The LGBTQ+ athletes to cheer on at the 2026 Commonwealth Games
Marena Whittle, Seamus Derbyshire and Michaela Walsh are competing at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. (Aldara Zarraoa/Christian Petersen/David Fitzgerald/Getty)
Team LGBTQ+ is heading to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in hopes of many gold medals.
The 23rd Commonwealth Games is being held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 2 August. This year, the program features just 10 sports, cutting the usual program in half.
This means a smaller outing for Team LGBTQ+. However, there are still plenty of queer athletes competing in the 2026 Commonwealth Games…
Amy Atwell
Amy Atwell is a star on the Perth Lynx and the Australian national basketball team. The 28-year-old holds an impressive career record with a bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics and also a silver at this year’s FIBA 3×3 World Cup.
Atwell will be making her Commonwealth debut this year as part of the Australian 3×3 team. Furthermore, she is in a long-term relationship with fellow basketball player and teammate Alex ‘Ally’ Wilson.
Julie Charlton
Julie Charlton made her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham in 2022. The 27-year-old Australian competes in the Shot Put Para-Sport. She finished 9th in the women’s shot put F57. This marked the first time that shot put for athletes with a disability had appeared on the program since 2010.
Alongside competing, Charlton is a disability, mental health and queer advocate. She is also a member of the Disability Council of NSW under the NSW Government.
Gabriela DeBues-Stafford
Canadian middle- and long-distance runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford is a star on the track. The 30-year-old, two-time Olympian, competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was set to compete at the 2022 Games, but had to end her season prematurely because of injury.
DeBues-Stafford is a bisexual athlete. In 2021, she dyed her hair rainbow colours to visibly showcase their relationship to the LGBTQ+ community. Also, she’s married to a man and used herself as an example of bisexual erasure and straight-passing assumptions.
Seamus Derbyshire
26-year-old British track and field athlete Seamus Derbyshire competes in the 400m hurdles. 2026 will be his Commonwealth debut, though he did win silver at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2017.
Derbyshire is gay and has been celebrated online for his pre-race introductions. Additionally, at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Derbyshire imitated Glinda from Wicked’s “toss toss” hair flick and blowing kisses to the audience. He hopes to inspire other gay athletes by being himself in the sport.
Robyn Love
Scottish wheelchair basketball player Robyn Love has represented Great Britain at the 2016 and 2024 Paralympic Games. After playing in the 2022 Games, Love will compete in wheelchair 3×3 basketball at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The 35-year-old is a lesbian and engaged to fellow wheelchair basketball player and teammate Laurie Williams. They have a child together. Love is also an ambassador for the British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA) and Athlete Ally.
Lowri Thomas
British and Welsh track cyclist Lowri Thomas was part of the team sprint that came in third at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Since then, the 27-year-old has been steadily rising up the ranks.
At the 2025 UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup and also the 2026 European Championships, Thomas won silver. Thomas has shared that she is part of the LGBTQ+ community via her Instagram.
Marena Whittle
Marena Whittle has been selected for the Australian 3×3 basketball team for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. As part of the national team, she won gold at the 2024 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup and was also selected in Australia’s first 3×3 Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Then, after the Olympics, Whittle got engaged to fellow professional basketball player Anneli Maley. Together, Maley and Whittle are formidable on the court and making a mark for LGBTQ+ representation more widely.
Michaela Walsh
Michaela Walsh is a Northern Ireland boxing star who fights in the featherweight division. She has a host of medals to her name, including two silver and one gold Commonwealth Games medals. For the 2026 Games, she’s looking to secure another gold.
“This sport has transformed so much and if you’d told to me 10-15 years ago that there would be an equal number (of medals) I’d have said ‘there’s not a hope in hell’ it would happen, so it really shows how much women’s boxing has grown,” she said ahead of the Glasgow Games.
Though these athletes are taking part in this year’s Games, there are plenty of notable LGBTQ athletes who have competed in the past…
Michelle-Lee Ahye: Trinidadian track athlete who won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Ashleigh Brazill: Won gold at the 2022 Games as part of Australia’s netball team.
Tom Bosworth: British two-time Olympic race walker who holds three World bests and a silver Commonwealth medal.
Hannah Cozens: A Welsh hockey player at the 2022 Games.
Tom Daley: One of England’s most famous gay athletes, the diver holds five Commonwealth medals, four gold and one silver.
Stacey Francis-Bayman: A member of the England netball team that won bronze medals at the 2010 Games.
Kirsty Gilmour: The first-ever European champion in badminton from Scotland; Gilmour is a lesbian and one of very few LGBTQ+ professional badminton players.
Amy Jones: The English cricketer competed at the 2022 Games. Also, she is married to Australian cricketer Piepa Cleary.
Osian Jones: A retired Welsh Athletics hammer thrower, Jones set a record in 2017 and came out publicly in 2022.
Sarah-Jane Perry: The squash player has two silver and one bronze Commonwealth medal. She married her partner in 2024, with whom she has two children.
Natalie Powell: She became the first female British judoka to be ranked number one in the world and won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Katherine Sciver-Brunt: The former cricketer, married to teammate Nat Sciver-Brunt, played in England’s first fixture of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Nat Sciver-Brunt: The English cricketer, married to fellow England cricketer Katherine Brunt, was vice-captain at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Mark Tewksbury: Legendary Canadian swimmer who holds four gold Commonwealth medals. He came out in 1998, after retiring from the sport.
Ciara Torrance: The Scottish badminton player, who uses she/they pronouns, competed at the 2022 Games.
Delmi Tucker: South African cricketer who competed at the 2022 Games.
Lorraine Ugen: The English long jumper has a gold medal from the 2018 Games.
Leah Wilkinson: The Welsh defensive hockey player has played at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Sharni Williams: The Australian rugby player has a silver and gold Commonwealth medal; Williams is a lesbian who married her partner in 2023.
