"Whistler's PRIDE House will remain the focal point during the Olympics and now working with Qmunity will we have not only a strong resource base, but we will also have coordinated celebration venues in Vancouver," Nelson continues.  "Qmunity's 1170 Bute Street location will be the organisational hub of PRIDE House Vancouver and we also anticipate staging celebrations at local gay bars, along with educational and outreach opportunities at other community locations throughout the city."
 
Jennifer Breakspear, Executive Director of Qmunity explained, "Qmunity's role is to provide services and support to members of the LGTB community while educating the broader community about the value of diversity and the negative impacts of homophobia and transphobia.  We are grateful that GayWhistler had the foresight to envision this project and took the initiative to present such a huge project for our community.  We are thrilled to be an active partner in this exciting and timely project."
 
The PRIDE Houses will provide an open and welcoming venue for the LGBT community and their allies to celebrate together diversity and inclusiveness through sport, as well as educate and raise awareness about the discrimination, and in some cases persecution, facing LGBT people (or those presumed to be), both here at home in Canada and throughout the world.
 
The Whistler & Vancouver PRIDE House groups have assembled an excellent cross section of leaders within the LGBT community as part of their advisory committee.  These include members from Vancouver 2011 Out Games Society, CAAWS (the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity which has developed a strategy to address homophobia in sport), EGALE (a national organization committed to advancing equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-identified people, and their families, across Canada), ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay Association), LEGIT (Canadian Immigration of Same-sex Partners), Rainbow Refugee (a volunteer driven organization supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or HIV+ refugee claimants and refugees), along with the City of Vancouver's LGBTQQI advisory group and a selection of key individuals that are leaders in our queer community.
 
"We are privileged to work and live in a community that is open and supportive of diversity.  Together we are able to showcase to the world why both Vancouver and Whistler continue to be at the forefront of minority rights for LGBT persons in creating history with the first PRIDE Pavilion at an Olympic Games," explains Nelson.

PRIDE House is located in the centre of Whistler Village at the award winning boutique hotel of Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre.  PRIDE House will be a hip lounge with a cocktail bar with TV monitors to watch the Olympics, hang out, trade pins, a media area to do interviews, and a venue to just have fun.  PRIDE House will be open from February 8th through to March 21st.  The hours of operation are scheduled from 10AM to 10PM daily. (Subject to Change)  For more information please refer to www.pridehouse.ca 
-30- 
 
WinterPRIDE 2010 runs from March 1-8, 2010, and continues to revolutionize the traditional gay ski week format with its unique blend of four winter festival elements: Sports, Culinary, Health and Wellness, and Entertainment.
 
In addition to the world-class skiing and snowboarding being offered in Whistler, many of WinterPRIDE's 2009 highlights will return for 2010, such as an array of dance parties, culinary events, zip trekking and dog sledding. WinterPRIDE 2010 also offers an expanded program of on-and-off mountain events, including special events for lesbians and bears.

GayWhistler (www.gaywhistler.com) is a year-round promoter of Whistler to the gay and lesbian community, and promotes and produces the annual Gay Ski Week. GayWhistler is a subsidiary of Alpenglow Production Corporation.

Qmunity (www.qmunity.ca) is a leading provincial resource centre offering community services and programs that celebrate, support and enhance the diverse cultures of queer communities. We offer our resources in a welcoming, accessible, and safe space that is relevant to the communities we serve. Our services and programs support healthy and active living, provide leadership, increase awareness, advocate where needed, and promote arts and culture.