Pride Houses have been held at recent events including the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympics and the 2012 UEFA Football Championships in Poland and the Ukraine, and are scheduled to be held at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and at Rio 2016.

But after a Russian judge banned the setting up of a Pride House during Sochi 2014, describing the idea as "extremist", alternative means are being sought to demonstrate solidarity.

This was shown last month by a call for groups around the world to host a series of rallies, gatherings and events during next month's Games to highlight the anti-gay laws passed in Russia in 2013.

Pride House International coordinator Lou Englefield has described an "impressive" reaction so far to this call with many groups having been either proposed or already set up.

This includes North American locations in Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, Montreal and Philadelphia, and the European cities of Glasgow, Manchester, London, Copenhagen, Paris, Brussels, Utrecht, Amsterdam, as well as Wellington in New Zealand and the Brazilian cities of São Paulo and Brasília.

All of these have already expressed serious interest and begun "planning for events ranging from the distribution of tracts to viewing parties at sports bars to a fully-fledged Pride House open over several weeks," it is claimed. 

There have been many international protests against the ban on Pride Houses, such as this one in New York late last year ©Getty Images

"We've been so impressed by the interest shown - at its heart, a Pride House is a place for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) visibility in sport," Englefield said.

"It makes sense for people in the LGBT sports community and their friends to come together to celebrate their love for sport.

"With the Russian court's ban on a Pride House in Sochi, what might otherwise be just a nice thing to do has become a necessity."

Daniel Vaudrin, co-President of the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA), described how each remote Pride House is being encouraged to use the logo that was released today.

"The logo, created by Jen Watts, incorporates the original Pride House London logo, adding a message: 'In Solidarity with Sochi 2014′, which is at the heart of our common action," he said.

"We are celebrating LGBT sport and LGBT visibility in sport, but are particularly concerned by the situation of those in Sochi, and those who will remain in Russia long after the 2014 Games are over."

Russian authorities have cracked down on gay rights protests...although they will be allowed in designated "protest zones" during Sochi 2014 ©AFP/Getty Images


Les Johnson, co-chair for external affairs at the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), described how more measures are being planned.

"Pride House International needs to be able to serve as a clearing house for information on plans for remote Pride Houses," he said.

"We're working on a calendar and other tools to share information, and hope to be able to put various events in contact with each other and with actions taking place in Russia so as to increase the impact of what we're all doing in our local communities.

"We've already had several cases of different groups in the same city planning for a remote Pride House, and have been able to put these interested and motivated people in touch with each other.

"Our role is to help coordinate these events."