TheEurovision Song Contest has had a long-held fan base in theLGBTQ community, and the contest organisers have actively worked to include these fans since the 1990s.[1]
Paul Oscar became the contest's first openly gay artist when he representedIceland in 1997.Katrina Leskanich, who won representing theUnited Kingdom in 1997 as lead singer of the groupKatrina and the Waves latercame out.[2]Dana International, representingIsrael in 1998, was the contest's firsttrans performer, and became the first trans artist to win the contest.[3][4] Several open members of the LGBTQ community have since gone on to compete and win the contest:Conchita Wurst, the drag persona of openly gay Thomas Neuwirth, won forAustria in 2014; and openlybisexual performerDuncan Laurence was the winner for theNetherlands in 2019.[5][6]Marija Šerifović, who won forSerbia in 2007, subsequently came out publicly as a lesbian in 2013.[7]Loreen, who won forSweden in 2012 and2023, came out as bisexual in 2017.[8]Victoria De Angelis, a member ofMåneskin, the band who won forItaly in 2021, is openly bisexual, with fellow band member Ethan Torchio defining himself as "sexually free".[9]Nemo, who won forSwitzerland in 2024, is the first openlynon-binary artist to win the contest.[10]
As attitudes have changed across Europe, and same-sex attraction has become more accepted in many European countries, several artists have since come out as LGBTQ years or decades after participating in the contest. These includeBob Benny, who representedBelgium in 1959 and1961 and came out publicly as gay in 2001,[11] andPatrick Juvet, who representedSwitzerland in 1973, who came out publicly as bisexual in 2005.[12]
Several presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest have also identified as LGBTQ, includingYigal Ravid andAssi Azar, who hosted in Israel in1999 and2019 respectively,[13][14] andNikkie de Jager, who hosted in the Netherlands in2021. De Jager was the first transgender person to host the contest.[15]Mika, who is gay, hosted the2022 edition in Italy.[16][17]Graham Norton, who is also gay, hosted the final of the2023 edition in the United Kingdom and has additionally served as theBBC's television commentator for the contest since2009.[18][19]
Past competing songs and performances have included references and allusions to same-sex relationships. One of the contest's earliest winning songs, "Nous les amoureux" forLuxembourg in 1961, was later confirmed by its performerJean-Claude Pascal as containing references to a homosexual relationship and the difficulties faced by the pair, considered controversial during the early 1960s when in many European countrieshomosexual relations were still criminalised. Pascal notes, however, that the song's lyrics were deliberately made ambiguous to avoid the mention of the gender of either of the lovers since homosexuality was taboo at the time. The gay rights message of the song was therefore obscured. Pascal also stated that because of its ambiguity, it was not understood as a gay song by the general public at the time. In addition, Pascal was himself gay.[20]
Krista Siegfrids' performance of "Marry Me" forFinland in 2013 featured a same-sex kiss with one of her female backing dancers at the end. The stage performance of "Together" byRyan O'Shaughnessy forIreland in 2018 featured two male dancers portraying a same-sex relationship.[21][22] The performance of "This Time" byMonika Linkytė andVaidas Baumila forLithuania in 2015 featured a kiss between two men and two women in the background.Achille Lauro, the entrant forSan Marino in 2022, engaged in a same-sex kiss with guitarist, producer and long-time collaborator Boss Doms.[23][24] The performance of "Because of You" byGustaph forBelgium in 2023 featuredvogue dancer PussCee West.[25]
Severaldrag acts have featured in Eurovision performances, including Conchita Wurst for Austria in 2014,Verka Serduchka forUkraine in 2007,DQ forDenmark in 2007,Sestre forSlovenia in 2002;[26] the latter's selection sparked protests and debate onLGBTQ rights in Slovenia at the time and resulted in concerns raised at theEuropean Parliament ahead of Slovenia's upcomingaccession to the European Union.[27][28]
Dana International's selection for the1998 contest was marked by objections and death threats fromOrthodox religious sections of Israeli society, and at the contest her accommodation was reportedly in the only hotel inBirmingham with bulletproof windows.[29][30]
In more recent years, various political ideologies across Europe have clashed in the Eurovision setting, particularly on LGBTQ rights.Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) fromTurkey, once a regular participant in the contest and a one-time winner, first pulled out of the contest in 2013, citing dissatisfaction in the voting rules; more recently when asked about returning to the contest it has cited LGBTQ performances as another reason for their continued boycott.[31][32] After initially planning on airing the2013 contest, TRT eventually pulled its broadcast of the event in response to Krista Siegfrids's same-sex kiss.[33] It has also been reported that LGBTQ visibility in the contest was also a deciding factor whenMédiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA) fromHungary chose not to enter the2020 contest amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the Hungarian government ofViktor Orbán, although no official reason has been given by the broadcaster.[34][35]
Following the introduction of a"gay propaganda" law in Russia in 2013, as well asdevelopments in Ukraine, the2014 contest saw a marked increase inbooing from the audience, particularly during theRussian performance, getting qualified to the final, and during the voting when Russia received points.[36][37] Conchita Wurst's win in the contest was also met with criticism on the Russian political stage, with several conservative politicians voicing displeasure in the result.[38] In response to the booing, the producers of the2015 contest installed "anti-booing technology" for the broadcast, and the contest's presenters repeatedly called on the audience not to boo; theRussian participant,Polina Gagarina, was interviewed by Conchita in the green room during a break in the voting, and attracted criticism from Russian conservatives when she posted a backstage video to social media of herself hugging Conchita.[39][40]
Clashes on LGBTQ visibility in the contest have also occurred in countries which do not compete in the contest. Eurovision had been broadcast in China for several years, however in 2018, the rights held byMango TV were terminated during the2018 contest.[41] The live broadcast of the first semi-final featured censorship by Mango TV of Ireland's Ryan O'Shaughnessy, as well as audience members displayingpride flags during the performance bySwitzerland'sZibbz; these performances reportedly went against Chinese guidelines that prohibit "abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours" due to the same-sex dancing.[42]Albania'sEugent Bushpepa was also censored due to the open display of tattoos, which broke guidelines around the featuring of "sub-cultures" and "dispirited cultures".[43] As a result of the termination, the Chinese broadcaster was unable to broadcast the second semi-final or the final of the 2018 contest or any future contests.[44]
In 2018, the head of Turkey's public broadcaster said the boycott was also partly because some past winners, including the drag queen Conchita Wurst, had gone against Turkey's social values.
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