This summer, when gay men and women board their rainbow-colored floats at Stockholm Pride, they’ll be joined by the first and the most recent winners of Eurovision. That’s right people: Lys Assia (ESC ’56) and Emmelie de Forest (ESC ’13) are gonna wave their rainbow flags during the gay pride festivities in Stockholm on August 1. Color us excited!

“The traditional Thursday at Stockholm Pride will be a night of magic,” Stockholm Pride organizer Jörgen Eriksson said in a statement on the event’s official web page.”To be able to offer the first and the latest Eurovision winner just shows that we all can meet across generations, just like in the theme of this year’s Pride, ‘We are family’.”

Emmelie’s young and with it, so we aren’t exactly surprised that she’s down with the LGBT community. Lord knows she had to embrace them in Malmö. “I am really looking forward to Stockholm Pride, to be able to meet the public and perform ‘Only Teardrops’ as well as a new song of mine,” she said. “Together we are going to put on a magical evening on the 1st of August.” We bet she’s also going to push copies of her recently-released album Only Teardrops.

Lys AssiaAs for Ms. Assia, she turned 89 in March. We’re seriously impressed that she is embracing the gays and proving that being old doesn’t mean being close-minded. “It is an honour to be invited to Stockholm Pride and to perform the first ever Eurovision winning entry ‘Refrain’,” she said. “I am looking forward to meeting the Pride audience who I have been told are true Eurovision fans.” I think she means that they’re gay.

As keen as we are to hear Lys in Sweden, we worry that she might slip on an errant pack of lube en route to the stage. If you recall, medical issues had us all worried about her in the run-up to Malmö. But ever the Eurovision fan, she pulled herself out of that hospital bed and still managed to hate on Switzerland during an interview with WiwiBloggs.com. Surely that sass is enough to make her a gay icon? Hopefully she’ll dig out “It’s All In Your Head” too. Her failed bid to represent Switzerland in 2012 was the bomb. But more to the point: That song spoke to perseverance, a central tenant of the gay rights movement. “You can do what you want/ You can be what you like/ If you’re checking what’s in your head tonight/ Time for flipping the switch/ And for turning the key/ Time to open and set you free.” How can parade goers argue with lyrics like that?

http://youtu.be/YWUW-jXOSPs

William contributed this report from London. Follow the team from wiwibloggs on Twitter @wiwibloggs and keep up with the latest Eurovision news by liking our Facebook page.

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Cynthia
Cynthia
10 years ago

lol. that’s amazing. does lys know what she’s getting herself into? hilarious.