There are ???? ?????? ????? ??????a record 49 out LGBTQ athletes at the Rio Olympics, the greatest number of out athletes since the modern games began in 1896.

Just a week into the Olympic games, some commentators have gone so far to call Rio the most LGBTQ-friendly games yet. While their assertions may seem premature, their conclusions are backed up by hard data and strong qualitative viral evidence. There are more openly queer athletes than ever before, and there are also more proud queer moments -- including a tearjerking same-sex marriage proposal that happened in an Olympic stadium, while millions watched worldwide.

The Rio Olympics may be a breakthrough moment for the global LGBTQ community. Yet a few journalists, writing for otherwise reputable outlets, have taken advantage of this moment not to celebrate the queer community, but to denigrate, mock and casually exploit them. While the Olympics are sprinting ahead; parts of the press lag miles behind.

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SEE ALSO: The most sexist moments at the Olympics — so far

It's impossible to overstate how far queer Olympians have come. In 1982, activist Tom Waddell organized a separate Gay Games for the gay community just beginning to emerge in San Francisco. 32 years later in 2014, queer Olympians from all over the world came to Sochi, Russia only to discover that the country had banned dissemination of "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" around children. Russia even arrested four gay activists on opening day of the Olympics.

There were only 23 out LGBTQ athletes at the London Games.

Fast forward two years to these Rio Games.

There are 49 out athletes in this year's Olympics, a number that grows by the day. This number could easily be larger as much of it has to do with notoriety -- not all of the 11,000+ Olympians that are participating this year has the media clout to, or possibly desire, to make their sexual identity known. As athletes rack up medals, journalists become more acquainted with the more intimate parts of their biographies, including their sexual orientations.

Marjorie Enya and Isabella Cerullo Credit: Getty

And while some countries lag behind others, the global climate is progressing for LGBTQ folks in erratic spurts. More nations that ever before tolerate queer and trans people -- even if they're not exactly embracing them.

In 2014, after the Sochi Olympics, the International Olympics Committee announced that they would ban countries from hosting who have anti-LGBTQ laws. Athletes who kept their sexuality private in 2012, like gay British swimmer Tom Daley, are out and happily Instagramming with their handsome partners to tens and thousands of likes and favorites.

Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black Credit: gareth cattermole/Getty Images

Even Brazil, one of the most dangerous places on earth to be gay or transgender, has seen marginal improvements. Close to 1,600 people died in hate-motivated attacks over the past four and a half years. But Rio is home to the largest gay pride in the world, and the country has made some (however ineffective) efforts to curb the epidemic of violence against LGBTQ folks.

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The Rio Olympics should be a moment for celebration or the LGBTQ community -- and while many media outlets seemingly "get it," others lag years behind, far more invested in mocking the community or using it to build page views. Still others occupy a blatantly negligent space, lacking the language to talk to -- forget about -- these communities.

Take NBC's own coverage. Eight years ago, the station came under fire for failing to recognize gay diver Matthew Mitcham's male partner, even though the partners of all the other straight athletes were highlighted. The network promised to do better, but two Olympics later, it responded by doing exactly the same to diver Tom Daley. NBC failed to identify Daley's celebrity fiancé, Dustin Lance Blank, in the crowd, even though other athletes' partners were recognized and celebrity relationships are viral Olympic gold.

Even when NBC made a effort to recognize a queer relationship, it lacked the most elementary language to do so. When Brazilian Volleyball player Larissa França raced to the stands to embrace her wife, Lili, NBC commentator Chris Marlowe said this, no irony attached:

"That is her husband. She married Lili in 2013 and Larissa is celebrating with her pals."

The @NBCNews just called Larissa Franca's partner her "husband!" Pretty sure Liliane Maestrini goes by "WIFE!" Jerk! pic.twitter.com/gvO1oG5bIv

— Sara (@SaraBrooks55_99) August 9, 2016

Marlowe's comment was simultaneously mind-blowing and familiar for LGBTQ Olympics viewers, as was the subsequent non-apology that followed.

As Cyd Zeigler at SBNation has carefully pointed out, NBC Sports continues to employ homophobic commentators like Tony Dungy for the NFL, who "disagrees" with Jason Bailey's sexuality and once said he wouldn't want Michael Sam, who is gay, on his football team (Nobody wants to be on your dumb team anyway, Dungy).

But NBC was just the tip of the homophobic iceberg. The Daily Beastwas loudly and fairly criticized all across the net for an article published Wednesday that has since been taken down. The author of the piece, Niko Hines, went on Grindr to discover what the Olympic village sex scene was like. Hines, however, is straight and married and on Grindr for an article; the queer athletes he spoke with were not and did not know the author's job until they asked him.

In disclosing some of these athlete's home countries, Hines inadvertently outed them to their families, teams, and home countries. Many of these athletes, like openly gay athlete Amini Fonua, come from countries like Tonga, where homosexuality remains criminalized. Jones' piece not only put these athletes careers at risk, but their entire lives. And all for a voyeuristic non-story that successfully concluded that -- get ready for it -- gay people like to have sex.

No straight person will ever know the pain of revealing your truth, to take that away is just... I can't. It literally brings me to tears 😭😭

— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016

It is still illegal to be gay in Tonga, and while I'm strong enough to be me in front of the world, not everybody else is. Respect that.

— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016

There were other quieter, smaller homophobic moments, like when The Daily Mailgot pathetically excited about these two straight male Olympians who embraced each other after a race. The two athletes later confirmed that no, they were not gay, there were just happy and hugging. But the established media outlet's middle-school joke remained: these men looked gay, and being gay is nothing if not hilarious!

As miserable and predictable as all of these articles were, the reaction to them demonstrates some level of progress. Daily Beasttook the article down. NBC progressed from non-apologies to sort-of-apologies. And The Daily Mail-- well, they didn't do much.

So celebrate the Rio Olympics, but remember, there's still so much room to go. There was an openly transgender model at the opening ceremony, but no openly transgender athletes participating. Previously, transgender athletes were required to have gender-affirming surgery before they competed. Now that restriction has been lifted, but transgender women are still required to take two years of hormones before they're allowed to compete. The International Olympics Committee still struggles to meet the needs of intersex and binary folks and create some standards of fairness. On and off the field, some cis athletes resent the hormonal advantage they feel some transgender female athletes possess.

When members of the U.S. Women's Soccer team, which has a number of out and proud athletes, marched into the stadium last week, they were met by cheers and cries of "bicha," a homophobic slur comparable to faggot.

None of this should take away from Rio's success. There are 49 out and proud Olympic athletes. There are eight athletes from Great Britain competing who are gay, the highest number of any country. And there are dozens more who have either yet to come out or don't want to. Their numbers are growing, and growing fast.

Congratulations to all of them.