Whistler, BC - June 2, 2010 - GayWhistler,
producers of the historic
PRIDE House pavilions at the 2010 Olympic and
Paralympic Winter Games, is proud to be Pride Toronto's 2010 Sports Award
Recipient. Pride Toronto describes PRIDE
House, "If there were an Olympic category for queer awareness, PRIDE House
would take home the gold. PRIDE House, a
pavilion at the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, provided a venue for
LGBT athletes, the community and allies to celebrate diversity through
sport. The initiative provided LGBT
athletes the opportunity to expose the hidden homophobia that characterizes the
sports world and the issues that would otherwise remain invisible - and
unacknowledged."
"Having Pride Toronto recognize the
efforts of GayWhistler and its partners in making the 2010 Olympics the most inclusive ever
helps keep the story of our global commitment to breaking down barriers of
homophobia in sports alive and relevant," says Dean Nelson, Executive Producer
of PRIDE House. "Whenever your peers
appreciate and acknowledge your efforts, it only gives you more energy to keep
moving forward. For us, having the
support of our queer community is paramount in the success of what we do."
During
the Olympics, over 20,000 people circulated through the Pride House venues in
Vancouver and Whistler. "Pride House was
a safe, friendly, welcoming venue for all people to come together and meet
other like minded individuals, both straight and queer, to watch the games and
to celebrate sports and culture," says Nelson. Some of the Pride House highlights included a surprise visit by
Canada's Olympic Gold Medalist in luge - Jon Montgomery who showed his support of sexual
diversity, a fun and interactive visit by Stephen Colbert for the
Olympic Colbert Report, the
international press conference to address the homophobic remarks made about US Olympic figure
skater Johnny Weir by Quebec's RDS sports commentators, and the coming out of
New Zealand's Olympic short track skater
Blake Skjellerup who was inspired by
the openness of Vancouver and Whistler with Pride House.
Ken Coolen, CFO & Executive
Producer of GayWhistler will be accepting the award in Toronto at the 6th Annual Gala
& Awards ceremony on Wednesday, June 30th at the Carlu, located
at 444 Younge Street,
Toronto. Tickets available at
www.pridetoronto.com 
