Thank you for visiting the GayPEI and Rainbow Lodge B&B website. Please feel free to use the Contact us form to let us know if you like the website , offer suggestions on how you think it might be improved or if you have any questions about this website or Rainbow Lodge Bed & Breakfast. Rainbow Lodge is the only openly Gay advertised accommodation in Prince Edward Island.

Hello, As many of you know, as well as being the PEI chapter leaders of PFLAG Canada Mary and I are also involved in the tourism industry with our bed and breakfast Briarcliffe Inn and experiential tourism company, Experience PEI. I recently attended an international tourism conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico and one of the presentations was about Gay Tourism. There were lots of facts and figures about the significance and potential of the gay tourism market but what I found most interesting was the presentation by Jeff Guarcino, who was instrumental in the development of the GLBT tourism initiative in Philadelphia which has established that city as one of the prime US destinations for gay travelers. He talked about how the City worked with local GLBT organizations, businesses and individuals to develop their tourism strategy. He also discussed how the process helped lead to other positive developments within the Philadelphia GLBT community such as improved cooperation among organizations, creation of new businesses and increased GLBT social activities. It got us thinking about the possibility of developing a similar strategy designed to establish Prince Edward Island as a gay welcoming destination. The recent somewhat innocuous reference in the 2008 Visitors Guide is at least an indication of the willingness of Tourism PEI to acknowledge the existence of this market. Mary and I believe there is an opportunity here for those of us who are involved with efforts to support diversity on Prince Edward Island to act as a catalyst for creating an initiative that would lead to the Island becoming known as a safe and friendly place for GLBT travellers to visit. To this end, PFLAG would like to invite you to a meeting on Thursday, Jan 15 at 5:00 pm at the Stratford Town Centre to explore the idea. We anticipate this initial meeting will last no more than 2 hours and we will have some sandwiches and refreshments to tide everyone over. Please feel free to forward this email to others you feel might be interested. We would appreciate it if you would advise us by January 9 whether you will be able to attend so we can ensure we have enough food and space. We look forward to hearing from you. Regards Mary & Bill Kendrick

FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE #! Hi Bill and Mary: I extend to you and your family Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year. After the interview with the Minister of Tourism and hearing her comment that tourism PEI were not ready to have a GLBT advertisment in a forthcoming Visitors Guide I decided to call the known Gay and Lesbian B&B's here to see if they would like to join together to do a joint ad in the 2009 Visitors Guide. An eighth of a page ad would be around 1500.00 if I remember correctly and if all the B&B's and Gay establishments went together the cost would be under $200.00 for each establishment. I had a few interested people who said yes and surprisingly had one operation manager say they would not want to do that because they would not want to scare away the so called st8 clientel. So when the GLBT Community think that way how can we win? I had someone who would have set up the background and all we needed to do was list B&B's Stores Resturants etc and the travelling GL could look up the names in the VG Straight people may see the rainbow background but would not nessessarily know what the background meant but the GLBT traveller would. Hopefully next year we can have a better presence in the VG Do you need help at your meeting? Jim Culbert 651 2202

#2 Hi Jim, Great to hear from you. I wish we had known you were trying to put something together for the Visitor's Guide because we certainly would have considered it. We clearly state on our home page and have a separate page on our website indicating we are a GLBT Welcoming accommodation. One of the interesting points made during the presentation at the Santa Fe conference I was at was that they had to do a lot of groundwork in Philadelphia with businesses who were worried that declaring themselves as gay friendly would negatively affect them. As frustrating as that is, it's a reality that must be acknowledged and any strategy has to take it into consideration. What we want to do at the meeting is first get a sense of what support there is among the existing core stakeholders....accommodation operators, GLBT organizations, businesses. If there is a willingness to form some type of caucus that will then drive this initiative, then we decide how to proceed. Just based on the response I have had to date, there certainly seems to be an interest in trying to develop some type of initiative. I certainly hope you can come to the meeting. You are well respected both within the GLBT community and the tourism industry. You have already done so much to promote the Island as a great place for GLBT travellers.....we need now to figure out how to convince both government and industry that this makes good business sense. Will you be able to make it? Cheers Bill

 #3 Greetings to all and a very very happy new year to one and all!!. What a great start to the new year with your note. Having been coming to PEI for quite a few years and spending more time there as time goes by , I fully endorse and encourage your thoughts. It's a great untapped market and one that all levels of government from municipal to local to provincial should be sitting up and taking notice of. All of the components are there. the beauty of the island, the diversity of the peoples and the available properties!!!. Now, none of this would have been possible without the great fortitude and courage of you who have carried the flag for so long. 25 years ago , as I rented in keppoch, I had no idea there were gay people on the island!! Lol. AND, now, I can go to a dance at mavors on a Saturday night and march in pride parades in downtown Charlottetown!!. Thank You All!!!. I f I may be so bold as to perhaps say a special thank you to Jimmy Culbert who has challenged , cajoled and persevered in his fight for so many peoples rights.Im sure that a referendum provincial wide would demonstrate great support for one and all. We are brothers ,sisters, fathers, Mums, cousins, uncles and aunts of each other, we are family. If I might be so bold, Tourisms PEI needs some creative people who will think out of the box regarding the extolling of Prince Edwards Islands virtues to the world at large. Fire island on the east Side perhaps ? So let's go after all of those with disposable income and bring em to the island and make em feel welcome. And, perhaps let's get away from pointing out that we from away are so blatantly from away but, that’s another story . I wish you all well and congratulate you and look forward to being back real soon. Most sincerely. Brian King

Summary of Feb 6 Meeting

Julia Pike from the Tourism Research Centre and Brian Dunn from Tourism PEI participated in a discussion regarding the results of the GLBT Tourism Survey conducted this past summer by the TRC. As you will see from the attached document, the results of the survey were less than definitive regarding the perception of PEI as a gay welcoming destination. Generally, respondents who self-identified as GLBT were very positive about their Island vacation experience. The responses indicated that PEI has all the sites, attractions, activities, etc that are of interest to GLBT travelers. The results indicate PEI is positioned to appeal to the gay tourism market. The challenge is to determine how to ensure that market knows what we have to offer in order to increase the number of GLBT tourists coming to the Island. It is recognized by both TRC and TPEI the sample size was small thereby making it difficult to validate some of the overall conclusions being drawn. However, since the results reflect findings of other larger broader surveys done by other organizations such as the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce there is a level of comfort using the results to guide us as we move forward toward developing a strategic marketing initiative aimed at pursuing the GLBT market. It was agreed that at the next meeting of the PEI Gay Tourism Association we should start the discussion on what the next steps should be. is there more PEI specific research needed? If so, what do we need to know? would a GLBT Friendly designation for accommodations, restaurants, etc be useful/effective? should criteria be created to determine whether a location truly is GLBT friendly? If so, what might the criteria be? what does Gay Friendly mean? how should PEI be marketed to the GLBT tourism market? what role should Tourism PEI play in developing a strategic marketing initiative? Industry role? is there anything that can be done for the upcoming tourism season that might be helpful in identifying PEI as gay friendly? We are at a point where, as an industry group we need to decide whether we wish to put our time and energy into pursuing this market. In order to make that determination we need to have input from as many different stakeholders as possible.

FYI: Pride 2010 Kicks off July 11th and runs untill July 18th so BOOK YOUR TIME OFF NOW!

Just want to give everyone a quick update for everyone since Pride is coming up.

Pride Prince Edward Island was officially launched in the summer of 1998 and has been a continuing tradition for Islanders to celebrate the freedom of being able to live no matter your sexual orientation and to remember those who have fought for us during the Stonewall riot. As several years have past and we have come a long way, we will always remember those who have paved the path of life for those today. Pride PEI has a full a full week planned with all sorts of activities including people of all orientations, age groups, sexes, and all other groups imaginable. Oh and also, it's not like islanders don't know how to PARTY!!!

FIRST THINGS FIRST...

The Annual Coffee House is going on once again and we need acts to perform. The Coffee house is going to be at Beanz Espresso Bar at 38 University Avenue on Wednesday July 14th 2010. The organizer, once again for this event is Michael Walsh. If you are interested in entering as an act or have any questions about this event, please contact Michael at michaeldoiron@eastlink.ca

SECOND

Pride PEI Parade is going to be on Saturday July 17th 2010. We will be getting together at the parking lot behind the Shaw, Sullivan, and Jones buildings at the corner of Govt Dr and Fitzroy St. If you would like to submit a group with a float or a group to march in the parade, please go to www.pride-pei.com/registration.html and submit your group. If you have any questions about this form, please contact me at chris@arcofpei.com ,

THIRD

We have just finished launching a new website for Pride PEI and for all the events going on. The site was just uploaded April 10th 2010 so if you notice any slight glitches, don’t be alarmed. This also means that the Pride PEI SCHEDULE IS UP!!!!!! Not all events are set in stone yet, however they are all mostly very very decided on. There are some TBAs (To be announced), however as soon as we get the details, we will update you, so keep checking for updates. The website is www.pride-pei.com

FOURTH

Like you all know, pride happens every year with many many volunteers, and without them, pride would not be possible. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please let us know by going to http://www.arcofpei.com/Volunteers.html and selecting the pride option. By applying as a Volunteer, this does not put you into a commitment to volunteer all the time. If you happen to have terms with a working schedule or such, please let us know. If you have any questions about this, please redirect your questions to andrea@arcofpei.com.

FIFTH AND LAST

You may have notice we have a new Facebook Page out. We are currently expanding the Pride PEI demographic by really searching out of province and bring them to see how GLBT Islanders can party. If you haven’t already become a fan, please do so and invite any of your friends who may think of coming here for the week. We will be updating our page constantly to keep everyone up to date on the events happening and work our hardest to make the events even more successful than previous years. If you haven’t already joined it, the link is the following : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pride-PEI/108160965869032?ref=ts or by clicking on the facebook add on the welcome page of www.pride-pei.com

ARCPEI is working very hard to make this year’s Pride PEI a very memorable one. Please help us to do so by letting everyone you know would be interested in coming so we can make this year HUGE.

We also have amazing rates going on for hotels and rooms at UPEI. The rates will be announced soon however if you have contacts in various cities who are interested in coming here, please let them know. If they need more information, please let them know to contact us.

ITINERARY

July 10th Baseball Game - 2:00pm to 5:00pm - Located at the Carrefour ball park at 5 Promenade-Acadienne in Charlottetown. Bring your own glove if you have one. There will be supplied equipment. - Not licensed so alchool will not be sold

Pride Kickoff Dance - 10:00pm to 2:00am. Located at Causeway Bay Hotel at 311 Market Street in Summerside. Licensed event, Must be 19+ to attend

Sunday July 11th

Annual Church Service - Spring Park United Church Kirkwood Drive 1.30pm

Annual Pot Luck - Time to be announced. Evening Primrose B&B in North Tryon

Monday July 12th

Flag Raisings

University of Prince Edward Island at 10:00am

City of Summerside at 11:00am

City of Charlottetown at 11:00am

Stratford Town Hall at 12:00pm

Youth Pride Dance - 8:00pm to 11:00pm. Venue to be announced. - No Alchool Aloud - Not licensed event. Organized by Youth Can Do

Tuesday July 13th

Beach Volleyball Tournament - 6:00pm to 9:00pm - Located on the University of Prince Edward Island campus. Not a licensed event.

Wednesday July 14th

Coffee House - 7:00pm to 9:00pm - Located at Beanz Espresso Bar at 38 University Avenue in Charlottetown. Organized by Michael Walsh

Thursday July 15th

Movie Night - 8:00pm to 10:30 MILK - Located at Duffy Amphitheatre on the University of Prince Edward Island campus, No beverages or food will be sold. Bring your own muchies!

Friday July 16th

MACLeather 12th Annual Meet and Greet at Rainbow Lodge.

Opportunity to meet the contestants and social for evening.

BBQ served around 7pm. Fire pit depending on winds

Saturday July 17th

Pride PEI 12th Annual Pride Parade - 1:00pm to 2:30pm

Parade will start in gov. building parking lot at the corner of Gov't Dr. and Fitzroy St.

Gathering in the Park & BBQ - 2:30pm to 5:00pm. Gathering at Confederation Landing Park off Great George St. in Charlottetown, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, and plenty of beverages will be sold.

M.A.C. Leather Competition - 9:00pm to 11:00pm.

M.A.C. Leather Society will be presented at the MacMillan Hall on the University of Prince Edward Island campus. Tickets pre-sold and sold at door (pre-sales details will be announced soon). Licensed Event. Must be 19+ to attend.

Pride PEI Huge Dance Party - 10:00pm - 2:00am

PEI's biggest GLBT Dance Party of the year. Happening at MacMillan Hall on the University of Prince Edward Island campus. Tickets pre-sold and sold at door (pre-sales details will be announced soon). Licensed Event. Must be 19+ to attend.

Sunday July 18th

Pride PEI Closing Beach Day - 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Location to be announced. Family fun events for all ages. Not Licensed Event