This gay Olympian smooched his boyfriend and homophobes are raging

Homophobes are seething after Australian climber Campbell Harrison kissed his boyfriend in front of the cameras at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Unfortunately, Harrison didn’t make it to the finals of the competition. He was disqualified and tied in 19th place with a score of 9.4. Only the top eight competitors advance to the finals.

“Qualifying was so hard and getting through everything to be here was really tough. It was just not my day,” he said after the competition.

Related

Kamala Harris: Future POTUS, queer icon, or meme queen?

We’re in the home stretch of a presidential campaign like none other. Can Kamala Harris leverage queer Gen Z & the internet for the win?

Culture, unfiltered

Twice a week, our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.

But he didn’t let this loss stop him from celebrating the fact that he became an Olympian. After the competition was over, he ran over to the sidelines and kissed his boyfriend in front of every last camera.

“It’s pretty crazy. This morning, when I woke up, I was kind of emotional. I thought ‘oh, I guess I’m an Olympian now’. So that’s kind of wild. At the end of the day, that was the big goal.”

Harrison and his boyfriend have been victims of intense homophobia after he was announced as a competitor for the Olympics in November of last year. He posted on Instagram about his announcement while celebrating his queerness, however an immense amount of hate was directed at them for simply existing as queer men.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Campbell Harrison (@campbell_harrison547)

Harrison spoke out about the backlash shortly after he was announced as an Olympian.

“We often tell ourselves that society as a whole is becoming more progressive, or that things are ‘getting better’. But the reality is… there’s a reason why you see so few out, queer athletes in sport. And that’s because we’re still not safe here.. yet. Pride matters. Representation matters.”

“It’s homophobes and bigots that should feel unwelcome in sport. Not me. Not Justin. Not queer people just trying to live our lives without having to lie about and hide who we are.”