Athens gay scene slowly comes out for fun and Games

In the international party atmosphere of the Olympic Games, the Greek gay scene is finally coming out of the closet.

In the international party atmosphere of the Olympic Games, the Greek gay scene is finally coming out of the closet.

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After decades in the shadows of a macho society, the gay scene's young beautiful people now start to shake their stuff in the limelight, challenging stereotypes and leaving the old norm of hidden, double lives behind in a sprint forward.

There are few openly gay celebrities in Greece and until recently only a handful of gay bars in the five-million people capital. The word for male homosexual is one of the most commonly used swearwords in the Greek language.

But change might just be round the corner after the end of the "Gaymes", a cycle of events that promised "17 Nights of Olympic Hedonism" coinciding with the Games and included parties around Athens as well as gay-friendly information for visitors.

"Every night it was packed, the Greeks, the foreigners, the go-go boys, all going mad until 7:00 am," said Maria Cyber, party organiser and grande dame of the Greek lesbian scene.

"It was really like you were not in Greece at all".

Gay activist Gregory Vallianatos said the great numbers of gay visitors at the Games were a chance for the local scene to mature and assert itself in an otherwise hostile environment.

"Greece is a country that is essentially homophobic, not because of underlying morals, but because of hypocrisy," Vallianatos said.

"The gay scene is not big, there is no Gay Pride parade, because no one is proud, most people are in hiding."