x
Breaking News
More () »

SAFC hosts first annual Pride Night

Local sports radio personality Mike Taylor said it meant a lot to bring his young trans son to see a stadium full of people celebrating the LGBTQ community.

"First annual Pride night, to celebrate inclusivity in the city, lots of different things happening, lots of flags, lots of color", said Tim Holt, San Antonio FC managing director.

As you walked around Toyota Field, you could see a lot of laughs, smiles, and of course, pride.

"It's just really about inclusivity and being open, and accepting everybody for who they are, and we at the field wanted to reflect that. Based on the turn out, even before kick off, people are really receiving that," said Holt.

"When we found out pride night was going on, we happened to be in town. So we decided lets go to the game, at first I was going to buy a few tickets, but then I made the sentimental decision to buy a suite and enjoy a lot of people. I just wanted my kid to come out here and see a scene like this, he loves sports," said Mike Taylor, a sports radio host at Ticket 760. "I just want him to see a bunch of people celebrating and championing us."

Fans showing off their pride with anything from rainbow head bands to rainbow socks, but they weren't the only ones decked out in color.

"We are fortunate that we work with a great partner, The Soccer Factory, locally, their designers and the Spurs designers came up with something that is non-traditional when you see the shirt. First thing you think of is the rainbow. Here the rainbow design is something that looks jersey-ish," said Holt.

"The pre-game tops are something special that gives us the opportunity to give a pretty substantial donation to a lot of these organizations that work 365-days a year to make inclusivity a priority," said Holt.

A priority that someone like Mike Taylor appreciates as he has two children that are a part of the LGBTQ community.

"My son is transgender, and I also have a nonbinary child who is 20, but my 9-year-old is transgender, he told us he was transgender at 4-years-old, and I was like ok, but he meant it, so here we are 5 years later, we are hard core members of the community, and we are proud, super proud," said Taylor.

Taylor and his family could not pass up the opportunity to attend an event that one of his son's favorite teams put on.

"When he found out 'oh the Spurs own the soccer team, and they are having a pride night, we have to go, we have to go', so it was a no brainer, we had to go you know," said Taylor.

With the event being so successful, San Antonio is already planning for next year's event while showing their support year round.

"For us it's not a once a year exercise, we continue to engage with the groups that are working on this throughout the season, and be apart of the SAFC family 12 months out of the year," said Holt.

Before You Leave, Check This Out