Rio was filled with ups and downs, triumphs and upsets, but there was nothing more apparent at this year’s Olympics than the major LGBT footprint.
For uplifting reasons, discouraging reasons, and sometime hilarious reasons, this Olympics more than ever helped propel the LGBT community into the spotlight. Here are the 15 of the gayest things that went down during the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
1. For starters, a record 53 out-athletes participated in the games!
2. And of those 53 athletes, 25 of them won medals! Including…
3. ...our bae Tom Daley, whose relationship with Dustin Lance Black was center stage during the games
4. Italian swimmer Rachele Bruni who casually came out by dedicating her medal to her girlfriend
Rachele Bruni is the first openly gay Italian Olympian. She dedicated her silver medal to her girlfriend Diletta. <3 pic.twitter.com/DGAoKjIJAy
— Teo (@teofromoz)Trending Stories
5. And British hockey players Kate Richardson-Walsh and Helen Richardson-Walsh, who were the first same-sex married couple to ever compete in the games!
6. From the most uplifting of stories, like Brazilian Rugby player Isadora Cerullo getting proposed to by her girlfriend after her medal ceremony
7. To the sleaziest of stories, like The Daily Beast’s horrible homophobic attempt at outing gay Olympians using Grindr
8. There were also a slew of hilarious moments, like NBC’s accidental censorship of speedos
9. And when this man’s junk went viral for costing him a medal in pole vaulting
10. Danell Leyva’s shirtless gymnastics routine, fed every gay man’s thirst
11. Oh, and so did this Tongan heartthrob
12. The first openly transgender athlete on the US National Team was highlighted in a Nike commercial, which aired during the Olympics
13. While Lea T was the first transgender person to be highlighted during an Olympic Opening Ceremony
14. Rio was only the second Olympic city to institute a Pride House – a safe place for LGBT athletes native to Rio.
15. AND two Olympic torch-bearers shared the first same-sex kiss in Olympic history!
