Nigerian gay rights activist, public speaker, blog writer and HIV/LGBT advocate, Bisi Alimi and some other members of the LGBTQ community made history at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games when they flew the progress rainbow flag with the Queen’s baton.
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham on Thursday night, July 28 and the Queen Elizabeth was represented by her son Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.
At the opening of the ceremony, English diver Tom Daley made a powerful statement when he entered the stadium carrying the Queen’s Baton. This makes him the first athlete to carry the Queen’s Baton.
He entered flanked by athletes and activists waving the progress pride flags to call out the Commonwealth member countries where homosexuality is still criminalised.
Bisi Alimi, who gained international attention when he became the first Nigerian to come out on television, is one of the athletes who flew the pride flags with Tom Daley.
After the event, he took to Instagram to celebrate making history.
He wrote: “Last night we made history!
“For the first time in the history of any international sporting event, I joined 5 other LGBTQIA advocates to bring the progress rainbow flag into the opening ceremony of the #commonwealthgames with the queen’s baton.
“For a moment, I never believed what was happening. Growing up in Nigeria as someone who is passionate about sports and loved watching opening ceremonies, I never for once thought that a time will come when LGBTQI people will be recognised, seen, heard and loved.
“Even more so, I never thought I would be part of this history.
“To everyone who worked tireless to make this happen @tomdaley, thank you. To my team and management, thank you. To the other 5 advocates, thank you.”
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