Whistler Pride 2017 celebrates 25 years of politics, parties, powder snow, and empowerment

    1 of 15 2 of 15

      When you think of Whistler Pride, you probably think of skiing, snowboarding, parties, and eating and drinking. But do you think about political protests?

      If you don't, you might be surprised to know that the winter LGBT festival started as just that.

      It's rather timely, considering the current political climate, as the festival, set to run this year from January 22 to 29, celebrates a quarter of a decade in existence.

      In the beginning

      Gay Whistler CEO and executive producer Dean Nelson told the Georgia Straight by phone that festival founder Brent Benaschak launched the gay ski week, originally called Altitude, in 1992 in reaction to antigay legislation in Colorado where a gay ski week was to be held at Aspen. Instead of going to Aspen, Benaschak provided an alternative on the local slopes.

      Whistler Pride CEO Dean Nelson

      That said, things weren't exactly smooth sailing here either.

      Nelson, who volunteered for the event since the beginning, said that the first few years were challenging and that the ski industry was quite homophobic.

      "There weren't a lot of venues that were open to the idea of having a gay event," he said.

      After a lukewarm response from locals, he said that attitudes changed when people saw what gay culture was like, and the passion and skill that attendees had for the sport.

      Whistler Pride

      As the years progressed, Nelson explained, support for the event grew, to the point that the municipality even defended it against discrimination—even when facing a loss of potential revenue.

      During the mid-1990s, Nelson said, an African American ski club called the National Brotherhood of Skiers happened to be attending Whistler at the same time as the gay ski week.

      Members of the National Brotherhood complained to municipality that there too many gay people at the resort.

      "The municipality was there to support us and say 'We celebrate and we support all people and if you have a problem with that, then maybe you need to look at a different resort' and the Brotherhood, they did," Nelson said.  "They went to a different resort and the [Whistler] resort didn't have a problem with that."

      In fact, Whistler Blackcomb became one of the first ski resorts to have LGBT–specific webpages on their corporate website in 2008, which discussed diversity throughout the year.

      During the festival's 20th anniversary in 2012, Whistler Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden launched an official proclamation of Pride Week as a civic event.

      As if that's not enough, Whistler council has passed a motion to paint rainbow crosswalks this summer in Whistler to celebrate Whistler Pride's 25th anniversary.

      Whistler Pride

      Ch-ch-ch-changes

      Unfortunately, it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine. The event fell into turmoil after Benaschak died in 2003. Although other producers stepped in, they abandoned it in 2006.

      That's when Nelson, an event-producer who had helped produce Whistler's Whoossh fundraising parties, and several others to save it only 12 days before it was scheduled to begin. Consequently, Nelson and his team transformed the event into a festival format.

      He said that they discovered that men who were aging or in relationships with partners who don't ski weren't as interested in attending so they began to add non-skiing programming with culinary events, health and wellness, and entertainment.

      Nelson also changed the event's name from Winter Pride to Whistler Pride, due to the increasing number of events called Winter Pride around the world.

      David Buzzard

      Olympic spirit

      Then there was that sporting event otherwise known as the 2010 Winter Olympics.

      One of Nelson's significant achievements that had international impact was the launch of the Pride House at the 2010 Olympics. Pride House was developed to provide a safe space for LGBT people at the Olympics, and to cultivate dialogue about homophobia in sport.

      Pride Houses have since been held at subsequent international sporting events. During the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, however, controversy arose due to Russia's antigay legislation and the rejection of a Pride House by the Russian government.

      "Even though we didn't have a physical Pride House in Russia, we had virtual Pride Houses all over the world, and I think Russia was actually in some ways more successful than what Whistler was because you had embassies and you had national sporting teams that were rallying behind the concept of Pride Houses, saying, 'This is ridiculous. We need to support our athletes. We need to create a safe environment,' " Nelson said. "And we were having those authentic conversations and I think it was really powerful that we as the world came together and said we need to have Pride House."

      What's more, Nelson said they moved the dates of their 2010 event to be held in between the Olympics and Paralympics, despite resistance from International Olympic Committee.

      "We had a lot of allies in our corner that said, 'No, this is important for us. We need this festival to happen because we know that week in between the Olympics and Paralympics is deadsville. The energy dies. If we can keep that energy alive, that Olympic magic flowing through with Whistler Pride, it's a win for everyone,' " he said. "And it was. It was very successful, and we were very proud that we were able to do that and also create that visibility for homophobia within sports worldwide and becoming the third most talked about news story in 2010."

      Whistler Pride

      Let's get physical—and political

      Working on the festival has been transformational for Nelson. He said prior to being involved, he wasn't very active within LGBT communities or as politically aware as he is now. When he got on board in 2006, he began to educate himself about LGBT issues and politics. What he learnt, he said, opened his eyes.

      "We live a pretty privileged life here in British Columbia while there are other places around the world where it's not so comfortable," he said.

      Poignantly, he has heard from guests from around the world who can't be open or be themselves where their homes are and must live stifling, closeted lives.

      "I've talked to a couple of people and they said, 'You know this is the one week of the year that gives me hope to live another year,' " he said. "To me, that's quite powerful but at the same time it's quite heartbreaking that they have to live 51 weeks out of year in a lie or sheltered. But during that one week they can be free and be themselves and have fun and continue on."

      Mr. Gay Canada 2014 Christepher Wee
      Craig Takeuchi

      To help encourage discussions about LGBT issues on an international level, Nelson created Mr. Gay Canada competition held during the Whistler festival in 2009.

      "That was our opportunity to create a public performance piece to talk about what it means to be gay and to create some visibility on non-stereotypical gay men, and what that actually means and champion that," he said.

      At the moment, however, Mr. Gay Canada is on hiatus as they don't have financial support for it.

      Similarly, while they have had female-specific events in the past, they don't currently have a female-oriented organization to work with at the moment. While they are currently focussing on programming accessible to all genders, they remain open to working with women's organizations in the future.

      Whistler Pride

      Party on!

      Ironically, Whistler Pride has also become somewhat of a victim of its own success. Nelson said that as Whistler Pride grew in size and scope at the same time that Whistler became an increasingly popular destination, they've experienced more and more challenges in securing venues for their events.

      Nonetheless, the show must go on—and this year's lineup is a zinger.

      Things kick off in Vancouver with presentations of Les Ballets Trockadero de Montecarlo on January 21 and 22. Meanwhile, Canadian singer Kim Kuzma, who has previously performed in the festival, will headline the opening wine reception on January 22 in Whistler.

      While the 25th anniversary dinner at Araxi is sold out, there'll be a community event Sashay that will serve as a fundraiser for local organizations Rainbow Refugee and Foundation of Hope, which help LGBT refugees and immigrants come to Canada. 

      And when it comes to bringing the big beats, international DJs will include the Cube Guys from Italy for Snowball 25 and DJ Micky Friedmann from Berlin. 

      Pam Ann

      Perhaps the pièce de résistance is Pam Ann (the hilarious air hostess alter-ego of Australian comedian Caroline Reid), who has a devoted gay following, performing at Snow Landing comedy show.

      Something to note is that all of these events remain open to people who aren't LGBT.

      "We now live, especially here in the West Coast…in an era of gender and sexual fluidity where going to a gay event no longer casts you under the suspicion that you might be gay yourself," Nelson said. "It just means you are comfortable with who you are and you're going to a gay event. It's no big deal. Whereas in the '90s and '80s, going to a gay club and you're a straight male? Well, people would start to suspect, 'Oh, he might be gay or he could be bisexual.' But now I think we're living in era in which gender and sexual fluidity is very empowering and people are comfortable going to straight and gay events."

      Craig Takeuchi

      A brave new world

      While mainstream acceptance has also shifted community events from being LGBT–exclusive to straight-inclusive (and sometimes even becoming straight-dominant, in the case of some nightclubs or venues), technology and the internet have rendered some LGBT events or businesses not as relevant as before.

      However, looking to the future, Nelson sees continued relevance of Whistler Pride.

      "Until they have full equal human rights on the planet, these festivals are very important," he said. "Less than five percent of the world's population enjoys full equal human rights. That's today's reality. In Canada, we're very blessed. But we have people coming in from 26 different nations coming to our festival. They love coming to Whistler…because they can be themselves. They don't have to worry about being beaten up or anything and that's quite liberating and there's something about safety in numbers and when you can actually come together as a group under a common thread or a common vibe, energy of being gay, it means a lot, especially for some of these people who live in very repressive communities back home."

      Whistler Pride

      What Whistler Pride can offer that virtual reality can't, Nelson argues, is authentic experience. In contrast to people flashing dick pics at you or only experiencing a filtered version of the person you're interacting with, Nelson pointed out that Whistler Pride allows people to get the full picture.

      "You're actually sharing that 10 minutes on the chair…and then you're skiing with them and when you go to the après, you're connecting with people and having real, authentic conversations," he said.

      Craig Takeuchi

      Furthermore, while the internet has allowed LGBT people in remote or small communities to remain connected to and interact with others in urban centres, online interactions can't compensate for in-person relationships and presence.

      In that respect, LGBT community events like Whistler Pride will continue to have purpose as it marches towards its next celebration of another 25 years of Pride.

      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at @cinecraig or on FacebookYou can also follow the Straight's LGBT coverage on Twitter at @StraightLGBT or on Facebook.

      Comments