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Around 10, gay and lesbian athletes from around the globe are expected to descend on the western German city of Cologne tomorrow to participate in the international Gay Games. Entrants from more than 70 countries are due to take part in an eclectic mix of events including football, transgender ballroom dancing and cheerleading.

A cultural programme includes art exhibitions, choir concerts and film screenings. Many of the participants have adopted false identities because of fears that they will be persecuted on their return home. While most participants come from Germany and the US, the list of countries represented will also include Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico and Zimbabwe.

Moeck said for many, including Mexico's gay soccer team, whose identities have been deliberately kept secret, it would be a "unique opportunity" to be surrounded by fellow gays and lesbians.

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Eastern European sportsmen and women, from countries where discrimination is more or less systematic, have this year been invited to the event for free. The Gay Games first started in San Francisco in and takes place every four years. Its founding father was the openly gay decathlete Tom Waddell, who died of Aids in This year's host city is home to Europe's largest gay and lesbian sport club, SC Janus.

The Australian Olympic gymnast Matthew Mitcham, who won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in and is one of the few major athletes to have ever come out, will open the event. The event has been overshadowed by events at last week's Love Parade festival, in the nearby city of Duisburg, in which 21 people were trampled to death and which has led to calls for tighter safety procedures at large-scale events in Germany.

A runner wearing rainbow socks at the Gay Games VII in Chicago in This article is more than 14 years old. German city gets ready to host gay and lesbian athletes from more than 70 countries for eighth quadrennial event. Reuse this content. Most viewed.