Pride House · Paris 2024: a festive and inclusive sanctuary for everyone at the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Paris – August 9th, 2024
Pride House · Paris 2024 is more than just a fan zone. It is a place of celebration, relaxation, and community that is writing a new chapter in the fight against exclusion and bigotry on the Olympic and global stages.
At the inauguration of Pride House · Paris 2024, the atmosphere was both joyous and solemn, blending humor and gravity around the critical issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community. A week later, we returned to the banks of the Seine to speak with co-founder Frédérique Vidal and assess the progress of this unique project. Our interview prompted a reflection on the broader societal role played the Olympic Games throughout history.
When considering the role played by the Olympics in our collective consciousness, Jesse Owens immediately springs to mind. At the Berlin Games in 1936, the American athlete defied Nazi racial narratives by winning four gold medals. Thirty years later, the raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Mexico City Games were just as iconoclastic in highlighting the connection between sport and human rights advocacy.
Few know that Smith, Carlos, and silver medalist Peter Norman all wore Olympic Project for Human Rights badges on the Mexican podium that night to signal their commitment to equality — a commitment athletes and organisers alike are keen to highlight to this day. Yet despite these landmark moments, some communities still struggle for recognition in 2024.
Times are changing, however. In 2018, Peter Norman’s family accepted the Order of Merit from the Australian Olympic Committee on his behalf, and the following year, John Carlos and Tommie Smith were finally inducted into the American Olympic Hall of Fame.
“Like the declaration of human rights, the Games have universal reach and significance”
These recognitions demonstrate that the Olympic Games can serve as a global platform to address issues often overlooked at national level — like the declaration of human rights, the Games have universal reach and significance. Of course, mistakes have been made, and on occasion, some voices have used the Games to promote less noble causes. But overall, they’ve been a force for good. The role of volunteers, diversity advocates, and the athletes themselves in this evolution is undeniable, with the tone set by host countries also playing a crucial part in this plea.
“The opening ceremony set the tone. It highlighted fellowship and the LGBTQ+ community was represented throughout.”
The Paris Games have emphasised inclusiveness from the very start. Familiar LGBTQ+ themes like openness, community and fellowship were among the main topics of Thomas Jolly’s opening opus. When we met, Frédérique Vidal was full of praise for this initiative: “The opening ceremony set the tone. It highlighted fellowship and the LGBTQ+ community was represented throughout. It gave us global visibility and credibility. We truly feel at home here.”
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