Community Spotlight: Pride House Birmingham
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Community Spotlight: Pride House Birmingham
Calling all LGBTQ+ Brummies!
The Pride House project in Birmingham has officially opened. This project has been planned by Pride Sports, led by Lou Englefield alongside local LGBTQ+ organisers, Piero Zizzi and Neil Basterfield.
The aim of Pride House is to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ athletes, officials and spectators during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Birmingham 2022 will showcase the best in LGBTQ+ sport, provide education and encourage participation in all sport and physical activity across the West Midlands.
During the games, Pride House will provide a physical space for games to be watched. This will encourage education about LGBTQ+ sportspeople and will foster safe and open communication about LGBT-phobia within sports.
To mark the launch, Pride House have announced their first four Pride House Ambassadors:
Duttee Chand: Indian professional sprinter and current national champion in the women’s 100 metres event.
Michael Gunning: Jamaican swimmer and current national record holder for the 200-metre butterfly.
Tom Bosworth: British race walker, Commonwealth Games silver medallist and holder of 6 British records.
Robyn Love: Scottish wheelchair basketballer, Paralympian and world championship silver medallist.
Here is how the ambassadors feel about their roles:
“I am honoured and thrilled to become a Pride House Birmingham Ambassador. It was right before the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow in 2014 that I was dropped from the Indian national team due to Hyperandrogenism Regulations of the World Athletics. Since then I have fought for my rights to compete the way I was born. Being the first openly lesbian athlete from India, I feel the need to celebrate and embrace difference. Sport is for all and it must provide a safe space for everyone.” Dutee Chand
“I’m so thrilled to be an Ambassador for Pride House Birmingham in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games next year. Sport is all about equality, and I’m excited to show everyone around the world that anything is possible!” Michael Gunning
“I am truly honoured and really excited to be an Ambassador for Pride House Birmingham! This is something very close to my heart and a fabulous opportunity to educate and reach out to people from so many different areas of the commonwealth which could make a vital difference. I can’t wait to celebrate the games with all the LGBT+ community from Birmingham and around the world” Tom Bosworth
“I am 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” Robyn Love
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To find out more information about the project; follow Pride House Birmingham on social media & check out their website.
Photo credits:
Dutee Chand – Akhil Photography
Michael Gunning – Michael Gunning
Robyn Love – British Wheelchair Basketball
Tom Bosworth – Tom Bosworth
