Warriors host LGBTQ+ Night 2024

10/30/2024 10:11 PM

The Warriors organization is dedicated to LGBTQ+ acceptance, but their messaging misses the mark

"One thing the Golden State Warriors has always done is no matter who it is that walks through that door, they always show you love," said Draymond Green in a video posted by the Chase Center on social media today ahead of tonight's LGBTQ+ Night event. "There's always love, and there's always been an open door."

"Our guys really care for each other and everybody in the organization and the people around us," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. "And that means everyone, and really embracing our differences and embracing that everyone should be made to feel comfortable in their own skin."

In the incredibly polarized landscape we live in today, it's important that NBA fans see how the players and coaches they love care for everyone around them. However, as usual, the video did shy away from actually referring to queerness in any meaningful way, rather using euphemisms like "accepting everyone for who they are" or "embracing our differences" while showing fans in rainbow gear, leading the viewer to infer that the video is talking about queerness, but leaving enough room for denial out of context. The players don't mention queerness. The coaches — including DNC Speaker Steve Kerr, whose takes on social justice issues have been quite progressive — don't mention queerness. No one we watch on the court is pictured on the Pride parade float or wearing rainbow gear. The words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and even LGBTQ+ are completely left out. Even at the end of the video, a graphic pops up displaying 'Pride Night,' rather than LGBTQ+ Night, which is the official title of the event. When you read the full subtext of a video like this one, what message does it really convey?

While the messages of acceptance and images of rainbows are great, and we know the Warriors support their queer fans and employees, the words used (and not used) in this video don't fully encompass the true meaning of Pride Night and why it matters so much, especially just weeks before a presidential election where so much campaigning has hinged on the rights, and lack thereof, of transgender people in the United States. Regardless of the outcome, tensions are high for queer people in the United States right now, and if ESPN can show transphobic advertisements on national television during the World Series, NBA teams who claim to be accepting can say the words lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.

No matter how many rainbow graphics are chucked onto t-shirts and rally towels at tonight's Warriors game versus the New Orleans Pelicans, the message (or lack thereof) of this video remains clear. I'd be surprised if anyone featured in the video was even asked to speak about queerness, LGBTQ+ pride, or LGBTQ+ acceptance in particular — they could have been asked about mental illness, anti-racism, or liking pineapple on pizza and given us the same lackluster results we see here.

Obviously, this is to no fault of the Chase Center employee who created and posted the video. They were working with what they had. It likely wasn't the fault of any players or coaches either, as media training is strict, and they are held to high standards of neutrality. It's the same "basketball is for everyone" thing I spoke about in last year's Pride Night piece. This is a symptom of a larger structural issue within the NBA and within American men's sports as a whole.

The issue with the "we accept everyone" messaging is that the "everyone" is so painfully neutral that it completely misses the mark. The "everyone" includes those who discriminate against queer people, against people of color, against women, against disabled people, and against all sorts of other marginalized groups. If the Warriors could just say "we love and accept our LGBTQ+ fans and employees," if the players could show up to the Pride parade in June, if they could follow the lead of former Warrior Dario Šarić and say "there is no place for discrimination in our league" during a press conference, just imagine how much more powerful a Pride Night event would be.

With all that being said, the Chase Center did post some of their Pride festivities on their Twitter account, including a resource fair for LGBTQ+ Warriors fans taking place before the game.

Overall, the Warriors organization is one of the best in the league when it comes to LGBTQ+ pride and acceptance. Although every team in the league has a Pride Night as of 2024, the Warriors are one of few to actually call it LGBTQ+ Night. The best we can do is push our favorite teams to do more for their queer fans, and make sure the acceptance they claim to uphold is palpable for everyone.