|
1. Homophobia in Sports
※Pride house, the first Olympic pavilion for queer and queer-friendly athletes and fans in Whistler Village near Vancouver.
Pride House, the first Olympic pavilion for queer and queer-friendly athletes and fans, opened at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Whistler Village near Vancouver (Canada) on February 8th.
TW interviewed Dean Nelson, CEO of Community and Media Relations at Alpenglow Productions, the group that created Pride House with GayWhistler.com. We also talked to Pat Griffin, a once closeted field hockey and basketball player who’s now an authority on homophobia in sports.
First, we asked Nelson about the motivation behind Pride House.
※Dean Nelson (right) CEO of Community and Media Relations of Alpenglow/GayWhistler.com, and his business partner, Ken Coolen, cut the opening celebration cake at Pride House. (ph: Molly Blaisdell - Pridehouse.ca)
“The sports culture creates an environment where a gay person feels uncomfortable and needs to stay somewhat hidden. [Pride House] is an opportunity to create dialogue on homophobia,” said Nelson.
He explained that Alpenglow/GayWhistler.com usually organize Whistler’s pride and ski events in mid February. This year, they had to postpone it because of the Olympics. That got them thinking: a gay presence at the Olympics might help queer athletes feel less isolated.
“If we lived in a society that actually appreciated and embraced being authentic, our athletes would be even stronger because they would not have to live this double life. All this extra energy to keep up this illusion, it takes a toll on the athlete,” Nelson said. This reminds us of similar comments made by Copenhagen Outgames organizers made when TW interviewed them last year.
★Pride House website: http://www.pridehouse.ca
★Gay Whistler website: http://www.gaywhistler.com
Photos: Kaliopi Polychronakos
[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]
■Tokyo Wrestling would love to hear your comments and thoughts.
Write to us at: contact@tokyowrestling.com.
|
