One of the featured acts for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Paris on Friday was a drag performance that recreated the Last Supper, the final time that Jesus broke bread with his disciples before he was arrested and hung on a cross.
The burlesque act that mocked one of Christianity’s most sacred moments shocked Christians around the world. The Last Supper marks the first-ever sacrament of Holy Communion, through which Christians are symbolically united with Christ and receive His grace and forgiveness.
The Last Supper living diorama was not the only drag event starting the Olympics. The Friday night show featured men in drag grotesquely parading, gyrating, and preening for the thousands of people from around the world who are attending the opening ceremony, which is scheduled to last three hours.
“Queens everywhere! We couldn’t be happier about this huge moment for drag performers breaking through the mainstream and showing their talents to the entire world,” wrote Out magazine, a publication for LGBTQ. Some 320,000 are expected to be in Paris for the international athletics competition.
The show this year is a far cry from the opening ceremony in 2008, when 2,008 drummers performed at the Beijing Olympics.
