Pride House Birmingham Launches Ahead of 2022 Commonwealth Games
January 22, 2021
This week saw the launch of Pride House Birmingham launched, an initiative powered by Pride Sports aiming to create a safe space and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ spectators, athletes and officials at the 2022 Commonwealth Games taking place in Birmingham, UK.
Pride Houses are welcoming spaces for the LGBT+ and allies' community at major sporting events. Since the first was established at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, there have been many more set up at Olympic and Paralympic Games, football and rugby World Cup tournaments and other sports championships.
This Pride House will create a community hub to welcome LGBTQ+ athletes, spectators, officials and their allies before, during and after the games, creating an inclusive space to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in sport and the wider Commonwealth. Programming will include community sport and physical activity, cultural events, conferencing, education and engagement with local schools, as well as a variety of parties and other events celebrating the Games and Birmingham’s diverse LGBTQ+ community.
Next year’s Commonwealth Games in the UK’s ‘second city’ will run from July 28 and through August 8. Pride House Birmingham will not only have a physical presence at the Games, but will also be a hub for an extensive series of programming and outreach based around the theme ‘Celebrate, Participate, and Educate,’ with four prominent athletes helping to share the message.
Neil Basterfield and Piero Zizzi – well known in inclusive sport through their work with 'Proud Baggies', the West Bromwich Albion FC's LGBT+ Supporters' Group – are the local organisers.
“As a Brummie, I am hugely proud to be leading on this project,” said Zizzi. “Pride House Birmingham will celebrate the fantastic diversity of England’s second city, explore our relationship with the Commonwealth, and create a lasting legacy for LGBTIQ+ inclusion in sport.”
In association with Pride Sports, the UK’s largest LGBTQ+ sports organisation, Pride House Birmingham 2022 will showcase the best in LGBTQ+ sport, provide education and encourage participation in all sport and physical activity across the West Midlands.
To mark the launch, four Pride House Ambassadors were named, with more set to follow. These athletes, hoping to compete at Birmingham 2022, are Olympian medallist Tom Bosworth, India’s National Champion Dutee Chand, National Record Holder Michael Gunning and Paralympian Robyn Love.
“I’m honoured to be an ambassador for Pride House Birmingham. I think it will be a fantastic space in which we will not only celebrate the diversity of athletes participating in the Commonwealth Games but welcome all members of the LGBTIQ+ community and their allies in a safe, welcoming and educational environment,” said Love.
The Commonwealth Games will include around 25 sports including Judo, Table Tennis and Wheelchair Basketball. With athletes from across 71 nations, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games are set to be a momentous celebration of sport, competition and community.