A record number of out athletes are participating in the Paralympics

Like the 180 out Olympians that earned more medals than almost 200 other nations, several out Paralympians are hoping to continue Team LGBTQ’s spectacular summer.

2020 Tokyo Paralympics commemorative coin
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Following several stunning displays and beautiful stories from LGBTQ athletes over the last month at the Olympics, “Team LGBTQ” will look to show out at the Paralympics, which are starting next week.

Already, a record number of out athletes will take part in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Out of 539 athletes expected to participate in 22 different sports, at least 23 of those athletes will be out and taking part in at least 12 of the sports. That means about 4 percent of the Paralympians will be LGBTQ athletes.

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According to Outsports, who has compiled the list so far, that is almost double the number that participated in the last Paralympics, when 12 out athletes participated in the Games in Rio de Janeiro.

While the United States led the way with the most out athletes on their team, both at the 2016 Paralympics and the most recent Olympics, this time they’re actually second in the number of out Paralympians they have. Seven LGBTQ athletes are on Team USA, while eight are competing on Team…

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