Logo

While no one knows for sure if closeted gay athletes would attend, or if they would become a paparazzi spectacle, but organizers are trying to set up a pride house for both gay athletes and the public. Via The Globe and Mail…

For the first time in Olympic history, a Pride House will be set up for gay athletes and the public.

The pavilion has sponsors, a swank address - off the lobby of the Pan Pacific Hotel at the foot of Blackcomb Mountain - and organizers hope it might turn into a social hot spot at the mountain resort town next February.

Mr. Nelson, who organized WinterPride celebrations at Whistler, hopes the rainbow-themed lounge might even change a few attitudes. "Homophobia is still so prevalent in the sporting culture," he said. "Here in Canada for the most part, we can live our full authentic lives, but a gay athlete in Canada doesn't really have that same liberty."

Despite positive buzz in Vancouver and Whistler, some athletes have expressed doubts about the usefulness of a pride pavilion plunked into the most important, pressure-filled weeks of an amateur athlete's career.

Some online gay chat sites have suggested it could become a beacon for paparazzi. Others say closeted gay athletes wouldn't be caught dead near a pride pavilion, reducing the venue to a nicely-decorated information booth that dispenses brochures on gay rights.

I think it’s a positive start.