TMU students and faculty are making the FIFA World Cup 2026 more welcoming for 2SLGBTQIA+ fans
For many 2SLGBTQIA+ people, sports haven’t always felt like a safe space. Pride House Toronto is changing that.
What began in Chang School alumna Annie Hart's living room has grown into a full-scale initiative run alongside the FIFA World Cup 2026™. From June 11 to July 19, Pride House Toronto will host watch parties and community events, giving 2SLGBTQIA+ fans a place to celebrate the world's biggest soccer tournament together.
TMU students, alumni and faculty are at the heart of it.
Why it matters
Pride House Toronto hosted a kick-off party on June 10.
"Sport traditionally hasn't been the safest space for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community," says Pangus Kung, Pride House Toronto vice-chair. "I grew up playing soccer. It doesn't always feel safe if you're queer.”
Programming committee member Meg Shannon agrees. "A lot of queer people self-select out of sports as they get older because they just don't see a place for them in it," she says. "It's important to be visible in the outside sports community."
How TMU got involved
When sport media professor Joe Recupero heard Toronto would host the World Cup, Pride House was his first call.
“I knew that I wanted to be involved with the World Cup somehow, and Pride House was my number one priority,” says Recupero. “Once I heard a whiff of it starting, I immediately contacted Annie Hart.”
Hart, who has spent years working on inclusion in soccer's supporter culture, became chair of Pride House Toronto. "You don't get many opportunities to really make an impact," she says. "I try to make them where I can."
A student who made his own opportunity
Marc-André Perron is going into his fourth-year of sport media at TMU.
Sport media student Marc-André Perron didn't wait to be invited. Perron loves soccer and also wanted to be involved with the World Cup. After learning Recupero was on the steering committee, he reached out cold – and landed an internship.
“Even though he hadn't been in my class, and I didn't know him, he reached out to me,” says Recupero. “That’s important for young people to realize. If you want to be a part of something, you've got to make that effort and make that step, and people will be receptive.”
Perron will work with Pride House Toronto through July. “I don't think anyone should face barriers in sport,” he says. “I hope to create meaningful connections and better understand professional settings.”
An opportunity for student learning
Perron won’t be the only TMU student supporting Pride House Toronto. RTA School of Media students are volunteering as part of their required 60 hours of community creative practice.
“I wanted it to connect back and be part of the school and part of the student learning experience,” says Recupero. “I'm always trying to connect teaching, scholarly research and creative work.”
Student volunteers will gain experiential learning in creating inclusive spaces during major sporting events.
“Getting the students involved and seeing what's possible, and that sport and the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities can intersect, is really important,” says Kung.
More than a watch party
Pride House Toronto goes beyond soccer. Programming includes inclusion workshops, a film screening about transgender athletes in sport, a queer market and open community events – designed to welcome everyone.
“We wanted to make sure that it was a space that, even if you weren't a die-hard soccer fan, it would be of interest to hang out,” says Shannon. “It becomes really important for us to take up space as queer people and say, 'We're here. We are a part of this community. We always have been.'
Pride House Toronto is located at 51 Dockside Drive, within the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences at George Brown Polytechnic’s Waterfront Campus.
For more information, visit the Pride House Toronto website (external link) .