Social Health

It gets better when we make it better. HIM has a pretty simple idea: gay men with high self-esteem tend to live healthier lives and have access to better health choices. We're interested in improving social health factors that impact gay men, including the big-picture stuff like homophobia and heterosexism. We also have Professional Volunteers who specialize in social health.

LGBT Volunteers Provide Daily Coverage of the Outgames

Posted by HIM on Tuesday July 19th, 2011

There’s so much to do so little time this summer. Fortunately HIM, with the help from Shaw TV, takes at least one thing off your plate by providing daily coverage of the 2011 North America Outgames on Shaw TV’s Channel 4 (in the Lower Mainland), YouTube, Facebook, as well as on Shaw Direct and OUTtv across the country! Produced by OutGamesTV, a dedicated group of local LGBT volunteer reporters, camera operators and editors, the daily coverage will cover all the excitement from the upcoming athletic competitions, human rights conference, and cultural festival being held in Vancouver from July 25 – 31^st.

This collaboration re-unites the first group of queer volunteers who came together to provide television coverage of the first Gay Games in Vancouver, with a new group of enthusiastic television volunteers through HIM’s recruitment and training.

“As part of our commitment to strengthen the health and well-being of gay men,” says Wayne Robert, Executive Director of HIM, “we build capacity in our community through volunteer-driven activities like these. We’re delighted to partner with Shaw TV to bring coverage of Vancouver’s Outgames produced by our very own community. We hope the TV coverage will lead to a legacy of more LGBT community productions that will continue on after the games, just as the previous ones had done.”

The efforts of the volunteers were met with plenty of equipment and support from Shaw TV who immediately saw the opportunity to partner with and strengthen the LGBT community.

OutGamesTV will premiere with a preview program, “Countdown to the Outgames,” that profiles the athletes and highlights the upcoming human rights conference and cultural festival, on Tuesday, July 19^th at 3:30 p.m PT on Shaw TV’s channel 4 in Vancouver, Shaw Direct across the country, and YouTube.

Daily coverage of the Outgames will begin on Shaw on Tuesday, July 26^th with a special one-hour broadcast of the opening day celebrations and ceremonies. From Wednesday, July 26^th to Friday, July 29^th, a half-hour program of the day’s highlights at the athletic competitions, human rights conference and cultural festival will first air at 10 pm PT and will repeat several times before the next evening’s update. All stories as well as additional material will be available almost immediately on YouTube and Facebook pages as a lasting legacy of the games. OutTV coverage starts nationwide on Friday, July 29^th at 8:30pm ET/PT. Please check local listings for details.

Athletes and spectators from all over the world, as well as their friends, supporters, and families will be able to follow daily coverage on Shaw TV or online. Complete listings of airdates and times are available at here or follow us on Facebook or Twitter for reminders.