In Focus
The 10th annual Gay Games descend on Paris
Over 12,700 participants from 91 countries convened in Paris for the 10th Gay Games, which aim to raise awareness about gay and transgender rights.
People attend the inauguration of the Gay Games at the Hotel de Ville city hall in Paris on Aug. 4, 2018.
Athletes from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russia were among the thousands of people convening in Paris on Saturday for the opening ceremonies of the 10th Gay Games, which are held every four years since 1982.
A participant strikes a pose in celebration of the beginning of the games on Aug. 4.
Paris welcomed participants from some countries where homosexuality is illegal or repressed.
Fifty-eight athletes are from Russia, which in 2013 passed a law banning “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations.” One athlete holds a passport from Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is punishable by death.
Egypt and other Muslim countries — where gays have been arrested and sent to jail — will also be represented in one of the 36 sporting disciplines, spanning from soccer to sailing.
