Kate Ryan wrote and sang the official anthem for the 2007 Eurogames, an LGBT sporting event staged in her home country, Belgium. In the next few years, she went on to become a major Europop star, with a Eurovision appearance and sharp cover versions of songs by artists such as Mylène Farmer and France Gall, while continuing to be a public supporter of LGBT rights.

Her popularity in the gay community wobbled a little after she agreed to appear in the Winter Olympics at the Russian resort of Scochi, at a time when that country’s new repression of the LGBT community was much in the news, but she has continued to appear at Gay Pride events, including the Drag Queen Gala at Maspalomas, Gran Canaria in 2014