Franchise embracing LBGTQ ‘family’
With its first Pride Night, team making the AT&T Center ‘a home for all fans’
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich isn't afraid to admit it. Years ago, he ignorantly displayed an aspect of some of the homophobic behavior that was once rampant in male sports.
“When I was a young man, I probably made jokes about this sort of thing, much to my chagrin and embarrassment now later in life,” he said. “We make mistakes. I'm sure I made wise-ass comments about that when I was young.
“But hopefully, we all mature, become wiser, become more loving and understand the difference and accept and move on. I think there are a lot of people who have gone through that process.”
The Spurs are doing something this week that might help others change their beliefs and behavior.
On Saturday against Denver, the franchise will hold its first Pride Night. The Spurs throwing their considerable weight behind the LGBTQ community could help San Antonio become a more inclusive city, advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights said.
“When an organization as well respected and thought of as the Spurs supports the LGBTQ community, it's one more step toward normalizing LGBTQ individuals in the community,” said Howard Rogers, executive director of the Alamo Area Resource Center, which operates the Pride Community Clinic, a downtown facility providing access to healthcare for the LGBTQ community.
San Antonio Councilman Jalen Mckee-rodriguez agreed, calling Pride Night a “wonderful move and a great gesture” by the Spurs.
Mckee-rodriguez is the first openly gay Black man elected to city council. He represents District 2 on the East Side.
“Organizations, especially as beloved as the Spurs, really set moral and cultural tones and express the values of the community and can sort of steer people in that direction,” he said. “What happens is it says, ‘As a community, this is where we are. We are at a place where we celebrate pride, where we celebrate the LGBTQ community, their history and their contributions to the community.’ ”
Kara Allen, Spurs Sports & Entertainment’s chief impact officer, said she hopes Pride Night will help LGBTQ fans understand they are always welcome at the AT&T Center.
“We are a home for all fans,” said Allen, who oversees all aspects of SS&E’S community and societal impact. “That means ensuring that our family in the LGBTQ community feels safe, embraced and like they belong here. And it’s not about making sure folks belong here one night. It’s making sure they feel like they belong here every night and every day and are part of the Spurs family every night and every day.”
Bexar County Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez plans to attend Saturday’s game with her spouse, Stacy Speedlin Gonzalez. Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez called Pride Night a “reflection of how inclusive the city already is.”
“I am a walking manifestation of that,” she said. “I won a countywide race (in 2019 as the first openly gay Latina judge in Bexar County). Elena Guajardo kind of opened the door (in 2005 as the first gay person to serve on the City Council), and now we have Jalen. And I can tell you we have several candidates running for office this next cycle that are gay and out, and that hasn’t happened before . ...
“So I don’t think (the Spurs) are helping us. I think it’s a reflection of t his community.”
Pride Night comes as LGBTQ issues have become a focus of many Republican politicians, Gop-led state legislatures and Republican candidates.
Bills at the state level have been introduced nationally to limit access to gender-affirming health care, including puberty blockers and gender affirmation surgeries for transgender youth.
Republican lawmakers argue those bills protect children. LGBTQ advocates counter by saying such legislation can harm children mentally and physically.
In October, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill barring transgender youth from participating on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
That same month, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services removed a web page that offered resources to LGBTQ youth, including information about a suicide prevention hotline. It was taken down after Don Huffines, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, said it didn’t belong on a state website.
Texas has one of the largest transgender populations in the United States, according to a 2016 report from the Williams Institute at UCLA.
The risk of suicide for LGBTQ teens is far greater than that of heterosexual teens, according to researchers. Mckee-rodriguez said he hopes the Spurs’ support of the LGBTQ community will help young people struggling with gender identity.
“They know they are going to be accepted and loved at a Spurs game,” he said. “That sends a wonderful message.”
At the forefront of the Spurs’ efforts to embrace the LGBTQ community is Popovich, a passionate, outspoken supporter of social justice causes and progressive issues.
In November 2016, Popovich criticized Donald Trump after he was elected president for the “disgusting tenure and tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynist ic.”
A year earlier, Popovich said he was “disgusted but not surprised” when then-sacramento guard Rajon Rondo used an anti-gay slur toward referee Bill Kennedy, who came out as gay after Rondo was suspended for the incident.
“He showed a lot of courage,” Popovich said of Kennedy.
Popovich’s willingness to criticize Republican politicians, including Trump and Abbott, has angered many conservative fans, but Mckee-rodriguez said the LGBTQ community holds him in high esteem.
“There may be some people who don’t like how outspoken he is, and they may be the same people who say ‘stick to sports’ or ‘stay in your lane,’ ” Mckee-rodriguez said of Popovich, an Air Force Academy graduate who ended active duty in the Air Force as a captain.
“I really admire him, and I think for every one person who isn’t a fan or maybe doesn’t like the way he handles these issues, there are 10 to 15 who love and adore him and are grateful for any role he has played in the social justice movement.”
Rogers echoed Mckee-rodriguez’s comments about the 72year-old coach, who has guided the Spurs to five NBA titles.
“Social change does not happen unless people are willing to speak up for what they believe and value,” Rogers said. “Not everyone is going to agree with you or like what you say. But incrementally it continues to make a difference when people see individuals one after another and organizations one after another say they support inclusivity and denounce any kind of stigma in the community.”
The NBA has been the leader among American sports leagues in embracing the LGBTQ community.
In July 2016, it announced it was pulling the 2017 All-star Game out of Charlotte after North Carolina passed a controversial law banning transgender people from using bathrooms in accordance with their gender identities. In June 2017, NBA commissioner Adam Silver waved a rainbow flag at a gay pride parade in New York while riding a float that included Jason Collins, the league’s first openly gay player.
“It’s awesome to see we have stuff like this when five, 10 years ago, it wasn’t a thing,” Spurs guard Derrick White said of Pride Night. “Just trying to be better as a society, be better as humans, and for other people."
Popovich said he isn’t sure whether Pride Night will make San Antonio more inclusive. He’s more concerned with the Spurs doing the right thing.
“You do what should be done,” he said. “And recognizing an element of our society with the LGBTQ Pride Night is totally logical, necessary and in the name of inclusion, especially in the environment we live in today where the ‘other’ is always being attacked. And that’s been very dangerous, as we all know.
“So for an organization to stand up and recognize that, with this sort of inclusion, is very, very helpful. Some people. you will never change their minds. They will never try to understand. That’s part of life. But there will be an element of society out there that perhaps will stop and think and understand that this is important.”