The main message is that football is a space open to everyone, with respect for all differences: “Be yourself, to play together”!
The FSGL (Fédération Sportive Gaie et Lesbienne, the French Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation) ans several of its member associations are taking part in the activities: FC Paris Arc-En-Ciel, Panamboyz United, MUST Marseille, Cargo Lyon, Centre LGBT Nice. SOS Homophobie and les Dégommeuses are also participating.
The EuroPrideHouse is part of a broader campaign for diversity in football and part of the European project “Queering Football Tackling Homophobia and Promoting Anti-Discrimination around Major Sport Events”.
What is EuroPrideHouse?
The aim of this PrideHouse event, like the previous ones, is to encourage European LGBT people to come together, around a football event and to promote tolerance. EuroPrideHouse 2016 aims to provide visibility, combat stereotypes, and promote an open and tolerant football culture where everyone is welcome.
It is a safe and welcoming meeting place for athletes, fans and LGBT visitors (acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Intersexual and queer/questioning people) and their friends. It is a place where you can meet others, learn about homophobia in sport, discover the LGBT associations and clubs, take part in competitions and enjoy Euro2016.
THE EUROPRIDEHOUSE 2016 PROGRAMME
EuroPrideHouse 2016 pre-kick off
May 13-15 in Paris saw the pre-kickoff announcement of the events for the EuroPrideHouse 2016, with a table football tournament at the Tournoi International de Paris (TIP). For two days people participated in an open tournament held in the Carreau de Temple in the Marais.
Kick Off week 8-12 June 2016 in the Village on the Banks of the Seine
- Wednesday 8th June: Panel discussion Subject: Homophobic discrimination in the world of sport and footbal
- Thursday 9th June: debate in the framework of the tournament “Foot for Free” in solidarity for LGBTIQ refugees, proposed by Les Dégommeuses
- Saturday 11th June, Sunday 12th June: activities in the Village/fan zone
General public information and awareness-raising, e.g.:
# Presentation of “Againt the Rules”-exhibition: 39 panels available in 3 languages (French, English, Italian)
# Promotion and information material
# Fun events on the Banks of the Seine Village
Symposium June 15-16, 2016 in Lyon: Sports, discrimination, homophobia : From vulnerability to innovation
The two day symposium is organized by the Laboratoire sur les Vulnérabilités et l’Innovation dans le Sport (L-Vis) by the Université Claude Bernard Lyon1 (Philippe Liotard, socologist), the FSGL and Paris2018.
This conference marks the 30th anniversary of the FSGL, 5 and 10 years after the two previous events.
- 18 June, 25 June and 2 July: Regional actions - Weekends in Nice and Marseille
- 6 – 10 July: EuroPrideHouse Public Viewing-event in Paris where semi-finals and finals will be retransmitted live
The PrideHouse Movement
The PrideHouse movement emerged during the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. There have been PrideHouses at the London Olymics in 2012, the Euro2012 in Poland and Ukraine, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, and the PanAmerican Games 2015 in Toronto. A special edition was set up for the Sotchi Winter Olympics, with help from an international network, because the host country refused the presence of a PrideHouse in their country.
Background: Queering Football project
"Queering Football Tackling Homophobia and Promoting Anti-Discrimination around Major Sport Events” (2016-2017) is a European project co-funded under the Erasmus + Sport Programme “Collaborative Partnerships 2015”.
Queering Football aims at raising awareness for a wider recognition of homophobia recognizing that homophobia – prejudices and violence against LGBTIQs – is still one of the main and untackled problems in European football.
EuroPrideHouse 2016 is part of this comprehensive program that coordinates the actions of the following international partners:
● VIDC – Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation
● EGLSF (European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation)
● FSE (Football Supporters Europe)
● UISP (Unione Italiana Sport per tutti)
● SPOLINT (Institute of Sport Development)
EuroPrideHouse 2016 is supported by:
● The European Union via Erasmus+ (project selected in 2016) co-funded project "Queering Football Tackling Homophobia and Promoting Anti-Discrimination around Major Sport Events”
● Paris 2018