For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Lakers will host a Pride Night next month.
While the Oct. 16th game against the visiting Golden State Warriors is only a preseason exhibition match-up, a very special evening is planned, including a tribute to a sports pioneer.
The winner of last year’s “Laces of Unity” award, Jason Collins, is to present this year’s trophy to the soccer player who shattered LGBTQ barriers in American sport: Robbie Rogers, who became the first out gay man to compete in a top-tier North American professional sports league when he played his first match for the LA Galaxy in May 2013.
No word yet if Rogers and husband Greg Berlanti will bring their children to the game. In May the couple welcomed a daughter, Mia Barbara Rogers-Berlanti. They also have a son, Caleb.
All fans in attendance will receive a Lakers Pride Night unity LED bracelet.
Joining the fans will be representatives from the Trevor Project and the LGBT Center of Los Angeles. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles will sing the National Anthem and LAMBDA — the Los Angeles Gay Basketball League — has also been invited to the Staples Center.
And get ready to see more same-sex smooching. The KissCam at the first Pride Night on Oct. 4, 2018, included a gay athlete who came out publicly on Outsports, Harrison Wilkerson, and his soccer-player boyfriend, Cody Cook. They were one of two same-sex couples featured on the KissCam that night.
