Dean Nelson

Dean L. Nelson (born September 17, 1969 in Banff, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian event producer, LGBT activist, social media contributor, travel writer, and philanthropist living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dean is best known as the face and personality of Whistler Pride, the annual Whistler Gay Ski Week that takes place annually at the end of January in the Resort of Whistler, British Columbia at the award winning Whistler Blackcomb Mountains.^[1]

He was the founder and executive producer of the first Olympic LGBT pavilion called Pride House during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver/Whistler, Canada. Pride House became the third most talked about news story of the Olympic Winter Games (homophobia within Sport). Nelson continues to sit on the advisory committee with Pride House International.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

He is the co-founder of Mr Gay World and founder of Mr. Gay Canada - a competition for gay identified men to promote LGBT rights through public performance and leadership^{[7][8][9][10]}

TV and movie appearances

• OUTtv Original TV Series Outspoken (1 episode, 2013) ^[11]
• OUTtv | Outlook TV "WinterPRIDE" Whistler special report (2013) ^[12][13]
• OUTtv Original TV Series (2011) "Favorite Places" ^[14][15]
• OUTtv Original TV documentary (2008) "Mr. Gay Canada" ^[16]
• He was one of the subjects in an award winning feature documentary, Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Notable accomplishments

• 1992 - 2006 Altitude, Whistler Gay Ski Week^[21]
• 2006 - 2014 WinterPRIDE, GayWhistler Ski Week - also referred to as Whistler Pride^[22][23]
• 2015–Present festival has been renamed: Whistler Pride + Ski Festival

Past board member

• Vancouver Pride Society
• 2008 World InterPride Vancouver Conference
• 2011 North America Outgames Vancouver^[24]

Awards and accolades

• 2014 Vancouver Pride Grand Marshal^[25]
• 2014 Vancouver Pride Sports Legacy Award recipient^[26][27]
• 2011 Out Vision Trail Blazer^[28]
• 2010 Pride Toronto Awards in Excellence in Sports
• 2009 OUTtv Queers of the Year - Vancouver ^[29]

References

1. Taylor, Alison (2014-06-12). "WinterPRIDE CEO picked as Grand Marshal for parade | Whistler | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA". Pique Newsmagazine. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
2. "New Olympic House for 2010 Games". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
3. Hart, Kim (2010-01-15). "Olympic Countdown: Pride House debuts, but will athletes come out? | This Magazine". This.org. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
4. Mitchell, Andrew (2012-08-23). "Pride House: From Whistler to London | Whistler | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA". Pique Newsmagazine. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
5. "Vancouver to IOC: Make LGBTQ pride part of the Olympic experience". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
6. https://web.archive.org/20140715100951/http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/miVutVK1On. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. Hayley Mick. "Mr. Gay v. Mr. Gay World". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
8. "Mr. Gay World: Anuncio de los Directores Continentales - Alfredo Ferreyra nombrado Director para America del Sur". Tripatini. 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
9. "VIDEO: WinterPRIDE makes its mark in Whistler". Whistlerquestion.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
10. Bains, Camille (2014-01-27). "Whistler festival attracts gays from around world". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
11. "Outspoken (2013 TV Mini-Series) : Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
12. "OutlookTV February 2013 WinterPride Edition Pt. 1". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
13. "OutlookTV February 2013 WinterPride Edition Pt. 2". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
14. "Favorite Places : Season 3, Episode 10 (2011)". IMdb.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
15. "TVGids.nl". TVGids.nl. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
16. "Mr. Gay Canada (2008– ) : Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
17. "Big Gay Movie". Big Gay Movie. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
18. ""Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride" Review". The Independent Critic. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
19. "Pride - Document - IDMARCH - Document Search Engine". Idmarch. 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
20. https://web.archive.org/20140726063956/http://www.notstraight.com/newnew/trailer.php?ID=120502. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
21. Simon Birch. "Out on the slopes | Travel". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
22. Filipenko, Cindy. "Gay Whistler Ski Week building momentum | Whistler | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA". Pique Newsmagazine. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
23. "Winter 2006 | Whistler's Wonderland | OUTTraveler.com | The Standard of Gay Travel". OUTTraveler.com. 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
24. Sandra Thomas. "Out and onward". Vancourier.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
25. "Vancouver Pride announces grand marshals for 2014 parade | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly". Straight.com. 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
26. Kucharski, Sarah (2014-07-10). "Vancouver Gay Pride 2014 Events Guide". Vancitybuzz.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
27. "» Diversity Champions — June 2014 » Diversity! In The Workplace". Diversityintheworkplace.ca. 2014-06-01. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
28. "dean nelson | OUTVisions Magazine". Outvisions.com. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
29. "Queers of the Year - Vancouver 2013 - OUTtv". Outtv.ca. 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2015-07-29.