The Eurovision Song Contest has had a long-held fan base in the LGBTQ community, and the contest organisers have actively worked to include these fans since the 1990s.
Paul Oscar became the contest's first openly gay artist when he represented . Katrina Leskanich, who won representing the as lead singer of the group Katrina and the Waves later came out. Dana International, representing , was the contest's first trans performer, and became the first trans artist to win the contest. Several open members of the LGBTQ community have since gone on to compete and win the contest: Conchita Wurst, the drag persona of openly gay Thomas Neuwirth, won for ; and openly bisexual performer Duncan Laurence was the winner for the . Marija à  erifoviÃÂ, who won for , subsequently came out publicly as a lesbian in 2013. Loreen, who won for and , came out as bisexual in 2017. Victoria De Angelis, a member of MÃÂ¥neskin, the band who won for , is openly bisexual, with fellow band member Ethan Torchio defining himself as "sexually free". Nemo, who won for , is the first openly non-binary artist to win the contest.
As attitudes have changed across Europe, and same-sex attraction has become more accepted in many European countries, several artists have since come out as LGBTQ years or decades after participating in the contest. These include Bob Benny, who represented and and came out publicly as gay in 2001, and Patrick Juvet, who represented , who came out publicly as bisexual in 2005.
Several presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest have also identified as LGBTQ, including Yigal Ravid and Assi Azar, who hosted in Israel in and respectively, and Nikkie de Jager, who hosted in the Netherlands in . De Jager was the first transgender person to host the contest. Mika, who is gay, hosted the in Italy. Graham Norton, who is also gay, hosted the final of the in the United Kingdom and has additionally served as the BBC's television commentator for the contest since .
Past competing songs and performances have included references and allusions to same-sex relationships. One of the contest's earliest winning songs, "" for , was later confirmed by its performer Jean-Claude Pascal as containing references to a homosexual relationship and the difficulties faced by the pair, considered controversial during the early 1960s when in many European countries homosexual relations were still criminalised. Pascal notes, however, that the song's lyrics were deliberately made ambiguous to avoid the mention of the gender of either of the lovers since homosexuality was taboo at the time. The gay rights message of the song was therefore obscured. Pascal also stated that because of its ambiguity, it was not understood as a gay song by the general public at the time. In addition, Pascal was himself gay.
Krista Siegfrids' performance of "Marry Me" for featured a same-sex kiss with one of her female backing dancers at the end. The stage performance of "Together" by Ryan O'Shaughnessy for featured two male dancers portraying a same-sex relationship. The performance of "This Time" by Monika LinkytÃÂ and Vaidas Baumila for featured a kiss between two men and two women in the background. Achille Lauro, the entrant for , engaged in a same-sex kiss with guitarist, producer and long-time collaborator Boss Doms. The performance of "Because of You" by Gustaph for featured vogue dancer PussCee West.
Several drag acts have featured in Eurovision performances, including Conchita Wurst for Austria in 2014, Verka Serduchka for , DQ for , Sestre for ; the latter's selection sparked protests and debate on LGBTQ rights in Slovenia at the time and resulted in concerns raised at the European Parliament ahead of Slovenia's upcoming accession to the European Union.
Dana International's selection for the was marked by objections and death threats from Orthodox religious sections of Israeli society, and at the contest her accommodation was reportedly in the only hotel in Birmingham with bulletproof windows.
In more recent years, various political ideologies across Europe have clashed in the Eurovision setting, particularly on LGBTQ rights. (TRT) from , once a regular participant in the contest and a one-time winner, first pulled out of the contest in 2013, citing dissatisfaction in the voting rules; more recently when asked about returning to the contest it has cited LGBTQ performances as another reason for their continued boycott. After initially planning on airing the , TRT eventually pulled its broadcast of the event in response to Krista Siegfrids's same-sex kiss. It has also been reported that LGBTQ visibility in the contest was also a deciding factor when (MTVA) from chose not to enter the amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán, although no official reason has been given by the broadcaster.
Following the introduction of a "gay propaganda" law in Russia in 2013, as well as developments in Ukraine, the saw a marked increase in booing from the audience, particularly during the , getting qualified to the final, and during the voting when Russia received points. Conchita Wurst's win in the contest was also met with criticism on the Russian political stage, with several conservative politicians voicing displeasure in the result. In response to the booing, the producers of the installed "anti-booing technology" for the broadcast, and the contest's presenters repeatedly called on the audience not to boo; the , Polina Gagarina, was interviewed by Conchita in the green room during a break in the voting, and attracted criticism from Russian conservatives when she posted a backstage video to social media of herself hugging Conchita.
Clashes on LGBTQ visibility in the contest have also occurred in countries which do not compete in the contest. Eurovision had been broadcast in China for several years, however in 2018, the rights held by Mango TV were terminated during the . The live broadcast of the first semi-final featured censorship by Mango TV of Ireland's Ryan O'Shaughnessy, as well as audience members displaying pride flags during the performance by 's Zibbz; these performances reportedly went against Chinese guidelines that prohibit "abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours" due to the same-sex dancing. 's Eugent Bushpepa was also censored due to the open display of tattoos, which broke guidelines around the featuring of "sub-cultures" and "dispirited cultures". As a result of the termination, the Chinese broadcaster was unable to broadcast the second semi-final or the final of the 2018 contest or any future contests.
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