Meet Swimmer Amini Fonua: the Only Out Olympian from a Nation Where Homosexuality Is Illegal

Of the 172 LGBTQ athletes at the recently completed Tokyo Olympics, only one represented one of the 71 countries where homosexuality is illegal. writes the website Erasing 76 crimes.com.

Swimmer�Amini Fonua�from the South Pacific nation of Tonga, at his third Olympic Games, "deserves huge praise for his advocacy and activism on behalf of Pacific nations over the years,"�Sports Media LGBT+ stated.

During the games he opened up to NBC News about how Covid impacted his journey to compete in Tokyo.

"I teach swimming, and that was closed," he said. "Gyms were closed, too, so I couldn't get my stress out there. I had to learn mental tricks to cope – to develop psychological resilience. I started seeing a therapist and taking time to work on myself. I've come out the other end – well, we're not out the other end yet – but I'm a stronger, more aware person for it."

His training was also complicated by some personal issues. ""I broke up with my boyfriend and moved to Manhattan in April 2020," he said. "At first I was staying at the Chelsea Hotel, in what was once the maid's quarters."

Fonua explained that how he needed 20 hours a week to train (not including weight training and cardio work), but during the pandemic he was averaging 3 hours a week due to limited hours of pool openings.

"While in New York, Fonua trained with Team New York Aquatics, an LGBTQ-centered U.S. Masters Swimming team. Swimming can be lonely, he said, but being a part of a team – especially amid a global health crisis – made it feel less so," NBC added.

"You're in the water, your head is submerged, you're practicing alone," he said. "But I found my family here with this group."

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro Fonua became involved in a controversy when Daily Beast reporter Nico Hines posed on Grindr in an attempt to entrap LGBTQ competitors in the game, and in doing so revealed individuals from nations where homosexuality is criminalized. (The post was taken down.)

Fuona spoke out against the Daily Beast. "As an out gay athlete from a country that is still very homophobic,�@thedailybeast�ought to be ashamed," he posted, condemning Hines for "preying on closeted people who can't live in their truth yet."

"Some of these people you just outed are my FRIENDS," he added in a later tweet. "With family and lives that are forever going to be affected by this."

After the Rio games, Fuona joined his family in Tonga to open a hotel there – the House of Tonga – in the capital city, Nukualofa.

"The name is an homage to ball culture in New York," he told NBC News. "We want to create a higher standard than what people expect of Tonga, and a space where everyone is welcome. You have to do what you can where you can."

While, NBC adds, Tonga's bans on homosexuality and cross-dressing are seldom enforced, the society is deeply Christian and socially conservative. Fonua said many LGBTQ Tongans leave for the more welcoming environments of nearby New Zealand and Australia.

"When I was last in Tonga for six months, I kept to myself, because it's dangerous," he said. "I know the royal family is trying to elevate LGBT rights, but it's certainly an uphill battle. You have politicians and church leaders telling you, 'You are worthy of death.' What a challenge that is to overcome."