Posted on 03/13/2010 8:06:40 AM PST by SmithL
As far as tailgate parties go, this one was a bit more swank than usual. Under purple tents, sommeliers from Barefoot Wine & Bubbly in Modesto poured their latest Pinot Noir while fans mingled and grooved to dance music. Guests were invited to play beanbag toss.
Thursday marked the first time the Golden State Warriors basketball team hosted an LGBT night - adding the gay community to its long roster of diversity-themed games that include everything from Bollywood dancing on Indian culture night to horn-blowing rabbis on Jewish heritage night.
"Generally in sports the gay issue is a touchy one, so this is extremely validating for us," said Stuart Leung, president of the San Francisco Gay Basketball Association, a league of eight teams that will use a portion of ticket sales to send players from their Rockdogs team to the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany, in July.
The Positive Resource Center in San Francisco, an HIV/AIDS service organization, also benefited from ticket sales.
Just before the start of Thursday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oakland-East Bay Gay Men's Chorus stood at halfcourt in tuxedos and sang the national anthem.
At halftime, the world's only gay-identified cheerleading team, Cheer SF, gave a high-octane performance, tossing male and female fliers into the air.
Although no public announcement was made during the game that it was LGBT appreciation night, the audience clapped enthusiastically for the performers.
Earlier in the day, members of the San Francisco Gay Basketball Association were invited to play a pickup game on the Warriors' court.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
why would this be celebrated?...
we should try to minimize it...shrink its influence....don't hate but for God's sake, lets not pretend its something wonderful...
Thanks for translating bad Journalese for me....
Oh, so THAT's what they're calling nowadays.
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