Thanks to Canada, LGBTQ athletes, fans and allies have a place to congregate and call their own in the Olympic Village in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

That’s because the Canada Olympic House is doubling up as Pride House for the duration of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The move enhances Canada’s status as the foremost supporter of Pride solidarity at international sporting events. Indeed it was in Canada that the Pride House movement took root, with the first versions set up in Vancouver and Whistler during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

According to the website of the LGBTQ coalition Pride House International, the Pride House concept is modeled after the typical Olympic hospitality house. The idea is to give LGBTQ people a safe space to watch the competitions, learn about homophobia in sport and help bridge the gap between mainstream sports and the LGBTQ world.

The largest Pride House to date was hosted in Toronto during the 2015 Pan Am Games. Vancouver then hosted its second Pride House soon after, during the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi presented a stern challenge in the form of Russian authorities’ opposition to the organizing of a Pride House. However, Russia’s hostility towards LGBTQ activism inadvertently fueled the movement further, by inspiring the creation of the Pride House International coalition. Read more via Global News