Oriol Pamies (born October 17, 1989) is a Spanish entrepreneur,

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist and tourism expert, known for co-founding LGBT social network, ''Moovz'' and ''Queer Destinations''.

Early life

Pamies was born in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is k ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. In 2008, he moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

for his studies, which he dropped when he started to pursue his entrepreneurial career. In 2012, following an invitation from Idan Matalon, Pamies travelled to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to explore new business opportunities.

Career

Moovz and LGBT activism

Pamies joined the Israeli start-up Interacting Technology as their VP Business Development becoming one of the founders of ''Moovz'', an LGBT social network. While in Israel he became an active member of the local LGBT and tech community. In 2016, Pamies partnered with YouTuber

Julio Jaramillo Julio Alfredo Jaramillo Laurido (October 1, 1935 – February 9, 1978) was a notable Ecuadorian singer and recording artist who performed throughout Latin America, achieving great fame for his renditions of boleros, valses, pasillos, tangos, a ...

and Juana Martinez in a campaign to defend diversity and tolerance. In 2017, Pamies led Moovz to become the official social network of Madrid World Pride 2017 2017. Pamies has taken part in various conferences, presenting topics related to entrepreneurship, online marketing and activism.

Tourism industry

Through Moovz, Pamies works to position tourist destinations as LGBT friendly. In 2015 and through a partnership with

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Municipality, he was behind a project that broadcast through the app the

Tel Aviv Pride Tel Aviv Pride (Hebrew: מצעד הגאווה בתל אביב, Arabic: فخر تل أبيب) is a week-long series of events in Tel Aviv which takes place on the second week of June, as part of the international observance of Gay Pride Month. T ...

Parade. In 2016, he advocated and promoted Israel through an interview at the Spanish magazine ''Shangay''. In May 2017, during the annual convention of

International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (abbreviated IGLTA, and formerly named the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association) is an association of tourism businesses that welcome the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2016, the association had membe ...

(IGLTA) in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, he delivered the first keynote in Spanish. In September 2017 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, he took part at the International Congress of Social Mobility and Right to the city, organised by the City Hall, where he presented a case study on how the

Gay Pride Parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

can contribute at the positioning and International promotion of a city as an LGBT friendly destination. In 2018, he joined the board of directors of the ''International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association'' (IGLTA), a non-profit organization with 37 years of history dedicated to promoting LGBTQ+ tourism worldwide. He also created and organized Open Sea Cruise, a 7-day LGBTQ+ event in a cruise ship with over 1200 people from more than 54 countries joined by artists like

Icona Pop Icona Pop ( ) is a Swedish electropop duo which formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences. Its two members, Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987) and Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986), grew up in Stockholm and create what the ...

Vengaboys Vengaboys () are a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam. The group was the creation of Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen (known as Danski and Delmundo). It consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone, female vo ...

Kazaky Kazaky is a Ukrainian synthpop dance boyband, made up of Kyryll Fedorenko, Artur Gaspar and Artemiy Lazarev. Assembled in Kyiv in 2010 by former original member Zhezhel, a skilled choreographer, the group has released two albums and several sing ...

Eleni Foureira Eleni Foureira ( el, Ελένη Φουρέιρα; born Entela Fureraj; 7 March 1987) is a naturalised Greek, Albanian singer and dancer. She began her music career in 2007 as a member of the Greek girl group Mystique, pursuing a solo career afte ...

Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). Neuwirth came to international attention after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as with t ...

, and

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

. The cruise was focused on wellness, fitness and pop music parties and visited cities like

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

and

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

. In 2019, he founded ''Queer Destinations'', a company focused on the promotion of LGBTQ+ tourism, developing an international tourism certification. The IGLTA and ''Queer Destinations'' signed an agreement with the Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco Marqués, to promote the tourist promotion oriented to the LGBTI segment in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. That same year, Pamies also developed and launched an LGBT tourism pilot program in Mexico, initially running the program in

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

state.

Publications

In 2019, Pamies published his first book, ''Ahora Que Ya Lo Sabes'' (Now You Know) with Dome Publishing, which describes his personal story though while dealing with topics as orientation, identity, and gender expression, prejudice, homophobia, acceptance, the process of coming out of the closet, and activism., to help readers make decisions, and to let those who are suffering for being different come to recognize that they are perfect just as they are.It was presented at the 2019

Madrid Pride Madrid Pride, popularly known in Spanish as the Orgullo Gay de Madrid and its acronym MADO, is the annual LGBT pride festival hosted at Chueca neighbourhood in the centre of Madrid, during the weekend immediately after June 28, International ...

Personal life

Pamies is gay and has expressed his desire to have kids in several occasions. He had spent most of his adolescent years studying at an

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...

school, but left when he started to question his sexuality and decided to come out as gay at the age of 19. As a result, Pamies has been a strong promoter of

October 11 Events Pre-1600 * 1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo; it is one of the most destructive earthquakes ever. *1142 – A peace treaty ends the Jin–Song wars. * 1311 – The peerage and clergy restrict the authority of Eng ...

National Coming Out Day National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on October 11, to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people ( the LGBT community, sometimes also called the queer community) in "coming out of the closet". First ...

Awards and recognition

In 2017,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

invited Pamies to take part in the project ''Out in 60'', a project where celebrities and influencers shared their coming out story in 60 seconds. According to the Spanish portal ''Cromosoma X'', Pamies is one of the most important LGBT influencers of the moment in 2017. In 2017, he was revealed as one of the "top 20 bachelors of the year" by ''Attitude Magazine''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pamies, Oriol 1989 births Spanish LGBT businesspeople Spanish gay entertainers LGBT producers Spanish LGBT rights activists Gay businessmen Living people People from Barcelona 21st-century Spanish businesspeople 21st-century Spanish LGBT people