If you’re a European gay it’s highly unlikely that you would have grown up without some special memory of the Eurovision Song Contest. Over the years it became such a queer phenomenon that it began to dominate our social life and formed a central part of our annual calendar.  It’s hard to pinpoint just one single reason for our adoration, but the Contest was regarded as one of the best campiest entertainments ever: the glitzy costumes, the over-the-top stage production, but most importantly, the most corniest of songs.

When it started in 1956, it was part of a concerted effort to reestablish unity in Europe as it continued to recover from World War 2.  That year, just seven countries sent in contestants.  It was in the days when the very cultured  (and snobby) British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was a major player in the European Broadcasting Union, resulting in the odd combination of lightweight, frivolously pop songs being presented in a somewhat formal televised concert.  In the 1960’s the annual live TV production was anchored by Katie Boyle, born into Italian nobility, but now the grande dame of British TV.  However, in one particular year, her pronunciation and her upperclass voice were difficult to understand as she was on live TV  and more than two sheets to the wind!

Fast forward to the present time, : 2024 saw the 69th Edition of Eurovision, with 37 countries taking part: some of them distinctly  ‘non-European such as Australia, Iceland, Israel and even Azerbaijan,  and it had a television audience of 163 million!  . It was won by Nemo  a non binary artist from Switzerland There have been other queer winners befire :Dana International, representing Israel in 1998, was the contest’s first trans performer, and became the first trans artist to win the contest; Conchita Wurst, the drag persona of openly gay Thomas Neuwirth, won for Austria in 2014; and openly bisexual performer Duncan Laurence was the winner for the Netherlands in 2019. Marija Šerifović, who won for Serbia in 2007, subsequently came out publicly as a lesbian in 2013. Loreen, who won for Sweden in 2012 and 2023, came out as bisexual in 2017. Victoria De Angelis, a member of Måneskin, the band who won for Italy in 2021, is openly bisexual, with fellow band member Ethan Torchio defining himself as “sexually free”

Now however the European Broadcasting Union want to repay their massive queer following with thier undisguised homophobic ruling banning all PRIDE flags i.e. rainbow flags, LGBTQ+ flags, or other identity-specific flags. Their very feeble excuse is that these flags confuse the issues of what country is on stage.  Really? That has not sat well with queer groups who see it as a violation of freedom of expression and a way to limit the visibility and representation of the LGBTQ+ community.   See what years of loyalty gets you if you are gay ?