Whistler, BC - January 26, 2010 - GayWhistler, producers of the historic
PRIDE House Whistler, is proud to announce a unique partnership during the
Olympics to raise awareness of the triumphs and challenges of the gay community
in sport, along with B.C.'s leading role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. A
signature element of PRIDE House, the Fearless
Exhibition by Jeff Sheng, is an inspiring work of photos
and stories of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Canadian
amateur athletes at the high school and college levels. Also featured at PRIDE
House will be the groundbreaking work of the BC Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), a provincial program affiliated with Providence Health Care
and the University
of British Columbia.
"It is with tremendous honour that we
announce St. Paul's
Hospital Foundation for the BC Centre of Excellence in HIV/AIDS as the
presenting sponsor of PRIDE House's Fearless
Exhibition by Jeff Sheng," says Dean Nelson, Executive Producer of the
Vancouver/Whistler PRIDE Houses.
PRIDE House's mission is to provide an open and welcoming venue for members of the LGBT
community and their friends and supporters to celebrate diversity and
inclusiveness through sport. In some cases, people are still persecuted
for being or assumed to be a homosexual. It is still illegal to be gay in over
70 countries around the world and in seven countries the punishment for being
gay is death. PRIDE House aims to raise awareness that LGBT
people are still discriminated against.
"St. Paul's Hospital Foundation is thrilled to be part of
this exciting partnership with the Whistler and Vancouver PRIDE Houses during
the Olympics," says Stephen Shapiro, President & CEO of St. Paul's Hospital Foundation. "More than
just raising awareness about LGBT issues in sport, PRIDE House also provides an
opportunity to highlight the outstanding and renowned work of the BC Centre for
Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul's Hospital in
Vancouver."
The
BC-CfE is a global leader in HIV & AIDS treatment, research and education
and has pioneered an innovative strategy to significantly reduce the
transmission of HIV and AIDS in this century. This strategy, Seek and Treat for
Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS (STOP HIV/AIDS) has gained worldwide acceptance
as an effective approach to decrease incidence of HIV & AIDS. The BC-CfE is
dedicated to improving the lives of millions of people worldwide through research,
treatment, education and advocacy.
"The
expansion of HIV therapies originally proposed by the BC-CfE in 2006 under the
STOP HIV/AIDS strategy could reduce overall HIV prevalence in B.C. by up to 50
per cent over the next 25 years and the World Health Organization modeling predicts the program could
save more than seven million lives by 2050 if implemented
globally," said Dr. Julio Montaner, Director, BC-CfE and President,
International AIDS Society. "STOP HIV/AIDS is a key component of the effort to
defeat HIV and AIDS, and we appreciate the commitment of the BC government to
implement this strategy in B.C."
PRIDE House will be open from February
8, 2010 through to March 21, 2010 and will take in three incredible
events: The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
(Feb. 12-28); WinterPRIDE in Whistler (Mar. 1-8); and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympics (Mar. 12-21).
The 42-day PRIDE House celebrations has full event listings for both Vancouver and Whistler at www.pridehouse.ca.
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* High Resolution images available upon request
