activity is legal (though it is not in many other Commonwealth countries); However, in two — Trinidad and Tobago and India — same-sex marriage is not legally recognized on the national level (and is not in many other countries as well).
Some of the better-known athletes to Outsports readers are English race-walker Tom Bosworth, who won silver at the last Commonwealth Games and has held world records multiple times. Sprinter Dutee Chand of India is also there. Welsh swimmer Dan Jervis came out just a month ago so he would be out during these Games.
There are also a number of adaptive-sport athletes competing, including Jude Hamer, Robyn Love and Robyn Lambird.
While the number of out athletes may seem a bit small in 2022 for the 5,000+ athletes competing, especially compared to the Olympics (186 last year with about 10k athletes), consider that women’s soccer — that had at least 42 in Tokyo — is not included in the Commonwealth Games.
You can check out the whole list of out Commonwealth Games athletes compiled by Holmes and Scupham-Bilton here.
