Canada Hosts LGBTQ-Friendly Pride House At 2018 Winter Olympics

Canada is hosting Pride House, a safe space for LGBTQ athletes at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang…
 
Canada is continuing its tradition of creating safe spaces for all LGBTQ Olympians at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
 
Canada House is also serving as Pride House throughout the Games after South Korean organizers failed to raise enough money to open a standalone LGBTQ centre inside the Olympic village, CBC News reported.
 
This will be the first Pride House in Asia and is the first time an Olympic Pride House is directly affiliated with a national Olympic committee. Homosexuality is under the radar in South Korea, with limited public discourse on LGBT rights, or support for the activists fighting for them.
 
“We recognize that diversity is our greatest strength. Inclusion is the very foundation of what makes the heart of Team Canada. By hosting Pride House in our Canada Olympic House, we are extending our warmest welcome to all from every corner of the world to celebrate ‘Be Olympic’,” Chris Overholt, CEO and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said in a press release.
 

For the first time in history a National #Olympic House is officially affiliated with #PrideHouse. In #PyeongChang, the #Canada Olympic Committee joins #Korean Sexual Minority Culture and Rights Center and @pridehouse to offer a safe and welcoming space to #LGBT fans, athletes and allies. @Regranned from @2018pridehousegoldcoast – This is your house, no matter who you are or where you come from. Pyeongchang Begins… BRAVO #TeamCanada #CanadaHouse #Olympics #BeOlympic #WinterOlpmpics #PrideHousePyeongchang #WinterOlpmpics The Games Mascot #Soohorang #GC2018 #2018PHIGC #PrideInPractice #PyeongChang2018 PrideInPractice #PrideInSport #Inclusion #Biz4LGBT #PrideInDiversity #Biz4Equality 🏳️‍🌈 #StandUpForHumanRights #2018PHIGC #GoldCoast #ModernCommonwealth #CommonwealthGames #ACON – #regrann

A post shared by Pride House International (@pridehouse) on Feb 9, 2018 at 3:07pm PST

 
There are 13 out and proud LGBT athletes competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics, out of more than 3,000 competitors. While that number may seem low, it’s almost double the number of out athletes who competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia — seven.
 
Pride House are safe spaces and resource centres designed to welcome LGBT athletes, fans and their allies during international sporting events. They are inclusive places to “view the competitions, experience the event with others, learn about LGBTIQ+ sport and homophobia in sport, and build a relationship with mainstream sport.”
 
The first official Pride House was created for the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. When the Sochi Olympics in Russia denied requests for a Pride House, Canada stepped up again and established one of many “remote” solidarity Pride Houses set up in cities across the globe.