The LOUD Awards 2009 Edition
Recent months have been particularly tough for the LGBT community, not only in Vancouver but also worldwide. Gay-bashings in the Davie Street area (including one that affected a close friend of mine), the refusal of Vancouver City Hall to allow the Odyssey Night Club relocate in the Denman Street area and the passing (and confirmation) of Proposition 8 in California have been temporary setbacks.
Marc and Kim. Credit: All rights reserved, Pooya Nabei Photography
Positive developments, including the recent May 17th International Day Against Homophobia, have continued to occur. The Vancouver LGBT community has not allowed any temporary setbacks to deter them and have continued to move forward, most recently with the recent gala for the LOUD Awards. The LOUD Foundation is a charitably branch of the the Gay and Lesbian Business Association (GLBA) and its mission is to help support the scholarly endeavours of students who show leadership in the LGBT community. The LOUD Awards Gala was superbly organized by and skillfully crafted by Marc Smith (Amuse Consulting), and it was a fantastic celebration of the hard-work of four wonderful students who have demontrated promise in the local LGBT community.
Fundraisers at the LOUD Awards. Credit: All rights reserved, Pooya Nabei Photography (Used with permission)
I also had a chance to talk with Doug Craig, the Marketing and Administrative Executive at the GLBA and indicated that they needed to get on Twitter. Perhaps I should give them a quick workshop on how to use Twitter to spread their message, eh? 
I do look forward to attending a few more events organized within the GLBT community in Vancouver.
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Raul, thanks for coming and a great article on the night.
Raul, great talking with you at the event! Any guidance you could provide us on how to set up and effectively maintain a Twitter account for the GLBA would be greatly appreciated!
Doug’s last blog post..GLBA Contact Information
Thanks Raul, both for attending and seeing firsthand this important initiative. More GTs in the future!
LOUD does need a better online precense including Twitter. We are taking baby steps to keep the message strong and clear. This event skillfully “conceived and executed” by Marc of Amuse has gone a long way to creating a solid base for our Foundation.
Have a great week ahead!
@ Marc – you’re welcome! It was a great event! Well organized!
@ Blair – Of course, I’d love to do more G&Ts in the future! Maybe at 1181.
@ Doug – I’ll be happy to help. I am, after all, one of the top 5 Twitter Elite according to Twitter Grader
Loud sounds like a great organization! I’m always so proud to be a Vancouverite and Canadian when I see the great things happening in, around, and with the LGBT community here.
So I think it’s a bit of a mis-step to write the “refusal of city hall to relocate the odyssey” as you did.
The refusal to relocate the club was based on business issues–residents don’t want a nightclub of any sort in the neighbourhood–it wasn’t a discriminatory measure. Lumping it in as a challenge with Gay Bashings and the Prop 8 debacle makes it sound a lot like the city was being more sinister than it is.
Jen’s last blog post..I AM!
@ Jen – I didn’t mean to imply that it had been a discriminatory issue on the part of the city of Vancouver. I meant it as “the gay community now has one less bar to go to within the confines of the West End”. I am sorry it didn’t come through the way I wanted to phrase it!