Vancouver will be full of revellers for the annual Pride festival and parade, which take place every B.C. Day weekend. But what are your options if you’re a gay introvert and you want to get away from all that big-city noise and partying without facing any small-town judgments because of whom you sleep with?

According to Sechelt resident Duane Burnett, you ought to consider a getaway to the Sunshine Coast. He says that the area stretching from Howe Sound to Desolation Sound—and including the communities of Sechelt, Gibsons, Roberts Creek, and Halfmoon Bay—offers some of the most gay-friendly small-town experiences in Canada.

“There are all these gay and lesbian leaders here who are part of the community,” Burnett told the Georgia Straight by phone. “It’s pretty cool.”

For example, he said, the local MLA, Nicholas Simons, is gay. The executive director of the Sunshine Coast Arts Council, Frances Wasserlein, is a well-known lesbian intellectual and community activist.

He also pointed out that Laurie McConnell, the owner and operator of the bigpacific.com/ Web site, which offers travel information about the Sunshine Coast, is also a member of the LGBT community. Her site includes a list of LGBT-friendly bed-and-breakfasts, cottages, and retreats.

Earlier this year, Burnett himself and four other local residents were honoured by the District of Sechelt and the provincial government for their work with the Faces of Sechelt task force. Burnett, a journalist and photographer, chose to highlight outstanding LGBT community members.

He said the district’s decision to declare a weekend honouring the LGBT community each year in the second week of August demonstrates its spirit. “I’m not a flamer or anything,” Burnett said with a touch of humour. “I’m just me. I don’t go around saying, ”˜Hi, I’m gay.’ It’s pretty well known in the community.”

Fiona Graham, the operator of Replenish Lodging in Gibsons, told the Straight by phone that she and her wife have been living on the Sunshine Coast for four years and nobody has any concerns about their lesbian relationship. She said a gay couple will be coming up and staying at her lodge on August 7 for the Sunshine Coast Pride weekend.

“We’ll give a warm reception to anybody and everybody,” Graham said. “We wanted to put in”¦”˜gay-friendly’ [in our advertisement], because if they’re not okay with that, then maybe this is not the place for them.”

Paula Ruutel runs the Water’s Edge on Welcome Beach in Halfmoon Bay. Like Graham, she has also advertised her cottage in the gay-and-lesbian travel section on bigpacific.com/.

“Having run a bed-and-breakfast in the U.K. prior to living here, I realized that I didn’t want any discrimination against any boarder at all,” Ruutel told the Straight by phone.

It’s a far cry from the experience of the two men who were told last year that they wouldn’t be allowed to stay in a bed-and-breakfast in Grand Forks because they were a couple. Shaun Eadie and Brian Thomas have since filed a human-rights complaint against the owners of the Riverbend Bed and Breakfast.