What is a Pride House?

Jen Watts

Modeled after a traditional Olympic hospitality house, Pride House is a venue* welcoming LGBTIQ+ athletes, fans, and their allies during large-scale international sporting events. Typically, they are welcoming 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.

* In some instances, due to hostile governments or other restrictions, Pride Houses have had to take different forms or shapes. During the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, for example, the request to hold a Pride House in Russia was explicitly denied. Instead, international supporters held “remote” Pride Houses in solidarity with Russian LGBTIQ+ people, and the Russian LGBT Sport Federation hosted the Open Games