London 2012 will sell badges to gay community

London 2012 is to sell special badges aimed at the gay community, it has been announced.

Openly-gay Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas urged people to "wear their pin badge with pride and help us achieve greater inclusion in sport".

London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton said the pin badge - the first to be launched in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community - fits in with the organisation's aim to reach out to different communities.

It features the rainbow flag and the London 2012 logo.

Thomas said: "It's great to see Locog (the London 2012 organising committee) reaching out to all communities and making sure that London 2012 is a Games for everyone, in which every community feels included. I hope that everyone will buy and wear their pin badge with pride and help us achieve greater inclusion in sport."

Mr Deighton said: "Our vision is as bold as it is simple - to use the power of the Games to inspire change. We want to reach out to all parts of the community and connect them with London 2012.

"We also want to leave a legacy of greater inclusion and understanding of diversity.

"Our diversity and inclusion pin badge range, starting with the LGBT pin badge, is one way of showing our support for a sporting environment built upon equality and inclusion."

The badges will be on sale at London Pride tomorrow and will also be available from the London 2012 online shop.

London 2012 organisers, who want to bill the event as "everyone's Games", plan to market further pin badges over the next year based around the issues of belief, age, disability, gender and ethnicity.