Paralympic silver medalist Dimitri Pavade, who came out as gay during the Paris 2024 Games, said he was “touched” by the reaction to his personal news.
The 35-year-old has avoided talking openly about his sexuality for years, but posted on social media a month ago that he wanted to “move on no matter what other people say.”
Pavard finished runner-up in the T64 long jump in Tokyo three years ago, but missed out on the podium by 0.06 meters at the Stade de France.
His coming out message was posted on Instagram. Three days after the event, it included the following lines: “Yes, I’m short, mixed race, and one-legged. And to top it all off, I’m gay!”
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Pavard was widely praised for his courage in pushing the number of gay and bisexual men to come out at the Paris Paralympics to a record six. In each of the past three Paralympic Games, only one British para-dressage rider, Sir Lee Pearson, has competed.
Now, Pavard’s star is even higher in France. Last weekend, he graced the cover of the magazine edition of a major national sports title. “L’Equipe”.
He also appeared as a guest on one of the country’s biggest Saturday night talk shows. “Quelle Epoch!”
In a chat with the show’s host, Lia Salame, she revealed that the texts had been written for her to post and saved on her phone since February 2022.
“I’ve wanted to do it for a while now…well, ever since I was 21 years old,” Pavarde said, adding that he had told his family and friends, “but no one knew about it in the sports world.” ”
“I told myself to post at the Paris Games because we need to look at things differently. We have to support those who are still in the closet.”
Pavard was born and raised on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, a French overseas department. He was 18 years old and working on the docks there when an 18-tonne forklift overturned his right leg, leading to its amputation just before Christmas 2007.
In 2013, he moved to southwestern France and decided to research prosthetics and orthotics. There, she put on a blade for the first time and began competing in para track and field, making the national team by 2018.
He decided to notify his sponsors before posting the Instagram message.
“I told them, if I re-sign with them, it’s because they accept this and want to be with me.
“They said, ‘Well, no problem!'” So they re-signed. ”
🗣 “I will make an avant-garde choice, please be a changer.”
🏳️🌈✨ La veille de la cérémonie de clôture des Jeux Paralympiques de #Paris2024Dimitri Pavade, Champion de Sauté Ann Long, Faysay’s son comes out on Instagram
📺 #quel epoch @FranceTV @LeaSalame pic.twitter.com/QJhufs4cib
— Quell Epoch! (@QuelleEpoqueOff) October 5, 2024
Still, Pavade says she was heartened by the number of congratulatory messages she received via DM after coming out.
“I did not expect such an effect. Last week I was in Toulouse, where the mayor was holding a celebration. [local] athlete.
“My sixth grade teacher approached me and said, ‘Mr. Pavade, there’s a Muslim boy in my class. He said to me, ‘When you meet Dimitri Pavade, please tell him thank you.’ I did.
“And he’s in sixth grade! That’s strong, I tell myself. That touches me.”
Since coming out, he has not yet had any other gay athletes directly ask him for advice, but he was able to speak to another gay athlete at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. He claims to have done it.
He believes the expectation of rejection still weighs heavily on those in the closet.
“They are afraid of being judged, they are afraid of being harassed,” he added. “What’s important to me is being loved by my family.”
When he came out to his mother in the weeks immediately following the accident, she struggled at first. When she learned that she had a gay son, she worried about how others would react and what would happen to Pavard in the future.
However, it was his father’s words that reassured him.
“He said to me, ‘Listen, you are who you are, you will always be my son, and I love you just the way you are.’
“He made me cry.”
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Source: Outsports – www.outsports.com
