List of LGBT Paralympians

LGBT Olympians and Paralympians
Lists of LGBT+ Summer Olympic athletes (1900–2000), (2004–2020); by debut 1900 1904 1908 1912 1928 1932 1936 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
List of LGBT+ Winter Olympians; by debut 1956 1964 1972 1976 1980 1984 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
List of LGBT+ Paralympians
List of intersex Olympians
List of LGBT+ artists at the Olympics
History and issues
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There have been 48 modern Paralympians who have identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, queer, or who have openly been in a same-sex relationship, including two who also competed at the Olympic Games. The first Paralympic Games in which an athlete now known to be LGBT+ competed was the 1992 Summer Paralympics.

The most decorated LGBT+ Olympian is British Paralympic equestrian Lee Pearson, with 17 medals including 14 golds. At least 31 LGBT+ Paralympians are medalists (64.58% of LGBT+ Paralympians), of which 15 have at least one gold medal (31.25%).

Overview

All based on the List of LGBT Paralympians

By country Country Number of Olympians F M NB Total  Australia — — 2 2  Belgium 1 — — 1  Brazil 6 — — 6  Canada 3 2 — 5  Germany 2 — — 2  Great Britain 10 1 — 11  Ireland 1 — — 1  Israel 1 — — 1  Mexico 1 — — 1  Netherlands 1 1 — 2  Singapore 1 — — 1  United States 14 — 1 15

By year Games Number of Olympians F M NB Total 1992 Summer 1 1 — 2 1996 Summer 1 1 — 2 2000 Summer 2 2 — 4 2002 Winter 1 — — 1 2004 Summer 5 2 — 7 2006 Winter 1 — — 1 2008 Summer 9 1 — 10 2010 Winter 1 — — 1 2012 Summer 20 1 — 21 2014 Winter 1 — — 1 2016 Summer 29 2 1 32 2020 Summer 31 2 3 36

By sport

Sport	Number of Olympians by gender
	Female			Male			Non-binary	Total
	Cisgender	Transgender	Intersex	Cisgender	Transgender	Intersex
Alpine skiing	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Athletics	4	—	—	—	1	—	2	7
Cycling	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	6
Equestrian	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	1
Goalball	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	2
Judo	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Paracanoe	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Parataekwondo	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Paratriathlon	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	2
Rowing	5	—	—	—	—	—	1	6
Sitting cross-country skiing	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Sitting volleyball	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	3
Swimming	3	—	—	2	—	—	—	5
Wheelchair basketball	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	14
Wheelchair fencing	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Wheelchair tennis	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1

Notes

Key

Δ Was known to be widely out prior to their most recent Paralympic competition; contemporaneously out while competing

 Came out after competing

 Posthumously identified as LGBT+

• Tables are default sorted by first Games appearance chronologically, then current surname or common nickname alphabetically, then first name alphabetically. They can be sorted by current surname (where used) or common nickname alphabetically; by country and sport alphabetically; by Games chronologically; and by medals as organised in Olympics medals tables.

Paralympic athletes

Athlete		Country	Sport	Games	Medal(s)	Notes
	Jen Armbruster Δ	United States	Goalball	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016		Armbruster is married to Asya Miller, and was widely out before 2012.
	Rafael Polinario	Canada	Swimming	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004		After competing in the 1980 Summer Olympics for Cuba, Polinario sought asylum in Canada and became a coach for their Paralympic swimming team, particularly his daughter, Anne Polinario, and other Paralympians Elisabeth Walker-Young and Nydia Langill.
	Asya Miller Δ	United States	Goalball	2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020		Married Jen Armbruster prior to 2012.
	Lee Pearson Δ	Great Britain	Equestrian	2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020		Was widely out prior to 2012; was a Paralympic flagbearer in 2016.
	Allison Jones Δ	United States	Alpine skiing, Cycling	2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016		Jones was a flagbearer at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in her last of eight Olympic appearances, having competed every two years alternating skiing and cycling since 2002. She married a woman in 2014.
	Edênia Garcia Δ	Brazil	Swimming	2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020		Came out widely in 2019.
	Stephanie Wheeler Δ	United States	Wheelchair basketball	2004, 2008, 2016		Won gold as a player in 2004 and 2008 (after which she came out), and as coach in 2016.
	Theresa Goh	Singapore	Swimming	2008, 2012, 2016		Goh came out widely in 2017, though said she had never hidden her sexuality, and later reflected that the response in Singapore, where she had feared she could be jailed, had been quite positive.
	Josiane Lima Δ	Brazil	Rowing	2008, 2012, 2016, 2020		Including the 2020 Games, Lima has competed at every Paralympics in which rowing has featured. She was widely out prior to the 2020 Games, and an advocate for combating queerphobia in Brazil.
	Angela Madsen Δ	United States	Rowing, Athletics	2008, 2012, 2016		Madsen competed in Paralympic rowing in 2008, and then in Paralympic throwing events in 2012 and 2016, winning her bronze medal in the shot put. She came out in 1981 while in the military, a year after the military-induced injury which paralysed her. She died while rowing from Los Angeles to Hawaii in 2020.
	Cindy Ouellet Δ	Canada	Wheelchair basketball, Sitting cross-country skiing	2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020		Ouellet competes in wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics since 2008, and competed in different cross-country skiing events at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. She was widely out prior to 2018.
	Monique Burkland Δ	United States	Sitting volleyball	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out prior to competing, Burkland married her trans male partner, before he came out, in 2016. After he came out, Burkland said that her teammates were all supportive of them.
	Katie-George Dunlevy Δ	Ireland	Cycling	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out by the 2020 Games, Dunlevy had come out at the age of 29 after being in denial "for years". She noted that, while cycling is not as largely queer as football or rugby when it comes to women, her own para cycling team was majority queer women. After the 2020 Games, she also told ESPN that people only approached her as an LGBT+ sportswoman in the run-up to those Games.
	Jude Hamer Δ	Great Britain	Wheelchair basketball	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out prior to 2020 Games, at which point she was in a relationship with pararower Lauren Rowles.
	Claire Harvey Δ	Great Britain	Sitting volleyball, Athletics	2012, 2016		Harvey competed in sitting volleyball at the 2012 Paralympics. She was set to compete in the discus throw at the 2016 Paralympics but could not due to injury. She was widely out prior to competing.
	Crystal Lane-Wright Δ	Great Britain	Cycling	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games.
	Desiree Miller Δ	United States	Wheelchair basketball	2012, 2016		Was married to German wheelchair basketball player Mareike Miller. Widely out prior to 2016.
	Mareike Miller Δ	Germany	Wheelchair basketball	2012, 2016, 2020		While Miller competes at the Paralympics, she does not have a permanent disability; she took up wheelchair basketball after persistent injury curtailed her basketball career. She was a flagbearer at the 2020 Games. Was married to American wheelchair basketball player Desiree Miller.
	Moran Samuel Δ	Israel	Rowing	2012, 2016, 2020		After Samuel suffered a spinal stroke during her basketball career, Samuel's wife suggested she try rowing. Samuel was a flagbearer at the 2020 Paralympics.
	Lucy Shuker Δ	Great Britain	Wheelchair tennis	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games.
	Marieke Vervoort Δ	Belgium	Wheelchair racing	2012, 2016		Vervoort was an openly lesbian Paralympic wheelchair racer who gained wide attention when, shortly before the 2016 Rio Games, she announced she planned to die by euthanasia and that going to Rio was her last wish. She clarified this did not mean straight away; she died in 2019.
	Emma Wiggs Δ	Great Britain	Sitting volleyball, Paracanoe	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games. Wiggs competed in sitting volleyball in 2012, having been offered several sports at a paralympic talent identifying day but wanting to be involved in a team. After 2012, she switched to paracanoeing.
	Laurie Williams Δ	Great Britain	Wheelchair basketball	2012, 2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games. In a relationship with teammate Robyn Love.
	Hailey Danz Δ	United States	Paratriathlon	2016, 2020		Widely out by the 2020 Games.
	Abby Dunkin Δ	United States	Wheelchair basketball	2016		Widely out prior to competing.
	Megan Giglia Δ	Great Britain	Cycling	2016		Widely out prior to competing.
	Laura Goodkind Δ	United States	Rowing	2016, 2020		Goodkind identifies as gender neutral. They compete in mixed doubles as the female partner, and was widely out prior to the 2020 Games.
	Barbara Gross Δ	Germany	Wheelchair basketball	2016, 2020		Also known as Babsi Gross or Groß. She won a silver medal with her team in 2016 before the governing bodies of wheelchair basketball, including the International Paralympic Committee, altered their eligibility criteria in 2020. After appealing the decision, Gross was allowed to continue competing. Widely out prior to the 2020 Games.
	Bo Kramer Δ	Netherlands	Wheelchair basketball	2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games.
	Robyn Love Δ	Great Britain	Wheelchair basketball	2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games. In a relationship with teammate Laurie Williams.
	Alana Maldonado Δ	Brazil	Judo	2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games. After winning gold in Tokyo, having taken silver at home in Rio, she told the media that she would not take off her gold medal until she got home and saw her girlfriend.
	Ness Murby	Canada	Athletics	2016		The BBC noted that as a trans male athlete, their presence "created less of a stir" than trans female athletes.
	Lauren Rowles Δ	Great Britain	Rowing	2016, 2020		Widely out prior to the 2020 Games, at which point she was in a relationship with wheelchair basketball player Judith Hamer.
	Tuany Barbosa Siqueira Δ	Brazil	Athletics	2020		A judoka before her impairment, Barbosa began training in para athletics throwing events at the encouragement of a former teammate.
	Kaitlyn Eaton Δ	United States	Wheelchair basketball	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Terry Hayes Δ	United States	Wheelchair fencing	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Querijn Hensen Δ	Netherlands	Swimming	2020
	Robyn Lambird Δ	Australia	Athletics	2020		Lambird became the first non-binary Paralympic medallist. They said that, growing up playing sports around men, they never felt they had to hide their gender identity and never felt unwelcome within those circles, but has spoken of how the disabled queer community is marginalised. They use social media as an advocacy platform for their community.
	Tara Llanes Δ	Canada	Wheelchair basketball	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Débora Menezes Δ	Brazil	Parataekwondo	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Kate O'Brien Δ	Canada	Cycling	2020		O'Brien took up bobsleigh in university, and got as far as qualifying for the 2014 Winter Olympics before an injury took her out of competition. In her time out, she was recruited to join the Canadian track cycling team as they prepared for the 2016 Summer Olympics, at which she competed. At a track cycling demonstration in 2017, O'Brien was involved in a major crash and suffered traumatic injury; Team Canada incorporated her into their Paralympic track cycling team for the 2020 Games. Widely out prior to the 2020 Games.
	Brenda Osnaya Δ	Mexico	Paratriathlon	2020		Widely out prior to competing. Osnaya has also competed in weightlifting, swimming and athletics as a para-athlete, and roller skating as an able-bodied athlete.
	Mariana Ribeiro Δ	Brazil	Swimming	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Lucy Robinson Δ	Great Britain	Wheelchair basketball	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Courtney Ryan Δ	United States	Wheelchair basketball	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Monica Sereda Δ	United States	Cycling	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Hallie Smith Δ	United States	Rowing	2020		Widely out prior to competing.
	Maz Strong Δ	Australia	Athletics	2020		Strong was one of two out Australian non-binary para athletes at the 2020 Games.

Sources