In what one observer described as a “truly humiliating moment for the Olympics,” three drag queens have been among the 10,000 torch bearers carrying the Olympic flame through France as it made its way to the 2024 Paris Games.
The men who dress and portray themselves as women — Nicky Doll, Miss Martini, and Minima Gesté — were invited by authorities to participate in the marathon relay that originated months ago in Olympia, Greece.
When it was announced in May that drag queen Gesté, 33, had been selected, far-right politician Marion Marechal said Gesté was responsible for “particularly vulgar” and “hyper-sexualized performances,” according to an AFP report.
“I don’t think that this is a good way of representing France to the world,” Marechal told the TF1 channel on Thursday, according to AFP.
“It’s a truly humiliating moment for the Olympics, for the organizing committee that let this happen and for the entire 2024 Paris Games,” Outkick’s Ian Miller noted.
“What possible justification can there be for giving a drag queen the honor of carrying the Olympic Torch?” Miller asked. “Just as the Los Angeles Dodgers humiliated their storied franchise history by honoring an extremist group of anti-Catholic drag nuns, this is a humiliation for the Olympics as an event.”
“It’s offensive, and frankly inexcusable,” Miller said. “Which is probably exactly why those involved encouraged it. To show that they’re in charge, and you have to live under their rules. No matter how embarrassing those rules are.”
In a Wednesday post on X, Libs of TikTok simply pointed out that “Everything woke turns to sh*t.”
Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo seized the opportunity to portray Gesté as a victim, saying he was the target of “homophobic and transphobic insults.”