Pride House opens in Vancouver

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 02:06

First-ever gay house opens for 2010 Winter Olympics

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Pride House, the gay-themed retreat for athletes and visitors at the Vancouver Olympics, opened to the public on Monday. The house was put together by Gay Whistler in hopes of promoting their Gay Ski Week that starts at Whistler the day after the Olympics close.

Organizers hope Pride House helps fight homophobia in sports, according to Gay Whistler CEO Dean Nelson. While they hope gay athletes will use the Pride House to declare pride in their sexual orientation, the house is open to all.

“Anybody with an open mind is granted to come in,” Nelson said. “We anticipate that quite a few people streaming through will be straight people who are curious about what we’re doing and what it’s like to be a gay athlete. We hope it will give more confidence to our athletes to be authentic.”

Featured in Pride House will be various art installations including a presentation of Jeff Sheng's 'Fearless' project, a photo series of openly gay high school and collegiate athletes (click for full story). An original sculture of a nude hockey player has also been forged for Pride House.

Modeled after a pavilion at the World Expo, the house will feature TV monitors so visitors can keep up on the races and performances. A speakers chalet will be set up where people can share their stories on tape. There will even be information on immigrating to Canada, for those who fall in love with British Columbia.

“In no way does it imply the person’s sexual orientation," Nelson said. "Also working with local sporting communities to let them know that we do have this pavilion available for athletes and trainers to come by to have a comfortable place for people to meet other people.”

The hope of organizers is that they set a new tradition for the Olympics that will carry over to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Admission to Pride House is free, and cocktails (of course, there are cocktails) are around $7.

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sportinlife - Nudity in the Olympics

|76.99.38.xxx |2010-02-09 03:13:19

Interesting that "Slapshotalus" appears to be "anatomically
correct" from the rear but is not visible from the front. In the original
Greek Olympics full-frontal nudity would not have been a problem but a
requirement. Would a female athlete (Slapshotia perhaps?) have suffered the
same fate? If not she would certainly grace the walls of some 'straight'
military men, n'est pas.

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Sam - Take a look at CTV sports coverage

|24.77.27.xxx |2010-02-24 17:31:13

If you a take a look at CTV Sports coverage of the venue
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/CTV/index.html?cid =msn
you can see both the
attitude of mainstream media to gays,Pride House and the statute.

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PrideHouse - Slapshotolus You Tube

|209.207.127.xxx |2010-02-09 13:49:26

In some publications frontal nudity is not acceptable to print, so we had
only posted the rear to ensure maximum exposure - sort of
speak... please feel free to visit Pride House in person or visit our http://artist's http://page and see the full sculpture in his full glory!

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JasB - This is not an OFFICIAL IOC space

|99.232.222.xxx |2010-02-11 06:10:34

Anybody can and has opened a gay friendly building while the Olympics are
in town. I thought this was suppose to be the first IOC official LGBT
space? That was the entire purpose of all this IOC a*ss kissing. What a disappointment!........... XTRA Canada reported it would be the first official LGBT space
in Olympic history. I wonder if Skate Canada has anything to do
with this rejection.

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jt - Not Being OUT isn't 'Okay'.

|174.6.2.xxx |2010-02-11 06:59:42

After being lucky enough to visit Pride House up in Whistler BC this week I am
reminded of the real world we all live in. The one in which only gays who live
in cities are relatively safe to come out. Why? Why is that? Because so many
gays and lesbians declare their sexuality is a private matter, therefore they
choose to not 'come out'.

Well, gays and lesbians ...especially those with
influence, listen up. The general public do care who is gay and lesbian and do
kill (bash) us, humiliate us and force you to believe it is private so don't
talk about it. Why, because the straight world doesn't want to know we
exist.

The closet is a prison. Those who do not come out should be ashamed and
step away from all the hard work the gay and lesbian community does to promote
them and support them, despite their closet.

I commend the people at Pride
House for being loud proud and at the 2010 Winter Olympics. And bravo to Canada
for being the first country to give Pride House a swank and highly visible
location.

Come out come out where ever you are ...your silence is killing
us.

xo

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Just a spectator - Letter to the Editor

|161.38.221.xxx |2010-02-16 08:33:18

As a Public Relations major and avid reader, I'm a bit
dissappointed that someone didn't proofread this piece before submission
- either the author or an editor or two.

EG - "An original sculture of a nude hockey player has also been forged for Pride House."

This
is a great and time-appropriate topic to be shared, no doubt, but no
need to give the enemy ammunition.

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