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SYDNEY, Australia -- The Olympics' closing ceremony is going to be a drag.
Drag queens will be part of the Sydney 2000 games' finale regardless of what "right-wing reactionaries" think, ceremonies director Ric Birch said Wednesday.
The men dressed up in outlandish dresses, wigs and makeup, will be "part of one tiny section" of the closing ceremony, a tribute to Australian films including the 1994 cult hit "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," he said.
Some of the participants would be dressed in original costumes, including a frill-necked lizard outfit from the film, which features two drag queens and a transsexual driving a pink bus through Australia's Outback.
A report in Wednesday's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper sparked heated debate on radio shows. One caller said he would trade his closing ceremony ticket after hearing the news.
Birch directed the opening ceremony at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and was involved in the opener at Atlanta four years ago. He said he was annoyed that constant leaks were wrecking what should be a surprise for the public.
"I'm really disappointed at the way the media is gleefully trying to expose the secrets that we call surprises," Birch told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Photographs of the Olympic cauldron being lit in rehearsals, which are usually kept under wraps, have been printed. Speculation on who will ignite the cauldron has intensified.
Birch said the inclusion of drag queens also reflected one of Sydney's most colorful events, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, a gay pride march and street carnival that attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators each year.
"That's part of Sydney life whether (critics) like it or not." Birch said. "For the right-wing reactionaries or whatever part of a community is outraged about it -- well, they're always going to be outraged."
Olympics Minister Michael Knight said all the plans for the ceremonies had been approved by the organizing committee's board.
"The closing ceremony runs for several hours and has a very different feel to opening ceremony -- it's a party," he said. "The athletes are going to be on the field from the word go as part of this giant party celebration. The whole feel will be one of great celebration and fun."
